This course will explore various types of psychological traumas and the impact these traumas have on children, adolescents and adults with an emphasis on a strengths-based approach. Examples of traumas that will be examined included: sexual abuse; child abuse and neglect; domestic violence (DV); witnessing DV; grief and loss; natural disasters; military trauma; traumatic grief and loss; immigration trauma; personal violence; school shootings. Students will be exposed to current trauma models, such as Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), The Flash Technique (FT) within a Trauma Informed System of Care.

Students will learn about the neurobiology of trauma and the diagnoses and comorbidities that manifest in trauma diagnoses. Trauma will be studied within the context of topics such as: resilience; risk and protective factors; vicarious trauma; attunement and the mind/body connection In addition, students will study complex trauma and how trauma affects the family system and relationships. The students will explore the therapeutic relationship and its importance to the therapeutic process, emphasizing transference, countertransference, and boundaries. This course will also present the developmental and cultural implications of trauma as well as the effects of intergenerational trauma.