Contested Issues in Troubled Times

Chapter 12: What is the Role of Student Affairs Educators in Helping Students Whose Learning is Complicated by Experiencing Trauma?

What do you think is the role of student affairs educators in helping students whose learning is complicated by experiencing trauma?

Let us know and continue the dialogue in the comments below. Here are some discussion prompts to get you started!

  1. How do you define trauma? What might your definition mean in terms of trauma that you readily “see” and forms that you do not? What are the implications in your work?
  2. Identify some existing policies or practices in your work and interrogate them through a trauma-informed lens. What effectively supports student survivors? What might be challenging or harmful to student survivors?
  3. How can you contribute to making institutional improvements that minimize the traumatic effects of systemic marginalization and oppression, like microaggressions and cultural isolation?
  4. What strengths do you have as a student affairs educator that can help facilitate the process of giving and witnessing testimonies of trauma, in oral and written forms?
  5. What opportunities exist on your campus to raise awareness about and prevent traumatic incidents, like those for which college students are at risk, including sexual and intimate partner violence? What policies and resources are in place to assist survivors? How might they be improved?

Comments

111 responses to “Chapter 12: What is the Role of Student Affairs Educators in Helping Students Whose Learning is Complicated by Experiencing Trauma?”

  1. Savannah Davis Avatar
    Savannah Davis

    Trauma can be presented in a multitude of ways. From this reading and previous experiences, I have gathered that trauma can be presented with a big ‘T’ or a little ‘t.’ ‘Big T’ trauma can encapsulate major life events that happen that affect an individual, as well as the community around them. ‘Little t’ trauma includes live events that may not be typically seen as traumatic or actions/events that the person or individuals around them may intentionally or unintentionally gaslight them into thinking that the event was ‘normal’ or ‘not a big deal.’ Big T trauma can usually be ‘seen’ or recognized as traumatic, while little t trauma may not be able to be seen as easily. Even though the names are big T and little t, one is not more important than the other. They both take a large toll on the people affected.

    Implications for this definition at my workplace show that we do an okay job of understanding and caring for students with big T trauma. They are given time and resources to process events that may have occurred and support from offices across campus. When diving into little t trauma, this can often be seen as microaggressions, systematic marginalization, etc. When giving resources to students who experience this trauma, the lines and support seem to thin out. The Office of Equity and Access is a great resource, but if a person is not well acquainted o the services they provide, or coworkers do not have a focus on the holistic student experience, the little t trauma can be left and ignored. As quoted from the reading, “I have witnessed this in my research when students struggle because their personal knowing tells them what they have experienced is traumatic and yet they do not fit into the “traditional definitions of trauma” box.” (p.224).

    The biggest policy that I can identify that I work with on a regular basis is mandatory reporting. Through a trauma-informed lens, this practice’s priority is not for survivors. This practice is to protect the institution from any legal liability if a student were to say something, and a student affairs professional were to not report it. This can be harmful to students that want to open up to their support network on campus about events that may have happened, and do not want to go through the exhausting and anxiety-producing process of having it reported.

    Part of addressing little t traumas is acknowledging that it happens. It may not happen to a person that holds privileged identities that hold positions of power, and that makes it all the more reason to have critical information available, as well as well-thought-out action plans to address these items when they appear.

    An important concept that should always try to be integrated is that academic affairs and student affairs should do their best to work together. In the reading from Zaytoun, “Advisers and counselors, residence hall directors, and directors and coordinators of programs might have more opportunities than the faculty for individual conversations with students, but faculty have the chance to interact with students by reading and responding to their writing, including students’ responses to what they read” (p.236). In order to help our students, a holistic mindset needs to be centered, which includes the students’ curricular and extracurricular influences.

    Opportunities for raising awareness in my sphere are essentially education through conversation. If a Community Assistant hears of violent tendencies that seem to be normalized amount entering college students, it is very impactful to hear from peers that those actions are not okay.

    My apologies for this late response. I have had difficulties with WordPress in posting this, as it had stated that my post had already been made when that does not seem to be the case!

    Reply
    1. Sofía Rodríguez Walter Avatar
      Sofía Rodríguez Walter

      Hi Savannah,

      While I have heard similar concepts, I had never heard of big ‘T’ or a little ‘t being utilize to signify different forms of trauma that individuals experience. From the reading, I also took away that too often individuals experience traumatic events that lead to long-lasting trauma impact that go completely unnoticed or are seen as “normal”. Your example of gaslighting as trauma really illustrated for me how certain events, interactions, and relationships can lead to deep psychological impact and how the person may not be able to identify the experience as trauma because of how they’ve been made out to feel.

      In the context of the institution, I think you identified a key issue that prevents us from being able to care for students and apply trauma-responsive care; students do not always fit the legal, political, or even social definition of trauma even when they know they’ve experienced it. In these instances, the concept of objectivity is brought into question: Who gets to decide what fits into the definition? Who is excluded or forgotten when we restrict our language and processes? How can we be more authentic and accepting of the experiences students share with us as educators?

      Lastly, I agree with your point that collaboration is an encouraging way to shift cultures around trauma care and to provide better support for students that come seeking help. I think deeper conversations around the concept of trauma must be prioritized for any of these things to develop but I think you clearly illustrated some initial first steps.

      Reply
  2. Victoria Tori Ball Avatar
    Victoria Tori Ball

    Something that stuck out to me through the reading was the idea that both Tricia Shalka and Kelli Zaytoun seemed to argue: student affairs professionals have a responsibility, and in a sense, an obligation to help students work through and process their trauma. While I am not advocating that we ignore students’ trauma, or create situations that intentionally trigger students, it is interesting that there does seem to be a big push for student affairs professionals to take on students’ trauma. While I do understand that people get into the student affairs world to help students, should there be an expectation and an obligation of these professionals to help students with trauma? In addition, it raises the concern of how we help prepare student affairs professionals to respond to trauma. Our program at NAU is a counseling-based program and we do receive some education and training to help students through different traumas. It is important to note, though, that at the end of the program, we are not trained counselors, nor are we qualified to receive our license- meaning we are still lacking knowledge and training but CACREP standards. As a result, those in the Counseling-Student Affairs M.E.d at NAU may have some skills and training in trauma response but may not know enough to effectively help students. In addition, not every student affairs/higher education program has a counseling component. Are these future professionals being accurately prepared and given the tools needed to help a student through trauma. This line of thought also assumes that those working in student affairs have a degree in student affairs or higher education, which is not always true. Again though, I am not necessarily saying that I think student affairs professionals should ignore students and their trauma, or intentionally make things harder on anyone, but if trauma response and trauma care are expected as a part of our roles, I think more attention needs to be given to how we train (and in some ways even pay) student affairs professionals.

    A point that did resonate, though, with me was Shalka’s point on proactive and intentional self-care, and how self-care is critical when helping others through trauma. Self-care, arguably, is a buzz word thrown around in society, but I do not think a lot of people actually think about what self-care means to them. Personally, I have always thought of self-care as something you do reactively, but Shalka situates self-care as something we should do proactively. By shifting the way we, as a profession, think about self-care can be fundamental in our ability to help students. From my experience, self-care comes up the most during peak or busy times, when arguably, self-care is a low priority on people’s to-do lists. However, if we focused on self-care before peak periods, and approach self-care as something we can do to set limits, know where support it is, and plan for future needs, I think we can help better assist our students. Our cups will be more full because we are intentional in keeping them full, rather than trying to fill our cup up while simultaneously pouring into students’ cups.

    Reply
    1. hpeters1999 Avatar
      hpeters1999

      Hi Tori,

      Thank you for sharing! Your argument straight from the beginning really captivated me and I’ve found myself wrestling with the same question about if student affairs professionals should have to take on students trauma. Something that I was talking to another colleague in the class recently is the idea of having an “opt-in” program to being a mandatory reporter. Because, as of right now, NAU seems to have a pretty grey policy that all staff and faculty are mandatory reports. In this conversation, I worry about two things. 1, students may admit something to a friendly staff member or someone they have built a relationship with, not knowing that they are a mandatory reporter, and then that trust is then broken. 2, are all student affairs professionals really educated on and familiar with the processes of how to report incidents and such? Also, I really enjoyed reading about your opinions on our program and our capabilities to deal with these trauma situations, as opposed to programs that do not include a counseling aspect. Lots to think about, thanks again!

      Reply
  3. Sofía Rodríguez Walter Avatar
    Sofía Rodríguez Walter

    In Tricia R. Shalka’s essay on the role of Student Affairs educators in helping students whose learning is complicated by experience trauma, Shalka introduces trauma as an emerging “hot topic” in the field of higher education, while acknowledging that trauma has been ever-present in the lives of students and their college experiences.

    I appreciated Shalka’s emphasis on how trauma impacts individuals in diverse ways even when they have endured similar traumatic experiences. This reminded me of the term “emotional hazards” used in Sandoval’s (2013) book on crisis counseling, a term which aims to “capture the notion that some individuals will pass through such situations with little difficulties or minimal stress, while others will find themselves immobilized or damaged by the hazard”. Shalka then goes on to problematize the historical definition of trauma which primarily focuses on “physical or psychological injury that results from an experience that overwhelms the body’s physical and/or psychological capacities for survival” (p. 223) for insufficiently capturing the impact of trauma on a cultural and relational level.

    Further, Shalka brings to light the issue of systemic oppression on the impact of trauma and the importance of interrogating power and privilege in the conversation on traumatic experiences. This perspective acknowledges that the healing process is complicated for survivors when we apply restrictive and non-inclusive understanding of trauma. These restrictive conceptualizations of trauma also make certain traumas invisible by excluding them from the definition. In this case, trauma experienced by marginalized groups of students may be disregarded and go unattended due to their invisibility.

    In Kelli D. Zaytoun’s article response to Shalka, I valued the focus on the relational context of trauma as it pertains to healing processes. Zaytoun posits that trauma healing then cannot be an individual task but instead navigated within the community and involve efforts to tackle inequity through activism. Zaytoun’s framework further highlights the importance of survivor narratives and stories as an essential part of the healing process. These two concepts draw parallels to the framework of “healing communities” which calls for a transformational change toward trauma-informed and trauma-response care.

    As a student affairs practitioner, the interrogation of oppressive systems and power along with the efforts to foster caring, healing communities is critical for trauma work. Each student holds their own unique life history that shapes who they are and how they show up to the college environment. Often serving as “first-responders” to the scene of student crisis, student affairs practitioners are expected to model effective mechanisms for support and guide students towards their own journey of healing. By drawing on Shalka’s definition of trauma that expands beyond the individual impacts and exercising best practices of trauma-responsive care as discussed by Zaytoun, we may not only provide critical care to students but also positively influence the communities from which the students belong.

    Reply
  4. Benjamin Jeter Avatar
    Benjamin Jeter

    As I read Shalka’s essay, I was struck by how they wrote about trauma-informed care in a student support context. When some people conceptualize trauma, they think of the psychological impacts but rarely the physiological ones (like Shalka mentioned). It becomes vital for student affairs practitioners to be aware of signs of trauma and be proactive in how we utilize the resources and capital at our disposal to support the student. Before I came to NAU, I had very limited knowledge on trauma-informed care. From what I could see, my previous supervisor exemplified and centered trauma-informed care in their efforts to support students in our campus living communities on our campus. They prioritized the safety of students who disclosed incidents to them, fostered an environment where the student could be transparent about their needs, and empowered them in their healing journey. I learned a lot from watching her and used those practices in my own work with students. In one situation after I provided student support after they were being stalked by another community member, they were surprised that I believed them about their situation and took charge to make sure they were moved to a different community.

    For Zaytoun’s essay, I was moved by their statement about the power of community in healing and reconciling trauma. As experiencing trauma can be an isolating experience, finding affinity with others who have been through a shared incident can feel validating and empowering. I saw this in action on social media a few years ago after an incident occurred at my friend’s undergraduate institution. After a traumatic experience during a night out with friends, a student went public with their story on their Instagram account. The post picked up traction with other students and alum who resonated with their story as they have had very similar experiences to the student who submitted the post. After the student came forward, details were strung together by others who went through similar incidents. The group realized that the university was negligent in how they handled situations like this after students submitted reports. An Instagram page was started in protest that included the stories of over 20 students/alum which ended up reaching the administrators at the university. The university put out a statement about the incident, created a committee that would focus on supporting students, and penalized an organization on campus that hosted the space where the incident occurred. That action came after a student bravely used their voice, had a community who backed them and helped them receive justice on their course to healing.

    Reply
    1. Sarah Grace Mundi Avatar
      Sarah Grace Mundi

      Hi Ben,

      Thank you for sharing these stories in alliance with Shalka’s and Zaytoun’s essays. I always appreciate your insight in the classroom and on the blog. From what you wrote above I was also surprised by Shalka’s mention of the physiological signs that students show when they’ve experienced trauma and are trying to get away from the situation. It folds into the idea of “Fight, Flight, or Freeze” when students are confronted with trauma. From my own experience working with students with trauma, I have seen this reaction countless times. Students will freeze and leave a situation to avoid the triggering event. Students might also confront the professor to try and end the conversation. Since we do not know what triggers each other, I believe higher education and trauma-informed faculty and staff members should provide trigger warnings to lessen the physical shock experienced by students or give them a chance to excuse themselves. More care should be given to students who leave class or need to step away. As student affairs professionals, we need to start by destigmatizing students who leave class to protect themselves from harm. I think a good start to this practice is putting kindness and care first in every conversation and letting the students know that no one is disappointed or mad at them for making a choice to protect themselves.

      Reply
    2. sofiemascola Avatar
      sofiemascola

      Hey Ben!
      First I want to thank you for making a difference in someones life while they were experiencing trauma. I appreciate that you believed them, listened to them, and gave them support. I think your example shows us the power of our voice when it comes to trauma and the power of having a social media platform. I am glad that others stepped forwards to voice their experiencing and I am hoping that other universities do not try to hide trauma or just ignore it. Universities and student affairs needs to address trauma and give as many resources as possible to their students.

