Empirically-Supported Treatments for Trauma – TRMA 840

Course Description

This course examines evidence-based (or empirically supported) treatments of trauma with sensitivity to client characteristics, cultural backgrounds, and preferences. Students will consider how science informs human services counseling practice for these clients with the goal of ethical, effective, and biblically grounded care.

Rationale

Evidence-based practice is increasingly mandated in the human services field. Accordingly, students must have a clear understanding of the current therapeutic approaches that are empirically supported to treat trauma-related conditions in adults, children, and adolescents.

Course Assignment

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 (2)

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will be using all the technical means available to us to make this both a fun and academically thought-provoking experience. The goal of this course’s Discussions is to engage in an enjoyable, meaningful conversation almost like in a classroom setting.

The student will complete 2 Discussions in this course. The student will post a thread of at least 500 words by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Thursday of the assigned Module: Week. The student must then post 1 reply of at least 250 words by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday of the assigned Module: Week. For each thread, the student must support his/her assertions with at least 4 scholarly citations in APA format. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. Acceptable sources include course learning, articles or publications from traumatology experts, Christian counseling authors, biblical scholars, and other scholarly publications.

Discussion: Presentation

For the Discussion: Presentation, the student will choose one of three provided presentation prompts to submit to the Discussion Thread. Depending on the selected prompt, this submission will be:

1. A narrated presentation of at least 40 slides, including no fewer than 15 sources.
2. A narrated presentation of practical application, including no fewer than 10 sources. This option is only available if the student is a licensed mental health professional or works under the supervision of a licensed mental health professional.
3. A 30-45-minute recording of a mock session roleplayed with a peer, submitted alongside two pages of self-evaluation. No references are needed for this option.

The student will upload the link to his/her presentation in the Discussion Thread by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Thursday of the assigned Module: Week. The student must then post 2 replies of at least 350 words by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday of the assigned Module: Week. The student should view the Discussion: Presentation Assignment Instructions document for more information on each form of presentation.

The student will submit an initial assignment as he/she begins to consider his/her own worldview of trauma and trauma-informed treatments. This initial assignment is intended to orient the student to his/her own ideas as he/she relates to trauma and how the Christian worldview relates to his/her conceptualization of trauma. The assignment is 1-2 pages long, not including title page or references, and is to be written in APA formatting including references to support the student's viewpoints of the topics. 

Reflection Journal Assignments (3)

The student will submit 3 Reflection Journal assignments. Each journal entry will contain the following: (a) A description of 3 key ideas he/she has gained from the modules' materials since his/her last Reflection Journal and why these ideas are important (3 paragraphs), and (b) What Christian worldview integration thoughts come to mind from this section of course material (1 paragraph). See the Reflection Journal Instructions for more information. The final paper will be 3-5 pages in length. There is no specific number of citations required, but APA format should be carefully adhered to with a focus on using a reference to scholarly sources throughout.

Quiz: Continuing Education Credits

Being able to list on a vita that a student has Continuing Education (CE) training in an empirically supported treatment is very useful for employment. The student will select a professional online or local training program on 1 of the approaches discussed in this course to obtain 6 credit hours of Continuing Education credit. Several online training options will be presented in the course that the student can choose from for the completion of this assignment. In the list, the student will see that some of the options will be free and others will require payment to complete the training. With instructor approval, the student may also do alternative professional training programs online or in his/her local area for this assignment. See the Continuing Education Credits Instructions for more information. This quiz will be limited to 20 minutes.