TRMA 810 Adult and Familial Trauma

Trauma is a part of the lives of nearly every person worldwide. Its effects are life-changing and often result in the addition of major dissonance or, in many cases, the destruction of a previous sense of well-being or the loss of life. To understand the nature of the issues and the effects and to be able to assist in the amelioration of the symptoms is critical.

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (4)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the goal of the discussions in this course is to engage in an enjoyable, meaningful, and academically thought-provoking conversation simulating a classroom environment. The student will participate in 4 discussions. For each discussion, the student is required to create a 400–450-word discussion thread addressing a specific topic. In addition, he/she must respond to the discussion threads of at least one fellow learner with a 250–300-word reply. The original thread must fully address the assigned topic, incorporate relevant ideas from the course texts, as well as at least two current peer-reviewed journal articles (from the last 3 years), articulate course-related knowledge, and demonstrate critical reflection. In the discussion reply, the student must extend the discussion by analyzing and building upon a fellow learner’s discussion thread, asking relevant questions as needed. Each discussion reply must incorporate at least one scholarly reference (from the last 3 years). The student is also required to briefly respond to all classmates who replied to his/her discussion thread as well as to any questions or comments from the instructor. All assertions must be supported by in-text references in current APA format. Biblical integration must be included in all original posts as well as replies to other learners, with relevance clarified for an APA, scholarly audience and including references to Christian counseling scholarship, biblical scholarship, or other religious or faith-based sources properly utilized. The use of the first person is appropriate, but the use of the editorial “we” is not. Discussion threads and discussion replies must be well-written, well-organized, and focused. (CLOs: A, B, C, D)

Discussion

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, this assignment is the second in a series of 2 assignments designed to prepare a learner to present a scholarly topic to fellow learners in a discussion-style presentation. The assignments in this series include the Post-Traumatic Growth Topic Assignment & Outline and the Presentation.

In the Discussion: Presentation, the student will create a professional style Presentation that is suitable for an audience of emerging traumatology experts on an approved topic from the Post-Traumatic Growth Topic Assignment & Outline Assignment. This topic in post-traumatic growth will be sufficiently narrowed to a population of interest and should be the focus of the presentation throughout the discussion. General information or lengthy discussions on topics such as trauma or diagnoses should be omitted since a scholarly audience of trauma-informed professionals should already be apprised of such knowledge.  Learners will upload the link to their Presentation. In addition to information from related course texts, 2 scholarly journal articles from the last 3 years should be utilized. The student must then post at least 1 reply of at least 350 words to a fellow learner’s presentation. The reply should draw out a theme of the presentation of the fellow learner with the scholarly emphasis from the discussion prioritized. Learners are also expected to reply to others who respond to their original Discussion Thread. In addition to information from related course texts, at least 1 scholarly journal article from the last 3 years should be used for the reply. The topic and content of this presentation should align with the feedback received from the Post-Traumatic Growth Topic and Outline Assignment. (CLO’s: A, C, D, E)

This assignment is the first in a series of 3 assignments designed to allow a learner to intentionally focus on and narrow in on a specific topic and population of interest across several weeks of the term. The assignments in this series include Adult Traumatology Topic & Thesis, Annotated Outline, and Traumatology Paper Assignment. This series of assignments is contemplated to help prepare the learner for the dissertation requirements of deepening a single topic of interest over a period of time and presenting the findings using more than one modality.

In this first assignment, learners will identify a topic of interest in the field of adult traumatology research. Common interests include traumatic events that are typical among adults, diagnoses that are known to be related to trauma, and treatment modalities that are practiced in the field of adult traumatology. The topic should also be narrowed to a specific population of interest. The topic and population of interest should be presented using a thesis sentence or a thesis statement. A brief description of the topic and population should be included, with relevant sources stated. No more than 1 paragraph of writing is required for this submission. Examples of appropriate topics for this series of assignments are as follows: “Treatment for Complex Trauma in Adult Survivors of Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia,” “Surviving Intimate Partner Violence: Trauma and Recovery,” “Family Trauma After Death by Suicide,” “Terminal Illness Diagnosis: Living While Dying,” etc. (CLOs A, D)

This assignment is the second in a series of 3 assignments designed to allow a learner to intentionally focus on and narrow in on a specific topic and population of interest across several weeks of the term. The assignments in this series include Adult Traumatology Paper Topic and Thesis, Adult Traumatology Annotated Outline, and Adult Traumatology Paper Assignment. This series of assignments is contemplated to help prepare the learner for the dissertation requirements of deepening a single topic of interest over a period of time and presenting the findings using more than one modality. 

In this annotated outline, the learner will incorporate the feedback from the first assignment in the series, Adult Traumatology Topic and Thesis, to further develop the focus of the topic and population of interest for the course. The Annotated Outline will include references that support the main points of the outline, with a clear development of topics throughout each of the main sections of the outline. Each main section of the outline should include at least 3 peer-reviewed scholarly articles that support the topics discussed in the sections. A brief statement of facts from the articles or a summary of the relevant issues from each of the articles should be included in the annotations within the section. All references must be in current APA format.

This assignment is the first in a series of 2 assignments designed to prepare a learner to present a scholarly topic to fellow learners in a discussion-style presentation. The assignments in this series include Post-Traumatic Growth Topic Assignment & Outline and the Presentation. 

In this first assignment, learners will identify a topic of interest in the growing field of post-traumatic growth research. Common topics for this presentation include post-traumatic growth after events such as natural disasters, traumatic loss, physical trauma, chronic illness, disability, etc. The topic should also be narrowed to a specific population of interest. The topic and population of interest should be presented using a thesis sentence or a thesis statement. A brief description of the topic and population should be included, with relevant sources stated. An example of a topic in this field might be something like “Post-traumatic growth in church members from Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria,” “Post-traumatic growth in Black Americans after pregnancy loss,” or “Healing after tragedy: Post-traumatic growth in combat veterans who have suffered an amputation due to service-related injuries.” (CLO’s: A, C, D, E)

This formal, APA-style Adult Traumatology Paper Assignment illustrates a specific focus on a narrow portion of the knowledge gained from this course. This paper builds upon the knowledge gained in the course and is the culmination of the series of assignments that began with the Paper Topic and Thesis, an Annotated Outline, and ended with this assignment, the Adult Traumatology Paper Assignment. This series of assignments is contemplated to help prepare the learner for the dissertation requirements of deepening a single topic of interest over a period of time and presenting the findings in more than one modality. 

In this final assignment, the student will summarize the learning from this course and from outside sources to discuss one in-depth topic in traumatology. By this point in the course, the topic should be sufficiently narrowed in both scope and population to one specific aspect of traumatology.  Learners may find that they wish to continue to narrow his/her topic significantly from the Outline and PowerPoint assignments and may do so along with the feedback from the Instructor throughout the course. Since doctoral students are frequently required to write on the same topic, including during the dissertation phase of the program, it is required that information in this paper must demonstrate a deepening view of the scholarship utilized throughout the course. A minimum of 3 annotations is required per major heading. In addition to related course texts, at least 15 scholarly journal articles from the last 5 years should be included in the paper. The paper should be at least 10-12 pages of content, not including references or the title page, and should not exceed that length. (CLOs: A, B, D, E)

Quizzes (4)

Each quiz will cover the Learn material for the assigned modules. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 25 multiple-choice questions, and have a 1 hour time limit. (CLOs: A, B, D)