      Best,
      Sofie

      Reply
  5. hpeters1999 Avatar
    hpeters1999

    What stood out to me the most from the two articles presented was Shalka’s discussion on the several dilemmas that we face as student affairs professionals navigating the world of trauma. The first dilemmas related to trigger warnings, and if they should be applied or not. This discussion really peaked my interested, because in my professional career I really have never heard anyone discuss any negatives around providing students with a trigger warning. But, the reality is that there are two sides to things. Of course providing a trigger warning to students allows them the opportunity to leave if they would like, or at least understand the space they are going into. However I can also recognize how trigger warnings for some may seem unnecessary, and cause more harm than good as people may be publicly “outed” in their trauma response, or overwhelmed by those thoughts. Ultimately, I agree with what Shalka was saying in that we will never fully understand what is or is not a trigger to all individuals, but it is likely in the best interest to take the most well-known triggers and provide a warning to those students ahead of time.

    When thinking of trigger warnings and their purpose, I could not help but think about today’s language and connotations built around trauma. More specifically, we can look at recent initiatives as mentioned such as the “Me Too” movement that allowed the opportunity for so many individuals to feel validated in their potentially secret traumas and shared experiences. While awareness of trauma can be extremely important to provide support for survivors, it also created many more conversations around trauma in general. In today’s culture and in the younger generations, I frequently hear language such as “that gives me PTSD” and “that is SO triggering” in a non-literal sense. While new conversations surrounding trauma have begun, many individuals are not using these terms in an appropriate manner and instead may only be adding to the trauma of survivors around them, making jokes about it and such. Full disclosure, I myself can even think of a few times when I have said phrases like that. But, before these articles, I have never recognized the importance of not saying things like that.

    I believe my ignorance comes from the same place that Shalka was discussing when they mentioned the difference between traumatic experiences and PTSD. To take it one step further, I really am pondering to myself where I draw the line between what is a negative experience and what is a traumatic experience. The answer to this question really goes back to the initial question asked that reads “how do you define trauma”. The answer is that trauma is whatever it means to you, and will look different from person to person. No one, including student affairs professionals, will be able to tell a student what is or is not trauma.

    Reply
    1. jasminewaters123 Avatar
      jasminewaters123

      Hello,
      In response to your posting here, I enjoyed reading the thoughts you had in regards to the chapter articles read. The barriers that student affairs professionals face when it comes to aiding students who have experienced trauma are numerous and difficult to address. Even though we are professionals, we also have to draw a line because we are often not licensed to counsel a student and can feel limited in the ways that we support them through that trauma. One thing you said was “No one, including student affairs professionals, will be able to tell a student what is or is not trauma” and with that thought, I feel that you are hitting the answer to a large part of this right on the nose. By recognizing that we as professionals can’t tell students what trauma is or is not, we can potentially help them feel seen and supported. If someone tells us that they experienced trauma, we can support them by saying that we believe them. Trauma might not have super clear definitions to each individual student because of the ways that trauma is nuanced or placed into stereotypes by society, and it matters the way the individual feels. Two people can experience similar things and only one of them may feel that it was traumatic, it depends on the person which makes it so hard to define. However, both individuals may be traumatized by that event and experience that trauma very differently and it’s hard to be prepared to support those students.
      Thank you for bringing this up.

      Reply
  6. emmallyevans Avatar
    emmallyevans

    These readings from Zaytoun and Shalka were very insightful into trauma and what is means. When I think of trauma, my first response is always that of a phycological nature. What cause it, what are the symptoms, and how can I fix it? It was great to read these and almost reframe them in a student-centered way. I have a position on campus where I connect closely both with student staff and those in the building. With this positionality, there is a way that beseeches improvement on what my creation of a safe space looks like. I consider my office and the area I occupy to be a safe space, but I sometimes still lean toward fixing and diagnostic criteria. My role and the role of student affairs educators should include having the ability to recognize; signs of trauma, topics that may be traumatic, and students that may be struggling. These skills will make us more available and resourceful to students who need them.

    An interesting point in the articles was resource dumping and resource overload. This is something that comes up very often in our work. We are the front lines to students that disclose sensitive information about themselves or may be in crisis. We can offer basic support, empathy, and follow-up; we often refer them out for support. Whether PD, Counseling Services, Health Coaching, Academic Coaching, ODOS, etc. I have talked to residents that have been annoyed that their CA already did ask questions and offer resources, and that did not feel like enough or supportive for them. They then talk to me, and I take more time empathizing, reflective listening, and other micro-skills. Still, beyond offering a room change for certain situations, I also offer more resources. Others are more equipped and trained to help in these instances than I am, but I also wonder what else we can be doing for support if the training we receive is to send them to other campus partner resources.

    Reply
    1. Benjamin Jeter Avatar
      Benjamin Jeter

      Hi Emmally,

      Thank you for sharing your thoughts about this topic! The topic of referrals (or over referrals) is something that I think about when it comes to trauma. If a student shares an incident with their CA or another student leader, they had to disclose and relive their trauma to receive the care that they need. When they come to their supervisors, they may be stuck retelling a story that they don’t need to retell. In situations that I have come across, I tell the student that they can share what they have the capacity to share. If there are details missing, I can work with campus partners to make sure that the information is compiled somewhere to be a catalyst for resources to be delivered to the student when they are ready to receive them.

      Thank you!

      Reply
  7. naustudent123 Avatar
    naustudent123

    This chapter of the book included two essays about student affairs personnel and their influence on student trauma and healing. The first essay by Shalka took time to write definitions and perceptions of trauma down, which was an important clarification step for a concept with such varied perceptions across society in general but also within the educational realm. Shalka had some very salient points concerning their own experience with trauma in college, as well as what that looks like on the Student Affairs side of campus interaction with students and their trauma. These points were supported by Zaytoun’s essay which followed, with some being expanded on. While these two essays felt relevant and well put together I did still have some lingering questions about potential gaps within their guidance for student affair professionals.

    One of the salient points made by Shalka which felt uncommon in the narrative higher education holds concerning trauma, was the concept of campus culture and staff holding space for students to heal. Within my time studying and working in the field of student affairs I feel that I have been trained and prepared well for managing student trauma, but not necessarily holding space for healing. Conceptually and literally, aiding students in the healing process will look different than simply managing trauma. We learn how to support students when they’re struggling, and work hard to help them accomplish balance within their lives. Healing is an active concept, it is not just getting the student to a manageable level, but to thriving and successful. On the student affairs side of this experience healing is forward thinking, and weaves into social justice in necessitating us to work actively to prevent more harm from coming to the student as a result of institutional practice and/or policy. Beyond referrals this may mean learning to hold space within our roles for students to process and grow. Holding space for growth means meeting them where they are and guiding them through discomfort, not just removing the uncomfortable thing for them.

    The second salient point from Shalka’s essay in this chapter that was recurring throughout was the need for student affairs personnel to remember that trauma manifests itself differently in each individual student. Signs may be obvious, but they might not. This means that we need to not just hold space when a student has confided a traumatic experience but even if they haven’t. This may look like always actively listening to students, not just ones we are concerned about. It may look like giving “trigger warnings” as Shalka reviewed. Beyond trigger warnings, it may be acknowledging power differentials in general as well. Another piece of meeting students where they are is remembering that every student is different. We should not get stuck in ruts concerning our modes of practice, but instead maintain fluidity in our own styles to best help the student in front of us.

    While this chapter was full of good content, I was surprised particularly in the Zaytoun essay to not see any advocation for student affairs personnel to work on processing and healing their own trauma. While there were multiple arguments made for the importance of self care and knowing who your own supporters are, the concept of pursuing active healing for the student affairs practitioner was not stated. Healing oneself frequently makes it much easier to hold space for others to do the same, but if we are blocking ourselves from the healing space, are we really holding the space we need for our students?

    Reply
    1. miriamfiering Avatar
      miriamfiering

      I also appreciated Shalka’s definition of trauma and the discussion of how that definition has changed over time since there are lots of different ways to define and conceptualize trauma. I look forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts on that definition in our discussion on Monday. For me, I think the challenge is in where to draw the trauma line on the spectrum of negative events since “serious psychological or physical harm” is fairly subjective, especially taking into account the fact that people experience harm and trauma differently.

      Your point about working to prevent more harm from coming to the student through institutional policies and procedures reminded me of a discussion from a class last year about the ethical challenges associated with reporting when the student affairs professional suspects that the processes set in motion through reporting would cause more harm to the student. It seems like a difficult balance between the need for standardized processes to protect the institution and professionals, and recognizing that standardized processes might not always be the most effective way to support the individual person. I’m not sure how I feel about that idea, and I wonder whether it is possible to have processes that are standard enough to satisfy institutional requirements and effectively support most students, while at the same time allowing for the fact that trauma impacts people in different ways.

      Reply
  8. sofiemascola Avatar
    sofiemascola

    I heard 3rd times the charm so hopefully my blog will post this time…

    Student affairs educators play a large role in helping students whose learning is complicated by trauma. I would define trauma as an event that directly or indirectly impacts an individual in a negative way. It creates a tough environment for the student to be in. Trauma can happen from being physically or emotionally hurt. If two individuals experience the same traumatic event, each individual will internalize it in a different way. Revealing to us that trauma is different for each individual experiencing it. An example of trauma would be someone that was robbed while walking home from school. That person would have trauma when they walk anywhere after that. They may even seem paranoid and constantly in their own head. A form of trauma that student affairs individuals would come across would be the trauma of a loved one passing away. Most people will endure this trauma when a best friend or family member dies. On campus we can also see the trauma that has been created by the universities to those of minority cultures. Traditionally education was created for rich white men. Now almost anyone can get access to higher education but it does not mean that they are welcomed. There is trauma created from bullying or being different, not the main ethnicity on campus.
    When it comes to things that our campus can improve, we should start with dealing with sexual or physically assaulted students. At the moment title 9 is in the process of changing their policy so people can report their incidents even if they have already graduated. Currently the process for dealing with students who are the assaulter and the assaulted can take up to 6 months to process meaning that this situation could occur to other people. This also means that the individual that was assaulted would have potential to come into contact with the person that created trauma for them, if they are still on campus or in the community. For many individuals that have experienced trauma in higher education their main struggle is to try to get back into a normal life. This almost seems impossible, it is a daunting task but shows us the power of our own resiliency.
    While studying student affairs I can see how frequently these workers need to know the correct resources to turn students to. It is important for student affairs educators to hold supportive spaces and give out conscious and informed referrals to best help our students deal with their traumatic experience. I have learned that it is best to take your trauma and give it a voice. If you have experienced a traumatic situation the likeliness of someone having a similar situation to yours is high. If we give our trauma a voice it tends to make us stronger, it helps create changes on our campus, and helps prove to ourselves that we can get through this with the right resources that can be provided by student affairs educators.

    Reply
  9. jasminewaters123 Avatar
    jasminewaters123

    “What is sometimes missing from conversations about traumatic experience is the interplay of systemic oppression. The inequities of our society can be sources of trauma, as is the case for experiences of racial trauma, extreme poverty, intergenerational trauma, and other conditions of bias that overwhelm the human condition. Additionally, those who endure the daily effects of marginalization are often at a higher baseline stress level as a result.” (Shalka, 2019)

    This chapter touches on critical factors of a student’s experiences in college and how it can be affected by trauma. There are many challenges in supporting students who have trauma, and professionals might wonder what role they play in that or whether they even belong in that area. The navigation of our roles is tricky because we often aren’t licensed to counsel students through their trauma and we might not even have very much time we spend with a student at all. Oftentimes, we only get one meeting with them which is hardly enough time to build rapport. The chapter asks “What Is Our Role as Student Affairs Educators in Effectively Supporting Students Through Trauma?” and by using the phrase “effective support,” the author recognizes that there are challenges to supporting students in their trauma. Despite the fact that professionals are limited, there are still ways we can help without feeling like we have to take on the weight of the world for a student. Furthermore, there are ways we can help without knowing the trauma of a student, which is information that we aren’t required to know and aren’t entitled to.

    The author delves into the idea of trigger warnings, and how there seems to be a lot of disagreement on whether or not trigger warnings are helpful. Some say that trigger warnings coddle students too much and can create anxiety just by existing. Some say the benefits of exposing individuals to traumatic things can be beneficial to their healing. They further explain that anxieties like this have always been a part of the learning process in college. Hearing all of this, I honestly feel disappointed and angry in how problematic and exclusive these ideas are. To say that exposing students to potentially triggering things can help their healing is not up to student affairs professionals to decide and the idea that we are coddling students by offering trigger warnings is ridiculous. If a student is interested in exposure therapy, a trigger warning gives them the option to opt out of that space or stay in that space. The decision shouldn’t be up to the professor. Furthermore, the positive effects that trigger warnings have the potential to create are expansive and inclusive in ways that can affect the campus culture. Often in the inclusion work that I participate in, we begin by educating folks on the importance and impact of inclusion even when our actions or language feels like it might not make a huge difference. The presence of inclusion can help individuals feel welcome, and the lack of it can be alienating. By providing trigger warnings, students have the potential to feel like the professionals on their campus are aware of the students who suffer from trauma, but also that those students are welcome and accommodated in some simple ways that can create large impacts.

