Trauma Connections: Recent Episodes

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For all of you helpers - are you finding yourself at the beginning of 2022 headed toward burnout? This episode focuses on empathy and compassion. Join NCA-STAR director, Anita Faulkner for a discussion about the different ways we reach out to help, and how to keep giving and receiving compassionate care. 

Here are some resources mentioned in this episode:

• Dr. Kristen Neff's - Video "How to Practice Self-Compassion"
• Free Self-Compassion Guided Practices
• This is a great list of resources for increasing compassion – for clients, for clinicians – helpful video clips, readings, etc.
• Brene Brown on Empathy video

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This is a fascinating discussion with Jacob Blackstock covering topics that are top of mind right now - loneliness, social isolation, vulnerability, and the difference between surviving and thriving. What do thriving and having a community look like in these pandemic days? Listen in for Jacob's encouraging insights.

• "You don't want the perfect to be the enemy of the good."
• "If you have a longing for deeper connection, it's normal - it's build into your DNA."
• "If you can accept yourself - have compassion for yourself and have compassion for other people; if you are a part of a group that has your back and you feel supported, loved, and safe - that's thriving!"

Here are some resources we discussed:

• Book: Loneliness by John Cacioppo and William Patrick
• Book: Social : Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect by Matthew Lieberman
• The Attachment Project
• Cognitively Based Compassion Training
• Brene Brown's Ted Talk: The Power of Vulnerability
• Book: Hold Me Tight by Dr. Sue Johnson

Jacob Blackstock, LCMHCA, NCC earned his Master of Education (M.ED.) in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from UNC Pembroke in 2016 and is currently finishing a PhD degree in Counseling and Counselor Education from UNC Greensboro. Jacob’s dissertation research focuses on loneliness in young adults and Jacob hopes to use this research to help young adults form healthier connections with others. Jacob has experience working in hospital, community agency, psychiatric ward, and college counseling settings.

Jacob has received training in Transactional Analysis (TA), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and mindfulness-based interventions. Through these therapies Jacob helps clients to discover their patterns and how to let go of patterns that no longer serve them. Jacob also utilizes bodily awareness and breathwork to mitigate the effects of trauma and help clients obtain release from stress that lives in the body. Jacob has received a Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Fuller Seminary where he studied guilt, shame, and religious trauma.

If you would like additional information about these topics, Jacob Blackstock can be contacted at jsblacks@uncg.edu.

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This bonus September episode is a discussion with Jasmine Garland-McKinney and Saron Fantahun, both Counseling and Educational Development doctoral students at UNC-Greensboro, and also both former school counselors. This episode covers thoughts on the pandemic's impact on parents, educators, and students, and how raced-based trauma and adverse childhood experiences can be noticed and understood in schools. As Saron so hopefully said, we have this opportunity to be creative like never before. This conversation was a great start.

Some of the resources mentioned in this episode:
Books:

• The Skin I'm In by Sharon Flake - for ages 12-14 • This book is about Maleeka, who suffers from bullying about her homemade clothes, good grades, and her dark, black skin. When a new teacher, whose face is blotched with a startling white patch, starts at their school, Maleeka is surprised by her attitude. Miss Saunders loves the skin she's in. Can Maleeka learn to do the same?
• Coaching for Equity by Elena Aguilar This book is perfect for teachers, teacher leaders, coaches and administrators, Coaching for Equity offers extensive strategies for talking about race, power, and systems of oppression.
• B is for Breathe by Dr. Melissa Boyd • From the letter A to the letter Z, this book celebrates the many ways children can express their feelings and develop coping skills at an early age. Fun, cute, and exciting illustrations shows kids diverse in ability status and race - teaching simple ways to cope with fussy and frustrating emotions.
• The Deepest Well by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris. Read more about ACES - Adverse Childhood Experiences and healing their long-term affects.

Contact Information:

• Jasmine Garland-McKinney • jlgarlandmc@uncg.edu
• Saron Fantahun • s_fantahun@uncg.edu

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Join us for this timely episode focused on trauma in the classroom - what to look for, ways to respond, and helpful resources. Dr. Jennifer Deaton, Ph.D., LCMHC, Assistant Professor of Counseling and Educational Development at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, seeks to cultivate trauma-informed environments by humanizing mental health in both community and educational settings. She aims to drive interdisciplinary collaboration in areas of trauma-informed care, posttraumatic growth, and vicarious posttraumatic growth with methodology expertise in program evaluation and instrument development. Through her research, she aspires to extend a trauma-informed lens to K-12 educational institutions. Dr. Deaton has served as an evaluator for externally funded research and evaluation projects, including university-based teacher induction programs. As a counselor educator, Dr. Deaton facilitates culturally responsive pedagogy that builds self-awareness, fosters a multicultural lens, and promotes evidenced-based practitioners.

Resources:

• SAMSHA's Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach
• Shifting from Control to Connection to Decrease Problems and Increase Learning
• Trauma-Informed Teaching Strategies
• Trauma-Informed School Strategies During COVID-19
• Trauma-Sensitive Schools

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This episode features a helpful conversation on trauma with Dr. Rebecca Mathews, Ph.D., Clinical Assistant Professor at UNC-Greensboro. Dr. Mathews is a licensed professional counselor and board-approved supervisor. Over the past 14 years, she worked with children, adolescents, adults, and families in a variety of settings (inpatient, outpatient, criminal justice, private practice), and specialized in suicide prevention. Dr. Mathews is a passionate supervisor and educator who strives to empower the next generation of counselors to serve the community using trauma-informed and evidence-based practices built upon a therapeutic foundation. She is a frequent presenter and consultant for mental health organizations and works to disseminate research to providers in the field.

Resources

• The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
• The National Child Traumatic Stress Network
  • Includes resources in Spanish
• Counseling.org American Counseling Association
• Apa.org American Psychological Association
• Aacap.org The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
  • Facts sheets for families
  • Resources in spanish
• complextrauma.org

References

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (U.S.). (2014). Trauma-informed care in behavioral health services : a treatment improvement protocol (Ser. Tip, 57). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.

https://www.counseling.org/docs/trauma-disaster/fact-sheet-9---vicarious-trauma.pdf

Dalenberg, C. J., Straus, E., & Carlson, E. B. (2017). Defining trauma. In S. N. Gold (Ed.), APA handbooks in psychology®. APA handbook of trauma psychology: Foundations in knowledge (p. 15–33). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000019-002