Trauma: What It Is and How It Relates to Scarcity
Dr. Kimberly Quinn, Cognitive and Positive Psychology Professor and Well-being & Success Coach at Champlain College
RECORDED JULY 8, 2020, 4:00-4:30 PM Watch
Trauma differs from big stress in that it actually rewires the brain when the mind no longer has the ability to cope. Trauma affects memory, sense of time, social perception and learning, as well as the connection to the body. This pandemic has had many of us are walking around with "brain fog" unable to decide which salad dressing we prefer and wondering what is wrong with us. Trauma also has a way of flipping the switch on previous experiences without our awareness, which is why there has been an overall scarcity of toilet paper across the country…please join us to find out why this is.
Trauma Doesn't Have to Be Traumatic
Dr. Dave Landers, Associate Professor of Psychology Emeritus at Saint Michael's College
JULY 15, 2020, 4:00-4:30 PM Watch
Everyone experiences trauma—it is part of life. Too often people feel that every trauma ends up being traumatic, numbing, destabilizing and paralyzing. Dr. Landers will address how OUR resilience, OUR resourcefulness, OUR ability to understand that events don't shape our lives, how WE VIEW/RESPOND to those events can and does often dictate our response. There will be a fifteen minute Q & A at the end on how we can view ourselves, our colleagues AND our students in light of a better understanding of OUR resilience and OUR resourcefulness.
No Words: The Oxymoron of the Trauma Narrative
Neila Anderson Decelles, MA-Licensed Psychologist Master
JULY 22, 2020, 4:00-4:30 PM Watch
So much of what we now understand about trauma and resilience we have learned from our clients. Our science now supports what survivors have “known” all along: the body truly tallies the hurts, and, when the hits keep on coming, language becomes a barrier, instead of a carrier, to understanding. We will take a quick literary journey through Shakespeare, Faulkner, and Joyce Carol Oates, to put words to the unspeakable so that we can better understand how authors—especially clients revising and re-wiring their lives—can help us all to cope with our own counter-intuitives in the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic.
Inviting Students In: A Trauma-Sensitive, Mindful Approach to Student Engagement and Learning
Dr. Jim Howland, Assistant Professor of Practice, School Counseling in the School of Education and Social Policy at Merrimack College
JULY 29, 2020, 4:00-4:30 PM Watch
This workshop examines how the current environment may be impacting student engagement and learning. We will identify trauma-sensitive learning environments to support students engagement and learning, whether in-person, on-line, or hybrid. We will explore mindfulness and mindful practices as a way of supporting students, faculty, and staff in this environment.
Trauma & Resilience
Kristine Reynolds, Director and Founder of the Vermont Center for Resiliency
AUGUST 5, 2020, 4:00-4:30 PM Watch
Changes in family, relationships, work, or internal struggles with anxiety, stress, confusion and fears, or emptiness, are common and make life hard. Some people are able to cope with it more without intervention, others struggle…the difference is one's resilience. Resiliency is our internal ability to bounce back from life’s stressors and/or traumas. Our DNA initially identifies where our level of resilience starts out, however it can be changed! Through positive interventions, supports, and interactions we are able to grow our capacity to be resilient! In her section Kris will provide you with an overview of what resilience is, how it is developed, and some tangible strategies to strengthen it.