    The topic of trigger warnings reminds me of Resident Assistant training and how, oftentimes, training involves traumatic formats of situations that the staff member might encounter. The concept of Behind Closed Doors (BCD’s) has a lot of potential to fall into the category of hazing due to the nature of how the training is performed. For those unfamiliar, BCD’s is a type of crisis intervention training that most RA’s go through where the RA knocks on a door and enters a situation set up by actors and staff members. The RA then has to use skills they have learned to address and potentially solve the situation. The topics can include alcohol poisoning or alcohol consumption, suicide attempts or ideations, extreme emotional distress, and more. I wonder how the topic of trigger warnings and coddling applies to this area. In my experience, BCD’s did not include trigger warnings or any inclination of the situation we were walking into with the intention of making sure you had to think on the spot to solve the issue. The training was meant to show you exactly how you might encounter these things because you didn’t know what you were walking into. This resulted in myself experiencing emotional distress because this training triggered my PTSD in ways that felt unnecessarily harsh. One specific scenario involved the RA walking into a pretend suicide attempt with an “unconscious” student on the ground while the roommates were present. The roommates were screaming and crying and the RA was expected to handle this situation in front of 10 other staff members. On one hand, when you are an RA you often don’t know what you are going to encounter and being prepared for it can be helpful. On the other hand, could my revisitation with my previous traumas have been prevented or lessened that day if I was given a trigger warning? Where do we draw the line in preparing individuals for crisis response without causing them extreme distress? How was my learning complicated by trauma? I would love to hear other individuals’ thoughts on this.

    Shalka, T. R. (2019). Navigating the Complex Space of Supporting Student Survivors of Trauma. In P. M. Magolda, M. B. Magolda, & R. Carducci (Eds.), Contested issues in troubled times: Student affairs dialogues on equity, civility, and safety (pp. 221-229). Stylus Publishing, LLC.

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    1. jasminewaters123 Avatar
      jasminewaters123

      I accidentally left a quote at the top of my post, it was part of some notes I was taking, that was not intentional.

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      1. Savannah Davis Avatar
        Savannah Davis

        Hello Jazz,

        Thank you for your thoughtful analysis! I resonate with a lot of points that you touched upon in providing trigger warnings. If we know that certain topics can be harmful, it is best practice to let individuals gauge for themselves if they have the capacity for certain information. BCDS is a great example of how a trigger warning could be provided. At my undergraduate institution, there were no trigger warnings for situations that would be encountered. At NAU, there may be a sentence or two to prep the responder, but otherwise, there is no briefing. In these situations, the responder may need trigger warnings to be able to adequately respond. If the topics being discussed may be too hot to touch for the parties involved, including the responder, action to the situation may not be handled in the best way.
        Going forward, it is important for trigger warnings to be taken seriously by all parties. Giving individuals information on sensitive materials gives them autonomy in their decision-making. By not assuming what individuals can or cannot handle, more care and support are provided. While this may be seen as being ‘too easy’ on students, it can rather be viewed as taking a more humanistic approach to student affairs. We all hold traumas – rather than putting us in a pressure cooker to see if we fail or succeed, we should all be engaging in mutual aid to help each other grow our gardens. Sometimes different kinds of pressure are needed, such as clipping dead leaves or pulling out weeds. In other instances, aid is needed from others to gauge how much water or sunlight we need. In all, individuals that come to the university setting bring a diverse set of lived experiences – and it should not be assumed that a form of forced exposure works for everyone.

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  10. Sarah Grace Mundi Avatar
    Sarah Grace Mundi

    These articles piqued my academic and my humanistic interest because of how trauma manifests in student and faculty relationships during their time on campus. At the beginning of the first essay, Tricia Shalka describes a time when they were injured in a fire and had visible scars from the incident. In the end, she was nervous to return to Dartmouth, but felt a warm embrace from friends and faculty members upon her arrival. Shalka’s story brought up important questions surrounding the visibility of trauma. As someone who has an invisible trauma, the following statements are my own opinion from my lived experiences. When you have a visible trauma, people are more likely to sympathize with you and support you because they feel vicarious trauma from witnessing your pain. When your trauma is invisible, people cannot imagine your trauma and will, I believe, have a challenging time sympathizing or supporting you. I believe when people cannot see your trauma, they are more likely to dismiss it and not believe in it. Going back to Shalka’s story, her faculty supported her without question because her trauma was visible so they could not deny it. Similar to how people deny disabilities if they are not visible. I believe all humans, regardless of visible or invisible trauma, do not deserve to be denied just because others do not understand, or have the capacity to understand.

    Transitioning to a different side of visible and invisible trauma are Trigger warnings. Trigger warnings should be standard on all syllabi for each class regardless of the topic. Trigger warning protects students who have experienced trauma from the emotional lessons they might learn in class. However, many professionals in higher education say that trigger warnings are seen as coddling in academia. On the other side, Shalka wrote, “trigger warnings acknowledge the very real differences that exist in student experiences, often due to inequitable power structures.” I believe that to provide an equitable education, like many universities promise, trigger warnings should be standard practice to account for visible and invisible trauma. Student affairs professionals, faculty, staff, and graduate assistants should also all undergo mandatory trauma-informed training at the start of each academic year, to correlate with each new Freshman Undergraduate class. In the second essay, Kelli Zayton covered many points not fully elaborated in the Shalka article. Zayton wrote that we need to focus on the systemic issues present in Higher Education related to race, oppression, discrimination, etc. that can affect student’s trauma. Reinforcing the idea that not all trauma is visible and that trigger warnings should exist to protect students from the systemic trauma that exists in Higher Education.

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    1. Victoria Tori Ball Avatar
      Victoria Tori Ball

      Hi Sarah. Something that stuck out to me was when you were speaking to how people are more likely to support someone with a visible trauma than if someone has an invisible trauma. My experiences align with yours. When you have something that is invisible, it constantly feels like you have to justify and explain why your trauma and experiences are valid and real. This can be exhausting and sometimes you encounter people who do not believe you. These situations, and the constant battling, can create more trauma, which is most likely to be invisible as well. There is a cyclical nature. When we talk about trauma, it feels essential that we do bring awareness to the types of invisible trauma that exist, especially because it is easier to forget about things you can not see. Out of sight, out of mind type of thing. One way to help make sure something is not out of mind, is to talk about it. In addition, it is important to discuss how to accommodate and support students with invisible trauma. Sometimes with a visible trauma, the support methods may be more obvious (although it still can be hard to support a student with a visible trauma and every student needs different things). Learning about invisible traumas, though, needs to be an essential training part for student affairs professionals, in my opinion.

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  11. miriamfiering Avatar
    miriamfiering

    This was my first time hearing about any positive outcomes of trauma, namely posttraumatic growth and vicarious resilience. Shalka describes posttraumatic growth as a phenomenon where the survivor experiences positive changes in sense of self, sense of relationships, and life philosophy. An example of this could be psychologist and Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl, who found personal meaning in his traumatic experience and created a new type of therapy based on that search for meaning. Vicarious resilience refers to ways that someone who is helping another person through trauma benefits from seeing the survivor’s resilience and coping mechanisms. I realized that I have experienced this to a certain degree, in working with one of my students. This student experiences ongoing trauma resulting from systemic oppression of several aspects of their identity and circumstances, including race, disability, and SES. Despite the fact that they especially struggle with reading and writing, they are in a writing-intensive graduate program and currently working on their thesis. Working closely with them for a year and having the opportunity to see and hear about the challenges they continue to overcome every day has changed my view of what is possible for myself and others within higher education.
    Shalka’s discussion of the restrictive definitions of trauma that are often used and how those definitions minimize students’ traumatic experiences that “do not fit into the traditional definitions of trauma box” (p. 224) was another point that I found to be especially relevant within student affairs. Because “trauma is an inherently subjective experience that impacts individuals in diverse ways” (p. 223), it is important to try to avoid making assumptions about a trauma experience by projecting dominant cultural norms of trauma or personal experiences onto someone else. At the institutional level, I wonder how existing processes and guidelines might be reinforcing a political and restrictive view of trauma and invalidating the experiences of people who experience trauma in different ways.
    I can see the difficulty in defining trauma and in drawing an arbitrary line around what constitutes it. Because trauma experiences can be so different between individuals, how can someone categorize someone else’s experience as traumatic or not traumatic? This also reminds me of the recently popular use of the phrase “I’m so triggered right now”, and words to that effect. The person saying it might not be aware that their joking use of a word associated with serious reactions that can cause considerable difficulty for trauma survivors could be offensive. This raises the question, how do we broaden the restrictive view of what trauma looks like while maintaining the power of the word and recognizing how seriously it impacts people?
    I was also interested in Zaytoun’s discussion of higher education offering opportunities for trauma survivors to give a voice to their experiences and for others to better understand through writing, speaking, reading, and listening. It seems like higher education can also give people access to the language and forums to speak about trauma in a way that is more likely to be listened to and validated, since academic norms of writing and speaking still carry a lot of power and prestige in our society. Learning the academic language psychology, gender studies, anthropology, sociology, and other fields that discuss trauma allows the survivor or trauma researcher to leverage the social and cultural capital that comes with a college degree. This includes increased access to a scholarly audience as well as proficiency in academic language which ensures that their research is more likely to be respected and taken seriously both within and outside of academic circles. For example, Dr. Brené Brown’s books are popular outside of her field of social work and outside of academia, but her post-secondary degrees are what made that research and popularity possible.

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    1. emmallyevans Avatar
      emmallyevans

      This was also my first time hearing about a positive response to trauma. I thought it was an interesting addition, and felt like a ” lets turn a negative into a positive.” I instantly think about turning this into an event or bringing this thought process to students who it might impact. Alarm bells go off as I think about the harmful over the helpful impacts this could have. It was great to read that you have seen this in a positive light though. I would be interested in hearing more, but also finding more research about the positive outcomes, and if there were a way to talk to students about this and if it could be beneficial.

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  12. Devin Andersen Avatar
    Devin Andersen

    Both Shalka and Zaytoun provide interesting and thought provoking perspectives on trauma and college students. Indeed, the question of “What is the role of student affairs educators in helping students whose learning is complicated by experiencing trauma?” is not as simple of a question to answer as one might think. I think my initial response to the question this chapter asks is that we, as individuals in a helping profession, have a responsibility to adjust our own behaviors and actions to ensure that the experiences we provide to students is both enriching and fair. However, Shalka provides three dilemmas at the end of her article that I believe work to complicate my answer in a few unique ways.

    Dilemma 1: Should I incorporate trigger warnings in my work with students? I think that many folks of all beliefs work to unnecessarily nuance and politicize this dilemma. My guess is that folks who answer “no” to this question do not see trauma, or the re-living of trauma, as violence towards a student. This question boils down simply to “Should I knowingly harm a student?”. The blatantly obvious answer is no. In contrast, I think those that answer “yes” to this question maybe nuance this question in a different way. Trauma is something that is deeply personal for someone, and we will never fully understand another’s trauma, even if we experience a similar trauma. The answer to this question lies in a simplistic solution rooted in harm reduction. Rather than incorporating trigger warnings specifically to address trauma, a broader approach, such as including content warnings or content disclaimers, is appropriate. This is effectively the same thing as a trigger warning, however it also includes students who may not experience any trauma from a given subject, but may still nonetheless desire to not participate in uncomfortable subjects, or perhaps might experience trauma after being exposed to information or new knowledge. Many academics may suggest that this approach coddles students too much. After all, as Shalka explains, sometimes students may not be ready to learn but must learn nonetheless. To that, I would point everyone to this old adage: you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot force a horse to drink. While part of my responsibility may be to educate, I cannot, and will not, force someone to learn something they do not wish to learn. Content warnings are simply a safeguard for sensitive topics for both students who have experienced trauma as well as those who haven’t.

    Dilemma 2: How do I navigate mandatory reporting? Unfortunately, the solution to this dilemma is a bit more concrete than the previous example. Simply put, if you are required to report certain sensitive information, you have a responsibility to follow through with that reporting. However, I have empathy for those who argue that mandatory reporting may further harm the student involved, and thus approach this dilemma in the same way that researchers seek informed consent from their participants. As I have been trained at my conduct internship this semester, if a student starts to disclose personal information that may, even in the slightest, reveal information that I am required to report on, it is the ethical and responsible thing to inform the student that you must report any conversations surrounding [whatever your are legally compelled to report]. Additionally, I would give the student resources that may be more confidential, or not compelled to report certain information in the same way that I am.

    Dilemma 3: How do I support students when I’m personally affected by their trauma? Personally, I have a more limited response to this dilemma. While I have experienced trauma in my past, I have lost nearly all of my memory of it, and have yet to experience secondary traumatic stress from another’s telling of their trauma. I think Shalka provides a fairly mediocre response here, however, by simply stating that student affairs professionals have a responsibility to engage in strong self-care behaviors. The subject of self-care is incredibly nuanced and is beyond the scope of this conversation, but I think telling student affairs workers that they are responsible for dealing with secondary trauma is a bit disingenuous. While again, I do not have as meaningful of an approach to this dilemma, I believe a start is to refer students to a separate source if their experiences may cause secondary trauma. While this is not always possible, I think this provides student affairs professionals with a safety tool of sorts, that ensures, at least in some cases, that trauma isn’t relived.

    After reviewing the two readings from this chapter, my answer to the question of “what is our role in helping students who have experienced trauma” is slightly more expanded. I still believe that we all have a responsibility to help others, and harm reduction is an important facet in this helping profession, I would also add that consulting other colleagues and resources in helping a student is part of that responsibility as well, in order to maintain a level of well-being for us as student affairs workers. The subject of trauma is complicated, and it indeed forces us to look at our work in different ways, but our approach to this subject should, in my view, remain largely the same when comparing it to other facets of the student experience that we provide on college campuses.

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  13. Julia Bopp Avatar
    Julia Bopp

    I am currently taking a class on counseling for crisis and trauma and I was very interested in finding connections between trauma and student affairs through reading this chapter. While we are all affected by trauma in one way or another, folks that are experiencing PTSD are incredibly affected. PTSD causes a person to live their life as if the traumatic experience they had is still happening due to the way the trauma changed their brain’s functioning. Regardless of whether a student has PTSD, trauma can have a negative impact on anyone and trauma-informed practice is thus essential. Shalka notes that there is sometimes a debate on whether or not to use trigger warnings in practice when discussing potentially triggering situations. While exposure to stressors is a part of the process of healing from trauma, it’s essential that this be done in a safe environment by a trained professional. In my class, we learn about trauma-specific treatments for clinical counseling patients. While these treatments almost all include exposure to the trauma, either through memories or experiences, the danger of retraumatizing someone is always emphasized. As the only student affairs student in that class, I always have to adjust my learning from knowing how to conduct these treatments to knowing how and when to refer a student to a mental health professional. Zaytoun notes that building relationships with students and referring them to mental health support when they trust us enough to share their trauma is the best way we can support students.

