Advanced Trauma Counseling Techniques

PREREQUISITE: Trauma Counseling on the Master’s level is recommended but not required.

This course will focus on the nature, assessment, and treatment of trauma across a range of applications and cases. The application of primary trauma-focused counseling assessment strategies, along with best practices in the field, will be explored and applied to actual case studies. The ethical practice of trauma counseling, along with approaches to therapist self-care, will be presented. This course presents information on trauma-relevant, research-based treatment approaches, interventions, and protocols drawing from trauma psychobiology, neuroscience, and psychopharmacology. Applications to single-occurrence trauma as well as complex trauma will be made, along with exploration of grief, suicide, violence, sexual abuse, natural disasters, war, and intimate partner violence. Through the use of case studies, the students will apply theories and concepts in the preparation of case conceptualizations and treatment plans.

UPON COMPLETION OF THE COURSE, THE STUDENT WILL BE COMPETENT IN:

• Applying developmental and neurobiological theories regarding the effects of trauma to case studies.
• Understanding Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Human Development as it applies to a range of trauma cases to differentiate between stress, crises, trauma, and disaster.
• Examining best practices for conducting psychological assessments in trauma using clinical interviews, trauma-specific scales, and personality assessments.
• Selecting appropriate trauma-based therapies that treat the effects of trauma, including Trauma-Informed Care, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Exposure Therapy, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.
• Applying treatment protocols for complex trauma to a case conceptualization that will guide a treatment plan.
• Applying the Sanctuary Model of Organizational Trauma to a case of institutional, organizational, or religious abuse.
• Explaining the rationale for the use of specific medications in the treatment of trauma, both FDA-approved and “off-label” medications.
• Applying a Post-Modern Grief Therapy Model compared to a Classic Model of Grief Adjustment to a case of grief recovery.
• Exploring Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing as a treatment approach for PTSD and other trauma issues.
• Applying Developmental Couples Therapy for Complex Trauma to a case of marital therapy impacted by sexual abuse.
• Exploring treatment protocols of trauma related to suicide, homicide, natural disasters, addictions, and war.
• Applying ethical principles of trauma treatment in the practice of trauma counseling.
• Utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) for review and analysis of core competencies.
• Exploring the concepts of vicarious traumatization and secondary traumatic stress related to therapist self-care.

ACQUIRED SKILLS:

• Bioecological Model of Human Development Applied to Trauma
• EMDR in the Treatment of Trauma
• Sanctuary Model of Organizational Trauma
• Developmental Couples Therapy for Complex Trauma
• Resilience and Post-Traumatic Growth
• The Professional Quality of Life Scale