Browsing by Subject "trauma-informed"
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Item Disclosures of Trauma in College Applications: Policies, Practices, Perceptions, and the Role of the Admissions Professional(2024-05) Cron, ShannonResearch shows that most college students have experienced a traumatic event in their lifetime—85%, according to one study (Frazier et. al, 2009). It follows that students often discuss these traumatic experiences in their college application essays. Sharing this kind of information can emotionally tax students and leave them feeling vulnerable to judgment—the latter of which is especially acute in the college admissions process, where being accepted or rejected is at the core. As a result, the need for admissions professionals to know how to best handle disclosures of trauma exists; this qualitative study explores what that might entail. The purpose of it is to examine what action (or lack of action) admissions counselors who work at private liberal arts colleges in the Midwest take when students disclose traumatic experiences in their college applications, as well as how they perceive that action (or lack of action), utilizing an online survey and trauma-informed theories. It aims to answer the question: What action (or lack of action) do admissions counselors who work at private liberal arts colleges in the Midwest take when students disclose traumatic experiences in their college applications? How do they perceive this action (or lack of action)? Findings indicate that, while some institutions have policies and practices, many admissions professionals possess a desire to more effectively navigate the phenomenon. Drawing on literature about trauma-informed practices, survey responses, and my own personal experiences as a college admissions professional, I offer several recommendations for future practice, including: training, filling gaps in knowledge about the effectiveness of practices, dispersing information about how trauma disclosures are utilized in application review, and carving out more time to adequately address the issue.Item Trauma-Informed Weight Lifting as an Adjunctive Intervention for Posttraumatic Stress Among Adolescents in Residential Treatment(2024-05) Lee, Elizabeth KathleenThere is little research on the effects of weightlifting as an adjunctive embodiment-based intervention on posttraumatic stress symptoms among adolescents with complex trauma histories. Therefore, the present study sought to explore how a newly developed adjunctive embodiment-based intervention, Trauma-Informed Weight Lifting (TIWL), influenced participants’ self-reported posttraumatic stress and associated mental health symptoms. Twelve adolescents from two residential facilities participated in the current study. Seven participants engaged in a weekly, eight-week TIWL intervention. Following a participant preference approach, participants without a preference for engaging in TIWL were assigned to the treatment as usual (TAU) comparison condition (n = 5). Those who engaged in TIWL were compared to those in the TAU group. Posttraumatic stress and associated symptoms were measured with six validated self-report measures. Symptoms were assessed before participants started TIWL, mid-way through the intervention, at the end, at 4-week post-intervention follow-up. Posttraumatic stress symptoms and interoception were assessed weekly. Overall, TIWL appeared feasible and acceptable in an adolescent residential treatment setting based on participants’ attendance rate (87.5%) and ratings of helpfulness (Ms = 75.71–94.71). Although effects were not maintained at follow-up and demonstrated some mixed findings between the weekly and monthly outcomes, the present study provided overall evidence for the efficacy of TIWL in lowered posttraumatic stress (Mi-j = -3.39, t = -2.08, p = .04, dRM, pooled = 3.20), depression (F(4, 5.25) = 6.73, p = .03, dRM, pooled = 0.59), and stress symptoms (F(4, 5.04) = 9.76, p = .01, dRM, pooled = 0.05) and higher levels of interoception (Mi-j = 0.45, t = 0.73, p = .47, dRM, pooled = 0.18) at the last TIWL session compared to baseline. There was also a large difference (~1.32 SD) in arousal and reactivity symptom levels between the TIWL condition and the comparison condition, with greater differences in Week 1 to Week 8 scores for the TIWL condition. From baseline to the four-week post-intervention follow-up self-reported avoidance (Mi-j = 0.67, t = -0.50, p = .25, dRM, pooled = -0.39), arousal and reactivity (Mi-j = 3.21, t = 1.16, p = .15, dRM, pooled = -0.27) and derealization (Mi-j = 0.69, t = 1.01, p = .15, dRM, pooled = -0.30) posttraumatic stress symptoms were higher in the TIWL condition. Given that two of the seven TIWL participants dropped out after two sessions, posthoc exploratory analyses were conducted with them removed. These analyses showed lower posttraumatic stress (Mi-j = -11.28, t = -1.39, p = .11, dRM, pooled = 0.94), depression (Mi-j = -3.88, t = -1.27, p = .13, dRM, pooled = 0.64), anxiety (Mi-j = -2.24, t = -1.26, p = .12, dRM, pooled = 1.17) and stress (Mi-j = -4.45, t = -1.68, p = .08, dRM, pooled = 0.63) symptoms from baseline to follow-up. Therefore, the participants who received a minimum of seven sessions of TIWL reported improvements in their posttraumatic stress and associated mental health symptoms from baseline to follow-up with large effects. Researching the effects of TIWL and extending beyond the present pilot study (e.g., multiple trials starting at different time points, larger sample sizes, different doses, comparing TIWL to a standard weightlifting group) are warranted given the potential confounds that could not be controlled for here.