    For me, trauma-informed practice also involves being flexible whenever possible. Shalka explains that trauma can cause hyperarousal or hypoarousal in students. While this response can happen due to a trigger, it can also be prolonged and affect a student outside of triggering situations if their trauma has affected them deeply enough. Hyperarousal may cause a student to not be able to focus on their tasks while hypoarousal can prevent a student from finding the energy or motivation to complete tasks. Rather than judge students or punish them for not doing what they need to do, a trauma-informed practitioner would be flexible whenever possible and look for concerning patterns in students. If a student is missing assignments and not attending a class, for example, they may need help from a mental health professional. Labeling students as lazy or unsuccessful can cause even more shame, which is a common emotion associated with trauma.

    It’s also important to note that trauma can happen on any scale at any time, including campus-wide or nationally. For example, when Black Americans get murdered by police officers in America, Black Americans can and do experience trauma that then affects the way they function in everyday life. Trauma-informed practice included keeping up with current events, on and off campus, and noting events that may cause students trauma. Another example is when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, Afghan students at universities in America may have experienced trauma. Keeping the effects of trauma in mind, being flexible with students, and referring out to mental health professionals can support traumatized students.

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    1. Taylor Stephens Avatar
      Taylor Stephens

      Hi Julia, I really enjoyed your post. I appreciated your insight from your trauma and crisis counseling course on how trauma is relieved by individuals with PTSD. I think that it is important to extend this knowledge to how trauma impacts students interacting in classrooms. You were definitely accurate in saying that making authentic relationships is important for supporting students, especially students with trauma. In addition, flexibility is also important. Whether a student is experiencing hypoarousal or hyperarousal, those symptoms show up in classrooms and in relationships. It can be so impactful for students to have adults in their lives to show flexibility and understanding. We all know that navigating adulthood is challenging, and for students that have experienced trauma, going to class and learning new knowledge can be almost impossible. Students have to feel safe before they can learn and push themselves outside their comfort zones. I thought that it was really important how you mentioned that trauma “can happen at any scale”. Generational trauma is only exacerbated by systemic oppression. As student affairs educators we have the responsibility to evaluate and change systems that continue to oppress marginalized students. The relationships we form with students and the flexibility and support we can provide should look different for every student we come to meet.

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  14. Taylor Stephens Avatar
    Taylor Stephens

    One way that trauma has been described to me is when someone experiences something too much, too soon and too fast to process. Trauma can look different in every person. Shalka (2019) describes that if we were to list all the possible traumatic events, we would still miss some events. Furthermore, if we were to list all the symptoms of trauma, we would still miss some symptoms. In addition, trauma can happen at different levels: individual, relational, and cultural (Shalka, 2019).

    It is essential to realize that trauma can look different in students and that definitely affects how they show up in spaces (inside and outside the classroom). Hyperarousal can look like students being frustrated, hyper vigilant, and unable to relax. In contrast, hypoarousal is when students may feel numb, passive or distant. Especially in my experience as a teacher, hypoarousal can look like laziness but it is important to not make assumptions about students’ lack of motivation or interest in the class.

    This week I had the pleasure of interacting with a Native American student who is studying biology at NAU with the hopes of going to graduate school or medical school. She expressed to me and my colleague that trauma is generational and widespread in her community. Additionally, she explained how it is so hard for her to keep her focus on her studies when she is intimately and consistently presented with distressful and potentially traumatic situations. This aligns with Shalka (2019) when she claims that “the capacity for students to metabolize information and take part in community” is challenged when extremely aroused (p. 225). Other research points to the effects of trauma, although being truly individual and personal, can also be familial and within communities (Zaytoun, 2019).

    This leads to the importance of having trauma-informed care and instruction for students and other members of the campus community. We have the unique opportunity to create space for students to share their experiences, but not forcing or “outing” students that are not ready. But also, it is important for student affairs educators to work towards creating environments that are not traumatic.

    Shalka, T. R. (2019). What is the role of student affairs educators in helping students whose learning is complicated by experiencing trauma? In P. M. Magolda, M. B. Magolda, & R. Carducci (Eds.), Contested issues in troubled times: Student affairs dialogues on equity, civility, and safety (pp. 221-232). Stylus Publishing, LLC.

    Zaytoun, K. D. (2019). A focus on relational and narrative aspects of trauma: Challenges and opportunities for higher education. In P. M. Magolda, M. B. Magolda, & R. Carducci (Eds.), Contested issues in troubled times: Student affairs dialogues on equity, civility, and safety (pp. 233-238). Stylus Publishing, LLC.

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    1. Abigail Murray Avatar
      Abigail Murray

      Hi Taylor,

      Thank you for highlighting the points Shalka (2019) made regarding the different levels of trauma, and how improbable it is that we would be able to capture every type of experience that can be deemed traumatic and every response (symptom) a person could have from trauma. When considering our work as student affairs practitioners, recognizing that we may not be able to fully comprehend the ways students experience and respond to trauma is important. It is an important reminder that we need to stay open minded and consider vast people’s perceptions and responses to different experiences can be.

      I also appreciate that you shed light on the difference between hyperarousal and hypoarousal. When I read about the two terms in Shalka’s essay, I wondered how often a student’s personality or characteristics might be misinterpreted as a result of the behaviors that stem from these two trauma responses. Hearing your experience as a teacher, where hypoarousal can be mistaken for laziness, illustrates how impactful trauma responses can be for students and other people’s interpretations and expectations of them.

      The level of systemic trauma that exists and is ingrained within institutions of higher education, and the broader society, produces long-lasting and damaging effects on marginalized people. The story you shared illustrated this point. Having to combat trauma while pursuing an education puts marginalized people at an even larger disadvantage. Learning to recognize systems that perpetuate this trauma and engaging in trauma-informed care, as you noted, is imperative to addressing this.

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    2. Sheridan Cook Avatar
      Sheridan Cook

      Hi Taylor,

      Thank you for bringing your perspective to this topic today. I especially appreciated your incorporation of your experience speaking with one of your indigenous students who was interested in attending medical school. I think something that is often forgotten in the discussion around trauma in trauma informed counseling is the experience that marginalized students have with generational and community-based trauma. I believe that part of this stems from white America’s emphasis on a celebration of individualism in all facets of life. For indigenous and other marginalized communities however, community and collectivist support systems are valued over the individual. when I think about generational trauma and community trauma, I wonder how healing works within that context. As the essays noted, for individual trauma, healing and support can come from connecting with others who have experienced the same trauma. But when people who experience generational and community trauma are connected within that community and other relationship contexts, can healing happen in the same way amongst the complex dynamics of relationships outside of the trauma itself?
      As you note for students who have experienced generational trauma who attend our schools, having trauma informed care is pivotal to helping those individuals process and heal well removed from their community. However I also appreciate your point of not forcing students to share or navigate their trauma and healing process in environments if they aren’t feeling comfortable or ready to do so. When I think about the process of indigenizing practices within higher education, I wonder if there is a way to expand the support in healing environments that we provide students on campus back out into the communities that they are from as a way to facilitate native nation building and as part of the path for restorative justice.

      Reply
  15. Abigail Murray Avatar
    Abigail Murray

    Recognizing trauma is challenging. Whether we are reflecting on an experience that may have been traumatic to us or trying to support someone else who has experienced trauma. According to Shalka, students that have experience trauma, sometimes “struggle because their personal knowing tells them what they have experiences is traumatic and yet they do not fit into the ‘traditional definitions of trauma’ box” (p.224). I resonated with this quote as I have seen others downplay people’s experiences, without fully understanding the impact a person’s experience may have on their psychological wellbeing. Comparing experiences of trauma, telling someone that their experience does not count as trauma, because it is not traumatic to them, and neglecting to acknowledge the impact that trauma can have on a person is unfortunately common. People struggle to relate to experiences they do not understand. Additionally, as Shalka mentioned, people experience and respond to trauma differently.

    I appreciated the distinction that Shalka made regarding the types of responses people can have to trauma, hyperarousal and hypoarousal. Shalka described hyperarousal as the response most people expect from someone who has experienced a traumatic event. According to Shalka, a person responding to trauma with hyperarousal “may appear agitated, overwhelmed, hypervigilant, and/or unable to relax as a result of intrusive thoughts and emotions” (p. 225). Meanwhile, a person responding to trauma with hypoarousal (the lesser-known response) “may be numb, passive, or appear distanced” (p. 225). Understanding these different responses is imperative to providing support to students as they navigate their collegiate experiences.

    Shalka and Zaytoun pointed out another component of trauma that is often neglected, the trauma that stems from systematic oppression. The trauma stemming from power, privilege, and oppression impacts specific groups of people more than others. Within Zaytoun’s essay, they shed light on the fact that “women; children; people with disabilities; and racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities” are more susceptible to experiencing trauma (p. 234). Additionally, Zaytoun illustrated that trauma is often placed on individuals to resolve; however, Zaytoun notes that trauma can impact the community and the genetics that parents pass on to their offspring, signaling that there are widespread and long-term impacts to trauma.

    I personally feel that it is important for institutions of higher education to create space to support the experiences of their students and provide opportunities for healing. Zaytoun highlighted the impact that providing a space for people to tell their stories in a safe environment can have on their healing process after encountering trauma. As someone entering the student affairs field, I believe it is important to help foster that environment and to create spaces, like the one Shalka experience upon returning to their institution after experiencing trauma, that is safe, welcoming, and supportive. A part of the reason I selected a program that emphasizes counseling is a result of my desire to foster such an environment and provide adequate support to students experiencing trauma and other mental health concerns.

    Another component of Shalka’s essay that stood out to me was how they defined and broke down various dilemmas student affairs practitioners could face relating to trauma: (1) providing trigger warnings, (2) navigating mandatory reporting requirements, and (3) supporting students whose trauma has a personal impact. I have heard several different arguments surrounding providing trigger warnings to students, which made the pros and cons Shalka described in their essay incredibly helpful for me. I also appreciated the fact that Shalka recognized the impact mandatory reporting can have on sexual assault survivors, who have a need to stay in control while sharing their stories. The part surrounding how to support someone when personably impacted by their trauma was particularly helpful to me. Some of Shalka’s recommendations included setting boundaries for oneself, seeking out support services/resources as needed, and engaging in self-care behaviors. As I move towards becoming a student affairs professional, I plan to continue reflecting on what my boundaries are when it comes to supporting students through trauma.

    Reply
    1. Taylor Dixson Avatar
      Taylor Dixson

      Hi Abbie,

      I really enjoyed reading your blog post. I also appreciate you further explaining trauma that can come from systemic oppression as it can definitely be overlooked.

      I also appreciate you mentioning reflecting and learning what your boundaries look like in terms of serving students as they are navigating trauma themselves and I feel that is so crucial and important. I feel that with individuals in this field, there’s an emphasis on jeopardizing our comfort and metal health in order to support and care for our students. I strongly disagree with that as we should not sacrifice our own needs if we are not in the right headspace to support students because we are then doing them a disservice and also may be having a more negative impact versus a positive one.

      I kind of went on a tangent about this in my post, but I think trauma as a word is fascinating and I feel like it is such word that gets overused so frequently. Not that I have any right or place to say who is or is not or what is or what’s not traumatic to individuals, but I feel the word gets overused and is almost something people want to say they have just to be with the in-crowd. In doing that, it takes away from individuals who are actually struggling and may make their struggle seem less important or serious because everyone is wanting to say they experienced trauma when sometimes the experience isn’t traumatic at all.

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    2. Devin Andersen Avatar
      Devin Andersen

      Abigail,

      I also think that Shalka and Zaytoun’s definitions of trauma to expand beyond individual experiences was insightful and valuable. Intergenerational trauma and collective trauma are just two examples, but highlight the serious impacts that trauma has on college students, especially those from marginalized groups.

      I think the expanding of trauma is an area that I perhaps glanced over when I first read this. My focus, as demonstrated in my post, was on assisting individual students that have experienced trauma, rather than exploring the collective trauma experiences that many students may have, and what approaches would I take to manage that. I think group trauma is perhaps a bit more nebulous of an issue, but also likely more pervasive, so I think I would need to explore more on how to adjust my own behaviors and practices to better navigate those experiences that college students may have faced.

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  16. Kate Millard Avatar
    Kate Millard

    I define trauma as something that happened that was too much, too quick, and too soon. Another way I conceptualize trauma is the inability for our brain to recognize that we are safe now. I feel like my definition of trauma is pretty inclusive, it does not apply a magnitude scale to it or suggest any need for violence for something to have been traumatic. Furthermore, one does not have to be diagnosed with PTSD or PTSS to have experienced or be struggling with trauma. I think this stems from my own experiences with trauma, I have never been physically assaulted or in war, but I sure as hell have experienced trauma. The implications for this in my work are that I will never minimize one’s experiences. One of the worst things you can do is tell someone “your trauma is nothing compared to what others have been through”. While that may be true, that doesn’t negate the impact an event or experience has had on an individual. It is so important for us as student affairs practitioners to support the students regardless of our conceptualization of another person’s experiences. Additionally, we would be remiss if we don’t consider the ways in which power and oppression interact with one’s experiences with trauma. Furthermore, Shalka’s writing on hypoarousal put an awareness on my radar that I didn’t have previously, despite that tending to be a large part in my own responses when triggered.

    I thought Shalka’s example about trigger warnings was quite interesting. I do feel that we should continue to give trigger warnings for things like sexual assault, violence, or events that were traumatic. Their writings on trigger warnings were interesting to me though, because so many triggers exist in our everyday lives and sometimes they simply cannot be avoided. For myself, I was triggered the other day by something I couldn’t really pin down (some combination of the weather, a feeling I got, and probably something else too), and yet, it affected the rest of my day.

    I really liked Zaytoun’s contribution to the conversation as well. I was specifically shocked that we can genetically pass down trauma to our children: all the more reason for me to work through my trauma now. I was also really appreciative of Zaytoun’s call to action to be a part of the systemic change surrounding our society’s discussions and conceptualizations of trauma. I would like to take it further and suggest that it is also our responsibility to be a part of the change to prevent certain traumas from even occurring. I always relate back to Jackson Katz’s work on violence against women, but this time I take it further, it is our responsibility to help create a society that we wish we had when we were growing up, to contribute to changing the culture of our society’s ways of parenting, reproductions of racism, violence against women and children, and so much more that contributes to trauma.

    Reply
    1. Julia Bopp Avatar
      Julia Bopp

      Kate, I like that you noted how trauma affects everyone differently and that an experience doesn’t have to be physically violent to traumatize someone. One of my favorite sayings is “the same water that softens the potato hardens the egg”; ironically, I saw this in a Facebook post that explained that a situation’s affect on you is about what you’re made of and not the situation. The post implied that you should change what you’re made of to not be affected by situations, but if everyone in society was an egg it would be boring and we would all miss the potatoes. That being said, just because you don’t believe something will traumatize you doesn’t mean someone else shouldn’t be traumatized by it. Also, I think everyone has experienced trauma and just because someone doesn’t have PTSD doesn’t mean trauma doesn’t affect them. Knowledge of trauma is so essential for student affairs professionals to avoid retraumatizing students.

      Reply
  17. Michael Judd Avatar
    Michael Judd

    While reading this chapter I reflected a lot around my internship and the importance behind trauma informed interviewing. This is something that I do not believe we train professional staff members on well enough nor do we train our paraprofessional staff on. I thought Shalkas’ story was impactful to hear and to understand their experiences. In our class we have spoken about how we do not understand certain situations when we have not experienced it ourselves, making it easy to overlook those experiences. Hearing a survivor of a traumatic experience allows professional staff members to understand their role in supporting students that are navigating their trauma. Shalka mentioned how trauma is a unique to each individual, and this is something that I do not believe many professional staff members understand. When we think about the word trauma, it is most commonly paired with assault, sexual assault, and with our military vets. I appreciated how Shalka spoke about trauma being an experience that overwhelms someone and can affect individuals in a relational, cultural, or individual level. This highlights the importance behind recognizing the different variations of trauma and the variety of ways it affects individuals.

    I appreciated how Shalka spoke about the different traumatic reactions that individuals will encounter, hyperarousal and hypoaroused. I personally did not know there were these different reactions to trauma and I believe that knowing this allows us to better serve our students. Shalka spoke about these reactions in regards to academic/learning, highlighting the importance for providing accommodations to students. In our DEI class, we spoke about providing students with accommodations, and I wonder what this would like outside of just Disability Resources (DR). Often, students are directed towards DR for accommodations, but what would it look like if professors and departments provided accommodations without requiring the student to disclose their story again to another person. If institutions could provide educators with trauma informed education, this could allow educators to notice signs early on and approach the student first. Students are typically required to reach out for support, but this does not come from a care and support lens. Rather, educators should be reaching out first-hand to ensure the student is able to learn just as well as their peers. Having educators start the conversation would ensure students see that there are people at their institution who care about them and want to support them.

    I found the section around incorporating trigger warnings interesting, as some points did not sit well with me. In this chapter, it is noted that for a healthy healing process there needs to be exposure to stressors, but staff need to consider if this would provide more harm than healing. As staff members, we are not the students counselor, and every students will be in a different healing process than the next. Earlier it is mentioned how each student will encounter trauma in a different way, this I believe is the same for their healing process. While I understand that some exposure to stress and anxiety is beneficial for the students healing process, this is a decision that should be left to the student, rather than the staff member. It is also mentioned that trigger warnings may result in students being forced to disclose their situation, but I wonder what Shalka meant in regards to “forced disclosure”. When providing trigger warnings, I believe staff members should provide them with an advance notice, preferably before the training or event occurs. Allowing for an advance notice will allow students to not need to show up, and would potentially help a student not have to disclose their individual experience. I would also argue that when a student decides to opt out due to a trigger warning, the staff member should not ask for an understanding of their situation. Again, this would potentially help in not forcing a disclosure.

    I appreciated the section around being personally affected by another individuals trauma. Through my internship with Title IX, my supervisors informed me of this reaction prior to the internship. I appreciated how Shalka spoke about needing to provide ourselves with proper self-care to support ourselves in this secondary traumatic stress. The implications in this chapter I found to be very beneficial for professional staff to understand. The implication that I found the most impactful was in regards to referrals. If a student is referred to quickly or to often, the lack of support and trust Is gone for the student. It is important that students know there are multiple people at an institution for them, but it is also important to ensure you are not over involving yourself. It was a wonderful reminder when Shalka explained to always ask, “What else is going on”. This helps staff members to not make assumptions and to provide additional support before jumping to conclusions. I also argue that institutions and departments need to require more training on the different ways trauma affects students. Without understanding this, staff may not be able to support students in a manner that they need.

    Reply
    1. Kate Millard Avatar
      Kate Millard

      Michael, Thank you for sharing so much both on your opinions and through your work with Title IX. I agree, we need to be training our professionals who work with students to have a better understanding of what trauma informed care looks like and like the chapter said to not assume there is trauma but to be aware one’s motivations COULD be coming from that lens. I also agree with your stance on trigger warnings, we cannot protect students from everything, but we need to be giving them the choice on whether or not they can engage with something that could potentially be triggering. Especially in the cases where we know something is likely an obvious trigger like sexual assault, extremem violence, war, etc. It would be wrong of us to assume what is best for anyone but ourselves. I also loved your perspective on giving advance warning for something that could be potentially triggering so that students can decide whether to come to class in the first place or not so that they are not “outing” themselves for having trauma related to the topic being covered. I also really appreciated your perspective on not providing too much or too frequent support, because that can absolutely be overbearing. It is important that we support students and give them options to help themselves, but constantly reminding them of what is available to them can feel like we are merely checking a box and come off like we don’t actually care about them as an individual.

      Reply
  18. Taylor Dixson Avatar
    Taylor Dixson

    In reading the Shalka article, I found myself getting choked up in reding about their experience, but was proud over the challenges they were able to overcome and attend their institution again. I really resonated with the comment around having that support system can help a person overcome traumatic events. I shuddered. A little bit though at the word “trauma” because I feel like it has been a word that has been romanticized and gets thrown around so frequently. I want to acknowledge what the Shalka article said in that trauma affects and looks different to everyone, but I feel in Student Affairs and Higher Education, folks throw out these serious buzz words such as “trauma” and “harm” and these very strong words and in having the person explain why the event or incident was “traumatic” to them, the event is not all that traumatic and it was just another individual throwing out a serious word.

    As you can tell, the word trauma and folks throwing it out is very serious to me and upsets me because experiencing trauma and going through trauma is not fun in any capacity, but also isn’t something I would wish anyone to go through. It makes me think why does such a serious word get thrown around so loosely and gets used so loosely? It makes me curious around why individuals want to romanticize and experience trauma when you can carry that baggage for the rest of your life? I can’t say this enough: Trauma is not fun, it is not something that you want to go through if you can help it, and it should NOT be romanticized! The term should not be thrown around loosely to describe something that inconvenienced someone or hurt someone’s feelings because trauma is much more than that.

    Zaytoun’s article makes the comment that we as professionals can even carry trauma ourselves in varying degrees, severity and that trauma can manifest in different affects and ripples through communities and through generations. I think in reflecting around the statement that communities and generations can affect how someone carries their trauma is very interesting and resonates with me. I think it’s hard analyzing how communities and generations shape how individuals carry their trauma as it’s not fair to loop all individuals into the same notion of thinking.

    This may be me taking a critical approach to this chapter, but I feel it’s a challenging question to answer around how institutions can help their students in facing trauma and harm. For some students, their institution plays a part in causing their harmful and traumatic experiences, so how can a student expect their schools to help them when their school is the one behind their pain? Systems within institutions can create harm such as classrooms, departments, and other students can cause painful experience and especially if a student holds marginalized identities. How can marginalized students place trust in these systems that can be meant, intentionally or unintentionally, to cause additional harm and trauma?

    I think in looking at how we as professionals can support students struggling and going through trauma, I think showing empathy, care, and being intentional with support is important, but I feel these are not characteristics that individual in our field can learn. I think there should also be flexibility as trauma and harm is not on a linear curve and some days are good while some are bad and can feel like a setback. There needs to be understanding and care that students can be “okay” some days and then other days they’re having to grapple with experiences that are harmful and damaging. I feel as though there needs to be more research and acknowledgment around how going through certain incidents can be traumatic and affect a student’s way of showing up in classes. Trauma is complicated, messy, and so many other feelings and I think allowing a student with flexibility and grace as well as not expecting a student to disclose their experience as this can cause the individual more harm.

    I think overall, we have become a culture where it’s common and folks deem it okay to romanticize trauma, mental health, harm, and labeling people with serios phrases such as narcists, sociopaths, psychopaths, and other labels that a professional should only be diagnosing a person with. With having a whole society throw out these phrases, it can take away and diminish the experience and journey that those who are affected are trying to navigate. In no way am I trying to tell individuals how to feel or that their feeling are not valid, but I genuinely need folks to stop romanticizing and throwing out these serious terms when they’re not actually experiencing trauma or harm or mental health or none of the buzz words that seem to be prevalent in our society.

    Reply
    1. Michael Judd Avatar
      Michael Judd

      I really appreciate how you highlighted the importance of not using trauma as a buzzword in higher education. These words hold large meanings like you mentioned, and the overuse can result in students not being taken seriously. When reflecting on your questions around why individuals throw these words around, I wonder if it is due to not experiencing trauma before. While that should not make it okay, I begin to believe that those individuals have never been educated on the effects of trauma and what trauma does to someone. You made a really strong and great argument when you talked about the word not being used when something inconvenient happens. I often hear students using these words after a difficult exam. When the words are not used properly it erases a student’s lived experience and makes it more difficult for a student to be understood or heard.

      Your point around institutions creating or causing trauma is so important. It is important for institutions to reflect on ways that have caused trauma to their students and ways that can ensure they do not move forward. When trauma happens, I believe it can be hard for a student to trust their school or the system every again. I believe one way institutions can do better by their students is by listening to their stories and understanding their experiences. Through this, institutions must not invalidate, interrupt, or brush a student away, but instead take the information to create change.

      I loved your point about how trauma is not something that a student encounters every day but is something that can come and go. Educating ourselves on reactions to trauma and understanding signs or trauma is something that I believe many professionals lack. I too spoke about how institutions and staff members should not require or ask a student to disclose their situation. I believe their experience is personal and does not need to be shared to provide the student resources or accommodations. When considering your point about how our culture has romanticized trauma, I think about how we need to dismantle this right away. Staff needs to educate students on trauma and the impact of misusing the word has on others. It starts with the staff member, as students often replicate what authoritative figures do and say.

      Reply
  19. Mira Petersen Avatar
    Mira Petersen

    The changing world of what we know about and how we interact with trauma is fascinating and encouraging. There are so many things that we have accepted about trauma these days that would not have been thought about in recent history. That being said there is still a long way to go in our understanding and how we interact with trauma, especially on college campuses. As both Tricia R. Shalka and Kelli Zaytoun (2019) express throughout their essays, everyone experiences trauma in different ways. The key then is how as faculty and staff at institutions engage with trauma.
    How to successfully create spaces where students feel safe talking about their trauma in order to recover and heal from the event feels complicated. Complicated in the way that all faculty and staff will need to become aware of trauma responses and how to effectively and emotionally handle situations, so as not to create more trauma for the student. While trauma can be invisible, educators can be a part of that recovery by knowing what to look for (Magolda et al., 2019). Shalka notes that it is uncomfortable and not easy to walk alongside survivors as they navigate trauma, but it is incredibly important and leads to healing in ways that may not be possible if that trauma went unseen or unvoiced (Magolda et al., 2019). It’s incredible that Shalka (2019) was able to go back to school and have a supportive community to get her through the rest of her college career, when not everyone would have that experience.
    I would be curious to hear more about her personal experience on the dilemmas that she lays out – triggers, mandatory reporting, supporting others while being effected as well. While she may not have personal experience from the time she was a student, maybe talking to her support system and what it was like to support her. Did she want a trigger warning? Did people provide them for her? Did it help? I know that I personally appreciate trigger warnings and will accept the challenge of being in the room when I can, but also appreciate knowing that educators acknowledge hard conversations are coming.
    There is a class at NAU called Writing as Resistance, helping students write their memoirs, the story of self. It doesn’t always fill and it is not offered every semester, but imagine the possibilities of having a class like that offered to everyone. Everyone could have a safe space to write and voice their story. To heal from being able to acknowledge traumas that they have experienced. As Zaytoun writes, recovery cannot happen in isolation, healing happens through voicing what has happened, and without bearing witness to a story that leads to repression and denial and dissociation which are so harmful in the long run (Magolda et al., 2019). Alongside classes like this, intentional movement classes for everyone who has experienced trauma are helpful. Trauma is stored in the body and while it is easy to intellectualize trauma responses and go towards voicing trauma as the road to recovery, it is extremely important to incorporate healing the body as well. If trauma does not leave the physiological body it will never truly heal.

    Reply
  20. Sheldon W. Begay Avatar
    Sheldon W. Begay

    The topic of trigger warnings found in Chapter 12 by Magolda et. al. (2019) and the implications regarding further policy in different facets of student affairs works. Regarding trigger warnings, I agree that student affairs professionals should and need to aim for the goal of being conscious of topics being discussed that could trigger students who are being worked with. Trauma is multi-faceted and does not take place around stereotypical events based on perceived trauma. (Magolda et. al, 2019.) Because Trauma is multifaceted, there can never be a true framework to mitigate every interaction with students and not trigger a trauma. However, just because there can be not 100% full proof way to ensure that interactions with students will be trigger free, student affairs professionals are to make sure that there is some sort of mitigation being taken place.
    In addition to trigger warnings, the text does not highlight the importance of changing this kind of culture within student populations. The beginning of the section is called “What is Our Role as Student Affairs Educators in Effectively Supporting Students Through Trauma?” this section briefly highlights trigger warnings, but not a mitigation process to students being triggered on campus by others who might not care about the potential impact made. Student affairs professionals and college administrators should establish initiatives in all facets to assist in changing narratives around the topic of being triggered. Furthermore, colleges and universities across the board need to redefine the word, trigger, and what it means in its true context. The political climate has altered the definition of being triggered. Being triggered is now being construed as weak and quickly irritated. Being triggered in the current perceived narrative is often associated with left-leaning ideas and when associated with colleges/universities, the narrative of being triggered is further perpetuated. It is the job of student affairs professionals to rework this narrative and not be oblivious to the perception given by the cultural narrative.

    Reply
  21. Ayrton Peacock Avatar
    Ayrton Peacock

    Upon reading chapter 12, I would have defined trauma as something substantial occurring to an individual in a negative aspect. This trauma tends to leave lasting psychological or physical marks on a person, as they continue to deal with the matter throughout their life. The readings by Shalka (2019) in chapter 12 offer a different perspective of how some identities or individual people may experience trauma that is not as stereotypical to the common perception of the term’s definition. Regarding my view of trauma, there is more awareness about how people can endure traumatic experiences that leave lasting issues and impressions. Shalka (2019) discussed how under systematic oppression can have feelings of trauma and lasting PTSD effects was intriguing and something I had not considered prior.
    Concerning trigger warnings and concepts relating to the cautions around specific topics in a higher education setting, there is always a place for these types of alerts. The reading emphasized that these warnings are more seen around sensitive issues like sexual assault, healthy relationships, college drinking, and popular other university topics. However, Shalka (2019) hints at concepts that these warnings need to be more universal and applied to students with varying traumatic experiences to ensure students are not put into uncomfortable situations or reliving these memories in the present day. Though the reality still applies that not every scenario can be prepared to have a trigger warning, as we cannot anticipate everyone’s background and history (Shalka, 2019). Regarding work from an institutional perspective, there should be better conversations with students about working through their own experiences in the modern-day. This can be merely letting a student affairs professional know about an incident for future reference or to ask for assistance in moving past it. I feel at times, higher education does not offer a narrative to overcome past or current traumatic experiences, leaving a student body that internalizes specific feelings. This, by no means, intends to downplay or belittle students’ backgrounds or experiences they have endured. I suggest that students come to a higher education institution to improve their education, knowledge, personal and professional development, so at times, there can be a push to build and overcome past trauma in this improvement mindset.
    In terms of my campus work environment, there is little emphasis on instances to discuss with students’ past trauma, or even opportunities to open about these conversations. My work tends to revolve around the student in the current moment and ensure there are meeting their academic and personal goals. This does not mean students have not opened up about past traumatic experiences, as that has happened on numerous occasions. Thankfully with some adequate training in my experience, I feel I have supported the students on an individual level. From a systematic approach, our program focuses on ensuring students have access to events and are inclusive for able-body and non-able-body individuals. There is rarely a discussion about an event possibly triggering a student’s past trauma. One specific example from last year involves a student who suffered from anxiety attacks in large crowds of people. Our program had an event during one of the football tailgates, and the student had reached out to us to inform our office they were uncomfortable to attend. The easy solution, that was the ending solution, was not to have the student come. There was no bridge to make the event more inclusive for her potentially, or rather, create another event to include her in a smaller social crowd with other students who may have felt similar but did not share.

    Reply
    1. Rachel Voznak Avatar
      Rachel Voznak

      Hello Mr. Ayrton P. J. R. Peacock,

      I appreciate the distinction you make between what is the widely accepted definition of trauma versus how Shalka defined trauma, which can be incurred due to systematic racism. I agree that certain subjects, such as sexual assault, should be prefaced with trigger warnings as that can incite a trauma response in those who have experienced that, know someone who has, or is deeply affected by the topic. I really like that you mentioned there is little opportunity to help students work through past traumas. Often times, I think student affairs professionals consider and address traumas that have occurred while students are in college and neglect to consider the traumas student experience before coming into college. Being able to adequately address students’ trauma pre-enrollment is just as necessary for their mental health and well-being and academic success as addressing traumas that occur during college.

      Reply
    2. Clayburne Lomadofkie Avatar
      Clayburne Lomadofkie

      Hey Ayrton,

      I agree with your blog and Rachel’s reply to the complexity and challenges of working with students that, in many cases, we often know little about with respect to their trauma. Also, on what access to past support students have had before they come to our college institutions. It’s tough to know the proper course in working with those with trauma and triggers students we begin to work with. We are trained to asking and communicate with sensitivity, and it goes along way. Yet many students are still developing their communication skills and may not give the whole picture for providing the best support for a student. I am new to the secondary education Student Affairs field and do not know the extent of FERPA, HIPAA, laws, and policies. But it seems there could be improvements in giving students strategies for transitioning support from parents/guardians, school counselors, and mental health providers from the college they attend. Also, communicating with the support entities as just mentioned how they can help transition a student to get support in a new environment of a college campus. Is there a silo effect from the support entities a student had where they are coming from, to the support entities where they are going for college? Can the support systems in place at higher education institutions have a more support continuum perspective with incoming students? I don’t know how feasible this is, but if it is accomplishable, it should be pursued if it is best for the student. Thanks for your post, it got me thinkin!

      Reply
  22. Adam Fasbender Avatar
    Adam Fasbender

    An important thing that all Student Affairs professionals need to consider when dealing with students who have or are experiencing trauma is the possibility of retraumatization. Disclosing your trauma to a student affairs professional (or anyone for that matter) is an extremely scary thing to do that comes with a lot of personal risk. Disclosing trauma always caries a risk of victimization, being judged, not being beleived, actions being questioned, credibility being questioned, etc. This risk alone prevents many students from seeking out support from the university. What is extra unfortunate is this fear often becomes a reality due to professionals being under prepared to work with students in trauma.

    During a webinar by Dr. Rebecca Campbel of Michigan State called the Neurobiology of Sexual Assault, Dr. Campbell reported that 86% of sexual assault cases fo not result in charges. A huge factor in this huge number is secondary victimization by people responding to survivors in trauma. Things like police discouraging reporting options, responders thinking the situation was not serious enough, or the survivor being asked about what they were wearing or about their behavior are all things that lead to charges not being pursued. Police and first responders justify this by saying they need to ask these questions because the stuff survivors say doesn’t make sense.

    Being properly trained in responding to people experience trauma will teach student affairs professionals that it makes sense and is predictable that survivors won’t make much sense when they are sharing what happened to them. During trauma, memories are often fragmented and recalling what happened can be slow and difficult. If a survivor is being pestered with questinos in a stressful enviornment, this decreases the liklihood they will be able to tell a clear story. People experiencing trauma need time to breathe and time to tell their story slowly. When they are able to disclose on their own time, their memories CAN be recalled accuratley.

    Reply
    1. Amanda Tomchick Avatar
      Amanda Tomchick

      Hey Adam,

      Thank you so much for your contribution to our conversation. I agree that retraumatization is a major concern in Title IX investigations. Particularly, I am concerned that decision-makers (under the new Title IX regulations) may not be trained in trauma-informed interviewing. That is a major concern given that live cross-examination will open survivors up to potential retraumatization.

      Reply
    2. Jasmine-Merrie Angeles Avatar
      Jasmine-Merrie Angeles

      Hi Adam,

      I appreciated your input on this topic. It is important that we receive proper training in these situations. When reflecting on your thoughts I reflected on how important this idea is to learn for everyone. Not everyone reports or shares trauma with a student affairs professional. Knowing that it is important to have empathy and want to learn. I also appreciated you bringing up new Title IX regulations. These are important considerations moving forward especially with the impact it can have on students.

      Reply
  23. Clayburne Lomadofkie Avatar
    Clayburne Lomadofkie

    When reading this chapter, I was intrigued by the use of the expression “support.” It helps alleviate a false impression that many in the human service professions might feel pressure to “fix the issue.” As discussed by Shalka in chapter 12, trauma is a subjective experience with a wide array of types, levels, and effects. The dynamics of student trauma and its complexities, as Shalka expressed as “an exhaustive list,” counseling students(beyond support) with trauma, takes a trained professional specific to this field. Yet, “supporting” students with trauma takes a student-centered professional(such as student affairs) with minimal training, if anything, sincere concern, and a willing and listening ear. I say this from experience as having some traumatic events in my early childhood, which affected my behavior when entering college. For myself, I found support from other students, the Native American Student Services at my college, and faith-based organizations in the community. What may help other students could be professional counseling, student organizations, medical interventions, or the many other services and combinations of services on college campuses today. Student-centered institutions most likely have support opportunities that can also be considered a lengthy list. Some students may need only one type of service, while others might need to create a team of support as did I. This leads me to an understanding of the team effort for support.
    At the beginning of the chapter, Shalka mentioned her experience with physical and emotional trauma from the hotel fire. She expressed gratitude for the compassion of administrators, faculty, and staff and their promises to support(pg 330), a great example of her institution creating an unofficial support team for her.
    Shalka and Zaytoun touched on a sensitive aspect of student support concerning policies and it’s volatility because of ever-changing federal administrations. What also may hinder student support because of policy is the higher education institution’s ability to appropriately interpret, understand, and clarify national student trauma support policies. Communication of these policies must also be clear and understandable to administration, staff, and faculty for an environment of significant student support to work. A college campus’s ability to create this type of environment must be student-centered first. Secondary should be compliance to federal and state policies. Suppose a college campus has a student-centered perspective for making policies on trauma and recovery, and the administration, faculty, and staff also support those policies. In that case, they should have the right information and the right kind of resources for quality student trauma support. Having quality information and resources, institutions might find they will comply with federal policies and go beyond them by default.
    It’s important to note that policies and practices are not the beginning or end of student trauma support but in the center with ever-developing competencies to an ever-changing society and college student dynamic. What may work well these next few years may not work well the next few years after that.
    Although having some personal experience in trauma for recovery during college and working with students professionally with trauma, I realized I had not considered, on a deeper level, policy aspects. This reading helped me have a more holistic perspective I have not had before in supporting students with trauma. Organizing and expressing my understanding in this blog has been very helpful, and I look forward to reading blogs on what other students have gained!

    Reply
    1. Ayrton Peacock Avatar
      Ayrton Peacock

      Sonny,

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts from your personal experience. Relating our own difficulties to supporting students with their own trauma is a key part in working with them and creating a welcoming environment. I think a good question to ask ourselves when working/supporting other people/students, is “How would I like this if I were in their position.
      I also appreciated your comments about the affects that policies can have on students and the staff within higher education. This is something I had overlooked but am seeing more clearly now. For example, NAU’s Counseling services are a paid service for students to use. This policy can definitely negatively affect students past traumas or current experiences if they feel they cannot afford the right help. I think Title IX also has a few policies that are not in the best interest of the students, but rather, the university and its image.

      Stay cool bro,

      Ayrton

      Reply
    2. Rachel Voznak Avatar
      Rachel Voznak

      Hi Sonny,

      I really appreciate that you brought to light the false promises that language can sometimes bring. I know NAU’s counseling services claims to help students with eating problems and other mental health issues but then it modifies this statement by saying that there are eating disorders and severe mental health concerns that cannot be addressed within the college counseling services. These misleading statements could definitely induce frustrations in an already vulnerable population. Furthermore, I appreciate the perspective you bring on how the volatility of policies due to the ever-changing federal administration can impact students and professionals’ work with them.

      Reply
  24. Zoe Nelson Avatar
    Zoe Nelson

    This chapter reading was thought-provoking as Shalka’s approach to understanding trauma parallels to the sociological imagination coined by C. Wright Mills in the late 1950s. In this idea, “traumatic experience is the interplay of systemic oppression. The inequities of our society can be sources of trauma” (p. 224). Using the sociological imagination is another paradigm (in the field of sociology) that connects personal troubles to public issues (Sociology Imagination, 2013). Inferring that trauma is not exclusively a personal experience and needs to be given a voice to raise awareness of the societal issue (when appropriate for the individuals). The author nuances the definition that trauma is recognizable (for many) by certain characteristics (i.e., serious physical or psychological injury) while excluding “non-event-based traumas” including “historical trauma, microaggressions, or persistent neglect or abuse” (pp. 223-4). By complicating this concept of trauma, the readers gain a better understanding that trauma is not time-bound nor subjected to strictly confounded traits.

    A notion that resonated with me, partly because this topic has been discussed in my classes this year, is the over referrals to counseling services and centers. My experience as an undergraduate student mentor, and now a graduate assistant, undermines my confidence to competently handle traumatic or crisis situations. From my undergraduate perspective, I was taught to always ‘report up the tree’ (tree as a metaphoric reference to a supervisor and/or someone higher up in the hierarchical structure) when a situation I was not sure about needed to be addressed. We (mentors) need to utilize our critical thinking skills more aptly in conscious and informed referring when working with students/individuals. As a graduate assistant (new to supervising), I was not sure if I felt prepared to adequately training student staff in emergency response situations. An important thing to note is that most of my training is based on present trauma (meaning that a response is time-bound) and I have not intentionally taught or explained how trauma can stem from prior experience to my staff (e.g., adverse childhood experiences).

    Nevertheless, this past year I have learned this framework called the S.I.L.V.E.R. Model of Response from my internship and assistantship site training (since we directly work with students). The S.I.L.V.E.R Model is an acronym that stands for safety and support, inform of limited confidentiality, listen without judgment, validate feelings and reactions, empower with choices, and refer to resources. A personal critique of the student affairs profession is the vitality of practicing self-care (behaviorally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, etc.). Supporting individuals with trauma and being conscious/self-aware of personal trauma, can be exhausting especially, when not educated or trained.

    The S.I.L.V.E.R Model of Response is a good example of tying Zaytoun’s writing and the importance of relationship building and narrative therapy. Speaking upon personal stories and lived experiences can be a transformative and healing process for many people who experience trauma (which I would argue that we all have faced trauma to some degree). While Zaytoun does not explicitly state trauma recovery in terms of narrative therapy (a theory used in counseling), I believe it is suggested as their theoretical concept. The S.I.L.V.E.R Model of Response is functionally pertinent on a 1-to-1 interaction, however, Zaytoun states that the “processes of healing, learning, and growing are relational; they are communicative endeavors” (p. 236). Hence, to apply the sociological imagination is imperative in understanding both micro and the macro interplay of systemic conditions.

    Reference:
    Sociological Imagination. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/sociological-imagination/

    Reply
    1. Jasmine-Merrie Angeles Avatar
      Jasmine-Merrie Angeles

      Hi Zoe,

      I appreciated you bringing up the S.I.L.V.E.R. Model. I have used this model while on-call as a Hall Director. Although we moved to other models in our department it is always something I think about it when I respond to a Title IX situation especially. At the end of the day, we get better results with survivors of traumatic experiences if they have built a connection within the situation. I enjoyed you bringing this up as a reminder that it is important how we interact with others.

      Reply
    2. Clayburne Lomadofkie Avatar
      Clayburne Lomadofkie

      Hi Zoe,

      Thank you for your blog. I was trained to support college students with past trauma as an off campus Faith-based organization staff. I am very interested in learning about S.I.L.V.E.R. you mentioned and other available models for higher education institution applications that Jasmine mentioned in her reply. It would help me become more well rounded when I work with college students in an on-campus setting. Some of my training would most likely transition to some of these models, but I think the more we know, the better we can help our student population. I am also very interested in comprehending the variations of trauma the chapter touches on. Even though it may be an exhaustive list, it is still worth getting somewhat of a handle on, especially with these new events that may be traumatic experiences, such as the effects the extended COVID shutdowns have on K-12 populations going to college. Thanks for your post!

      Sonny

      Reply
  25. Juliana Chiarelli Avatar
    Juliana Chiarelli

    This chapter really opened my eyes to the plethora of trauma our students may be holding on to. I know this is awful to say, but I have always associated trauma with Residential Life and Title IX. Prior to entering this program I continuously compartmentalized students into the “appropriate” department on campus that could serve their specific need as that is how I was trained in undergrad; I was trained to memorize that Residential Life served students living in the residence halls, TRiO Student Support Services supported first generation students, and Title IX served students in crisis. I was taught to see student affairs as separate, but somehow equal. I was trained to look at each department and know that they could all serve students, just in certain ways. Magolda et al. (2019) taught me that trauma is not something to be compartmentalized. Trauma can be supported by any student affairs professional and it does not matter what department they are in. Trauma comes in all different varieties from stemming to generational/historical trauma, trauma from microaggressions, to trauma from a specific event. This chapter made me realize that I may be currently interacting with students who are still holding in trauma that they may not have worked through yet or have worked through, but is still very prevalent in their lives.

    As an undergraduate myself I do remember having conversations about the trauma my peers had experienced, and this chapter reminded me that I will carry the empathy I had in having those discussions with my peers into my work as a student affairs professional. As someone who is quick to be transparent, kind, and open to talking with any and all students, I as a student affairs educator need to be able to identify students who may be holding on to trauma and be prepared to have a dialogue about the student’s trauma should they want to. I believe that it is the role of the student affairs educator to identify hyperarousal and hypoarousal responses to the tasks that we assign students and to the attention (or lack of attention) students bring into meetings, trainings, and workshops. We need to be able to appropriately address students who are feeling a lack of connection to others and their community, as well as students who appear “withdrawn and checked out of what is happening in the room” (Magolda et al., 2019). Student affairs educators should be equipped to know how to engage a student who is experiencing these emotions and identify it as trauma without getting frustrated or angry with that student, as that will just aggravate the student and cause them to feel even more disconnected from their college learning experience. Therefore, all student affairs educators need to be trained in how to identify trauma, recognize a behavior as potentially being related to trauma, and handle the situation appropriately without causing more damage to the student’s overall emotional and psychological well-being.

    There is a darker side to being equipped to know how to help students through trauma, which is often heard in the phrase “Before you share anything too personal, you should know that I am a mandatory reporter.” Magolda et al. (2019) addresses mandatory reporting by stating that student affairs professionals need to be able to identify their own trigger warnings, navigate mandatory reporting, and avoid over empathizing with students’ trauma. I agree with identifying trigger warnings and over empathizing with students’ trauma. However, how do we navigate the mandatory reporting? How do we encourage students to tell us their story through “reading, writing, listening, and speaking” without needing to immediately report it to the appropriate channels (Magolda et al., p. 236)? I agree with Chapter 12 when it states that student affairs educators need to let students know that they are mandatory reporters prior to opening up about any personal matters they want to talk to, but does that stop students then from sharing with us about their trauma? We can be as prepared as possible to talk about trauma with our students, link them to the appropriate on and off campus resources, go to counseling ourselves, know our triggers, and know how to discuss a student’s trauma through a systemic lens… but if they do not feel comfortable opening up with us from the start about their trauma as we may have to report it, are we actually doing students more harm than good? I would never want to set up a barrier that prevents a student from overcoming their trauma through testimonial experiences, as that barrier (such as mandatory reporting) may prevent the student from ever being able to overcome their trauma as they were too fearful of what may happen if they received the help of a student affairs educator.

    Reply
    1. Zoe Nelson Avatar
      Zoe Nelson

      Hi Juliana,

      Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing how you use to associate trauma with the different departments on campus. I believe your reflective statement from your previous peers’ experience highlights the emotional intelligence you will carry throughout your professional career. I also agree with your comment that student affairs educators need to “be able to appropriately address students who are feeling a lack of connection to others and their community… [and address] trauma without getting frustrated or angry with that student”. I think back to an interview question I had as an undergraduate that asked something along the lines of ‘how would I respond to a student who did not want to participate in my program/event’? I believe my response was something like, everyone will come in the space presenting how they will and it is not within my direct privy to ask them in front of others why they are not participating in a norm that I place on them. Rather, I would approach the student individually and check to see what is happening.

      Reply
    2. Ayrton Peacock Avatar
      Ayrton Peacock

      Juliana a.k.a Ghouliana,

      I appreciate your comments about associating trauma with the appropriate department. I too was trained in the very same way, as working in student affairs we sometimes go straight to problem solving and figuring out the next step. Rather than consider the feelings and emotions in the present moment.

      Regarding mandatory reporting, I have always struggled with this concept. Not the idea of being a mandatory reporter, as this is so important in our work field. The issue I have with this is the idea that we have to inform students before they reveal some forms of trauma to us. In my training and role playing in mentoring, we often practice stopping a student mid-sentence before they say too much. Again, the importance and bigger picture factor into this, but personally, I have struggled with how this may come off to the student when they are sharing intimate and very personal details. I ask “is this counter productive or not”. It has two very strong sides that I continually question and work through.

      Thanks!

      Ayrton

      Reply
  26. Amanda Tomchick Avatar
    Amanda Tomchick

    Chapter 12 in “Contest Issues in Troubled Times” deeply resonated with my professional experience. When people ask me to describe what it is like to serve on-call for my residential life, I often describe it as experiencing someone’s worst day in their year or their life. I have experienced students at all stages of trauma. In some incidents, I have been called to respond directly after a traumatic incident has occurred. For example, hall directors will respond to physical and sexual assaults, trespassing, and stalking incidents. On the other hand, hall directors are regularly called out for student mental health concerns. As Shalka (2019) notes, only that individual can know what ‘counts’ as trauma to them. These traumatic experiences often resurface when hall directors talk to students about their mental health. I constantly must ask myself what I am willing to give to my role in Residential Life. During the COVID-19 pandemic, my boundaries and limits have been put to the test. If we do not show up for students, who will?

    Residential Life staff members must be educated and prepared to engage with student and community trauma at any moment. Disclosure of past trauma can occur during a conduct meeting as an explanation as to why a student acted in that manner. Alternatively, community trauma can occur as a result of a campus or community-wide event (e.g. death of a student). In my professional experience, we cannot plan convenient times for trauma to occur. This is best exemplified by residential life having professional staff on-call for campus 24/7, 365 days a year. Residential Life staff is made consistently available to on-campus students. However, students who live off-campus are not afforded the same level of constant care and support.

    As a professional, I use my prior experiences working with survivors of traumatic experiences and counseling training to best serve students. I pursued volunteering with a crisis/suicide hotline because I wanted additional training on working with students experiencing mental health crises. Zaytoun (2019) added that student affairs educators should work to dismantle the origins of the trauma that students experience. If we want to support students in crisis and healing from prior trauma, we must work to reform the system. In my opinion, central to this reform is advocating for adequate mental health services to care for and support our students. Furthermore, Shalka (2019) brought up the importance of mandatory reporting in furthering harm to survivors. I have and will continue to advocate for further training on mandatory reporting to ensure that survivors do not experience additional harm through that process.

    Student affairs professionals should reflect on their own self-care and secondary trauma healing processes. There is often inadequate support for staff who experience constant secondary trauma at work. Professionals are often simply directed to employee assistance and wellness. Furthermore, student affairs professionals who hold marginalized identities are often called upon to serve and heal student, community, and institutional trauma even when that is not an explicit part of their job description.

    Reply
    1. Zoe Nelson Avatar
      Zoe Nelson

      Hi Amanda,

      Thank you for expressing your thoughts and sharing what you have experienced as a person serving on call in Residential Life. I truly appreciate your continual advocation for decent (and access to) mental health services, as well as volunteering your time to work with survivors of traumatic experiences. Your last paragraph resonated with me as I was thinking of (in-depth) mentioning personal self-care and healing secondary trauma in the student affairs profession (specifically within Residential Life) and for professionals holding marginalized identities.

      Reply
    2. Adam Fasbender Avatar
      Adam Fasbender

      Hi Amanda,

      As a fellow Hall Director, I have also learned a lot about working with students experiencing trauma. Something I have become very conscious of is to not be the source of any secondary victimization. When done correctly, the student is in a place where they feel safe and they have plenty of time to share their story to a small number of people. When students aren’t in this safe environment, I have seen them understandably shut down and we were not able to support them as best as we could.

      Reply
    3. Taylor Rice Avatar
      Taylor Rice

      Hi Amanda,

      Thank you for providing strong personal examples that clearly illustrate that a crisis is subjective for each individual. It is also very valuable to remember that no one can plan a convenient time for trauma or crisis, which is why strong training is needed. I think we can all speak to a time we were inconvenienced by something, and it negatively affected our attitude. This would be detrimental to a victims experience relaying the trauma. Staff need more training on trauma informed interviewing and space to develop skills of being prepared at the drop of a hat. Additionally, thank you for pointing out the importance of self-care for responding professionals and ensuring they are also cognizant of how they could experience secondary trauma.

      Reply
  27. Jasmine-Merrie Angeles Avatar
    Jasmine-Merrie Angeles

    When reflecting on my own definition of trauma the main idea that comes to mind is that trauma can be seen as an overt emotional/ physiological reaction as well as sometimes a physical reaction to some form of stimulus, to experience trauma you do not have to go through a traumatic event. Trauma is an experience that an individual cannot define for another person. The impact and reason something can be seen as traumatic for an individual. Within the Contest Issues in Troubled Times book, it states “As inclusive as our attempts may be [to define trauma], we probably will not capture trauma in all of its forms. We could brainstorm an exhaustive list of potentially traumatic experiences (e.g., natural disasters, terrorism, racism, life-threatening illness, community violence, abuse), and yet we will likely miss some” (Magolda et al., 2019, p. 223). As we cannot define trauma for other individuals, we also will not experience every form of trauma in our lifetime. It is easy to look at an event to understand the origins and implications of trauma. We can easily look at an event and understand trauma but it is hard for some to come to terms with trauma if it is not caused by a specific event.
    Students I see within my role go through an array of trauma. Students can have a first-hand crisis or experience that later turns into trauma. While other students can have trauma from constantly dealing with different forms of stress. During my undergraduate career, I explored the implications of stress and what it can do on the body especially for people of color. People of color that experience small acts of racism on a frequent basis are more likely to die earlier than white counterparts because Cortisol builds up in their body as a response to the stress of constantly being profiled. These small experiences add up and cause a form of trauma that many people neglect because again you cannot pin it to one event or these are experiences are something that not everyone experiences. Within my time working with students, it has reaffirmed my idea with trauma, that you cannot define trauma for others. A list of traumatic events and experiences are not all-encompassing to an individual’s experience. Due to the fact that we cannot experience all forms of trauma that means we need to learn to be more empathetic to others. I am not in the position to tell someone what they have experienced is not trauma if that is how they define it, however, it is in my power to help them move through and navigate it.

    Reply
    1. Adam Fasbender Avatar
      Adam Fasbender

      Hi Jasmine,

      Thank you for talking about the neurological response for people experiencing trauma. I think this is critical for student affairs professionals to understand because it impacts how we need to work with them. We need to understand that triggers can come in all forms for people and they need to be accommodated for in order for people to have an equitable educational experience.

      Reply
      1. Amanda Tomchick Avatar
        Amanda Tomchick

        Jasmine & Adam,

        I agree that we must focus on the importance of the neurological response to trauma. A professional I worked with taught me about a method for recentering folks in the middle of a crisis. She encouraged me to focus on sensory experiences (like putting your hands in snow or smelling strong scents). Further education in the impacts of trauma on the neurological response will help us better serve our student population. As hall directors, we are often the only professionals physically available to students in their moment of need.

        Reply
    2. Juliana Chiarelli Avatar
      Juliana Chiarelli

      Hi Jasmine,

      Thank you for your thoughts and reflection! I appreciate your thoughts on trauma and stress. I especially see this with the students I work with who are so frustrated that they cannot get good grades on tests after trying different test preparation strategies. Typically we have to work through their test anxiety and their fear of constant failure. It’s typically a much deeper issue than they cannot study well. I appreciate this post as it reaffirmed my assumptions of trauma and how stress can be an additional form of trauma in a student’s life that negatively impacts their academic success.

      Reply
  28. Lake Luther Avatar
    Lake Luther

    I want to first start by saying I appreciated Shalka sharing their personal experience with trauma, as it allowed me to think outside of the box of what trauma can mean for someone. Shalka explained different concepts of trauma and how each situation can affect a person differently. Therefore, one should never assume how someone will react to a situation or judge a person for how they are handling a circumstance. There is a wide range of possibilities on what a traumatic event can be to an individual, and it is not our place to try and figure out what that might be. This was a good reminder for me, as I have jumped to conclusions before. I remember seeing someone on my Facebook post constantly about something that happened to them, and I thought they were doing it for social media purposes. I thought they were just being dramatic and exaggerating what they were going through. Reading this chapter reminded me that I do not know what someone is experiencing nor is it my place to judge how they are managing their emotions with it. I need to keep an open mind and take the time to support them in the way they need me.

    I also found the idea of hypoarousal versus hyperarousal a good point to remember as well. This explained the different reactions someone might have when dealing with trauma. Hypoarousal made me think about all the people I have encountered, or even those within a high intense situation that I have been around before, who were not reacting the way I would imagine. Since they were not giving the “typical” response to the situation, I figured they must not be that impacted but what was going on. I realize now that they were probably just processing differently and were influenced by the events taking place. It is never a good idea to assume what others are feeling as each person handles things uniquely. Instead, be patient, listen to what they share, and ask questions that can allow for more insight.

    One other point that was a big realizing moment for me within this chapter was the idea of overinvolvement. Interestingly, we can usually notice the “flaws” within other people, or we can advise others, but not realize when we are in the same boat as them. This is how I felt when I read the section on Conscious and Informed Referrals. When I read the part about overinvolvement that is when it registered for me – I am the overinvolved person. I have a few staff members who are struggling with the trauma they are working on, but I have become the person for them to seek support. For example, my staff member texted me at 11pm to talk and we chatted till around 4am about her problems. This has happened a few times. If my coworker told me this was happening to them, I would know that it was an issue and recommend them to set some boundaries. It was not until I read the words on the paper that I realized I am the coworker needing a wake-up call. While it is okay to support your staff members, you should not become so involved that they only come to see you regardless of what time it is. There needs to be a balance, and you need to realize when you should be referring someone to receive the help they deserve.

    Reply
    1. Juliana Chiarelli Avatar
      Juliana Chiarelli

      Hi Lake,

      Thank you for your thoughts! I definitely agree that it was so helpful having Shalka start out their personal story as it really set the tone for this chapter. I also agree with your reflection on not judging other people’s trauma. I personally have done this as well and as you pointed out, that is never good to do, because we should not define others’ trauma for them. That was a great reminder, so thank you for your thoughts on that regard!

      I personally did not know about hypoarousal or hyperarousal as well! I too will make sure to remember this when working with students and thank you for mentioning the emotions that you will put behind enacting these types of arousal such as being patient and a good listener.

      You are such a kind human being to stay up on the phone until 4 am comforting a staff member! Of course boundaries are important like you mentioned, but I still think that is incredible of you to go out of your way to listen to them and comfort them. Of course still set boundaries, but I appreciate you sharing your experiences with your staff members!

      Reply
    2. Taylor Rice Avatar
      Taylor Rice

      Hi Lake,

      Thank you for sharing your personal story and experiences in witnessing those in trauma and also trying to support those in crisis. It was certainly enlightening to learn about the spectrum of responses people may have to a trauma from hypo- to hyperarousal. It highlights that each individual will respond differently and the same person may respond differently at different times.

      Reply
  29. Tashauna Stewart Avatar
    Tashauna Stewart

    Many times in student affairs, we think about a student’s college experience in the here and now without including any traumatic experiences that they may have or are experiencing that intersects with their overall college experience. Trauma is a unique experience that deeply affects a person long after the specific event has taken place. This, as anything else, varies for every student and shows up in different ways and to differing extent within their life. Trauma can cause a great deal of hindrance to the way a college student experiences and persistence through college. For some, trauma is tied to the inequitable systems of oppression within our society and students constantly carry this trauma around. Though trauma can be complicated and come with many layers, it is critical that student affairs professionals examine the definitions of trauma, how it affects students’ college experience, and what things we can do to help students acknowledge and work through their trauma.

    This chapter covers the definition of trauma, how it can show up among students, and provided tangible things that student affairs professionals can do. I was pretty fascinated with the section where Shalka discusses the arguments around providing students with trigger warnings. Trigger warnings are more helpful than not. Some see this as codling students but in a classroom setting for example, if the instructor uses trigger warnings, a student who has experienced trauma may feel more comfortable speaking with that instructor after that lesson if they were unable to fully participate in the moment. I agree with the perspective presented that “trigger warnings acknowledge the very real differences that exist in student experiences, often due to inequitable power structures (Shalka, 2019). Trigger warnings may not take away the effect but it helps to give the student a heads up so they may excuse themselves as they need to and know that this would be okay by whomever is presenting. On a larger scale, trigger warnings are a way to acknowledge the inequitable systems that exist within our institutions and this is a small, but impactful step that we can take towards dismantling them.

    During my time as a graduate student affairs professional, I have encountered a significant event that I would describe as a crisis that caused some trauma to myself and the students I worked with. At the time, I focused a lot of my energy on supporting my students through this event as my supervisors were supporting me, which I really appreciated. With guidance from my supervisors, I reached out and met with my student staff members individually and learned about how differently they were impacted by the situation. There was a different level of trauma being experienced by each staff member and it was hard for me to know what to do. There was not much that I was able to do to change the situation or make it any less painful, but I worked to provide a supportive environment where the students felt like they were being listened to and supported, as Shalka talks about in the chapter (2019).

    Reply
    1. Rebecca Seeger Avatar
      Rebecca Seeger

      Tashauna,
      This is a very well thought out post. Thank you.
      I want to comment on trigger warnings from a different angle. I think we can generally agree that not confronting a traumatic event or series of events can have debilitating effects on a person’s mental health; that is, holding something in can be devastating in the long run. I agree that trigger warnings are the right thing to do. But I also think when someone must leave the discussion, we need to find some way to ensure they are receiving the help they need to confront and, while not necessarily getting over the trauma, at least being able to move on toward a brighter future.
      I do not know what role the instructor plays, nor what role the student affairs professional plays, I just know that someone should intervene, at least to the degree necessary to ensure the traumatized student has the resources and support to begin the healing process.

      Reply
    2. Lake Luther Avatar
      Lake Luther

      Hi Tashauna,

      I want to first start off by thanking you for sharing your personal experience and being vulnerable in stating that you may have not known what to do with this situation with you and your staff. I am sure you handled the situation very well with your students feeling supported by you. It is always difficult trying to navigate high intense situations, especially when there are a lot of moving parts involved. It is great that you were able to get the support you needed as well as share that environment with your staff. Another point I would agree with you on is the sharing of trigger warnings. I believe this can help a lot of students and is more helpful than harmful. It is important to practice as many “best practices” as possible that are supportive to students. Thanks for sharing!

      Best,
      Lake

      Reply
  30. Taylor Rice Avatar
    Taylor Rice

    Trauma can certainly occur through a significant event, but it can also be compounded overtime. Each person will have a different impact threshold for trauma and responses to trauma can vary greatly. Due to the various responses to trauma from being disengaged to agitated and overwhelmed, it can be difficult to identify a student experiencing trauma. However, it is essential to be aware of students in both highs and lows; any significant behavior change could indicate a crisis.

    I was most struck by Shalka’s (2019) acknowledgment that higher education professionals can be quick to refer to college counseling centers, which can lead to an excess demand for counseling services on campus. I appreciated her proposed questions of asking why or why not we want to refer a student to the counseling center. Within my role, I am comfortable sitting with students I know in their discomfort or distress. However, my students are aware of my duties (i.e. mandatory reporting) and my abilities (i.e. not a professional counselor). Since my first Title IX report from a student, I am more intentional about disclosing my capacities to students. I am also thankful for the counseling skills integrated into our program that allow us to ask informed questions, sit in silence, and listen to trauma. I do wish I received more training in navigating conversations on sexual violence, as a student could disclose at any point in our relationship. The biggest lesson I learned is that rapport we build with students builds trust and they are more likely to share their trauma with a party they trust rather than someone their referral. I do not want any potential discomfort on my part to setback a victims processing or ability to take control of their trauma by sharing with me.

    As for a specific policy on-campus, a student reported sexual violence to me but did not want to pursue a Title IX investigation in any form. Trauma is layered; this student identifies as queer and did not trust the systems at play to navigate their trauma. Sexual violence policies were not made by those most vulnerable to assault and harassment. The student lost their scholarship as their grades slipped significantly after their assault. When I asked others in my office what support we can provide to the student to reinstate their scholarship, they said we could not do anything on behalf of the student without an open investigation. The student had to write a letter detailing their assault to a scholarship committee in hopes it would reinstate their scholarship. Victims of sexual violence have a right to process and control their response to trauma however they please, but it is a disservice to students to narrow how they can receive restitution. The individual reported enough information to me without opening an investigation but had to disclose to another party to advocate for their scholarship reinstatement.

    The fact that student can advocate for scholarship reinstatement is a plus on campus, but it could be processed for certain incidences in more helpful ways. The student was not aware that scholarship reinstatement was even an option due to a trauma-related incident. It is difficult for students to even be aware of the myriad of resources and options available to them. Another large resource on-campus is Campus Health Promotion. They facilitate many discussions around sexual violence through several presentations, film series, and awareness campaigns. They seek to educate individuals from multiple communities on-campus, like resident halls, fraternity and sorority life, and athletics. Additionally, anonymous reporting hotlines, the dean of students office, and campus police are able to respond to reports of sexual violence and domestic partner violence.

    Reply
    1. Tashauna Stewart Avatar
      Tashauna Stewart

      Thanks for sharing Taylor, I completely agree that building rapport with students is crucial but also makes things tricky. It is difficult when we have built great relationships with students but the requirements to report within our role can be a barrier in them sharing information and ultimately them receiving resources. You make a really good point about why or why don’t we want to refer students to counseling. As we see here at NAU, the Counseling Services office is more often than not busy and have a long waitlist. In our roles, we are often reminded that our support really only goes so far and that we should then refer students to counseling. While I do agree that these boundaries are important, I cannot help but wondering what good are we then doing by referring students to a resource that is really not available to them. I do also wish that we receive more training in talking with students about certain topics around trauma and mental health where we effectively talk about our duty to report in a way that does not deter the student from sharing. But again, this can be 100% dependent on how much of a rapport is built with the student.

      Reply
  31. Rachel Voznak Avatar
    Rachel Voznak

    Discussing how to help students learn while encountering a traumatic experience could not be more timely and apropos than when experiencing a pandemic, innumerable natural disasters, explosions, and inexplicable fires across the globe. How can we, as student affairs professionals, encourage students to concentrate on studies, much less expect it, when it can feel as though the world is imploding? Not to mention personal experiences that can arise and induce a degree of trauma.

    Students can encounter a traumatic experience during their academic career, may enter college having already experienced a traumatic event, or might even face a traumatic event later on in life. Thus, the current state of affairs as well as the high probability that an individual will experience trauma at any stage of life make addressing trauma fundamental within higher education. Trauma can be induced from an individual experience, a community experience, or a cultural experience as a result of systematic oppression. As Shalka (2019) asserted, trauma can present itself in a variety of ways and the same experience can impact two individuals in different ways (p.331). Student affairs professionals cannot assume how someone will be affected by a certain event nor can they predict the ways in which the trauma will be manifested. Thereby, being equipped with an understanding of the different ways in which trauma can present itself would benefit student affairs professionals when interacting with those impacted by trauma, whether personally or through association. Zatoun (2019) informed that “healing from trauma, therefore, is not an individual task or responsibility given [its] complex, relational, broad context” (p.346). Given the pervasiveness of traumatic experiences and the highly social contexts, I firmly believe that colleges have a responsibility provide trauma support for not only their students, but their staff and faculty as well. In my own experience as a graduate assistant, the training I received on how to interact with someone who might have experienced trauma was lacking. There should be a more intensive training process for faculty and staff in order to be able to identify and navigate those delicate situations. Moreover, higher education institutions ought to provide courses on recognizing different manifestations of trauma and tangible resources for working through and overcoming it. Even if the individual may not personally experience trauma, they will be empowered to help others who do.

    While both Shalka and Zatoun mentioned the variety of ways in which trauma can be experienced, I think they lacked the affirmation that trauma can be experienced from seemingly trivial experiences. Often times, I think students diminish their experiences as not being “big enough” to be classified as traumatic, when in fact, trauma can occur from moving, breaking up with a partner, being bullied, or any experience from childhood that evoked negative emotions. Conveying trauma as something more concrete and relatable to those who have similar experiences will encourage these students to seek out the help and resources available to help them cope with the past and enable them to better encounter strenuous situations in the future. Higher education, after all, should promote holistic development and not just cognitive.

    Reply
    1. Rebecca Seeger Avatar
      Rebecca Seeger

      Rachel,
      I appreciated your conclusion “I think students diminish their experiences as not being ‘big enough’ to be classified as traumatic.” This is where empathy is most needed. When my mother lost her dog, she went into a tailspin. Too many people wanted to say, “it’s just a dog, get over it,” without even considering the events that preceded losing Bobby. She lost my Dad and 16 months later, she lost her brother (her only sibling). Despite having three children and three grandchildren, she truly felt she was alone in the world, that her generation was gone. This final trauma was the one that was too much to bear. She went into a deep depression, one that she was finally slowly coming out of when she had a massive stroke and died a few days later.
      I can say that she was starting to feel happy again when she died, and I am grateful that she did not have to live through COVID. All that said, I think we all have to remember that everyone has a story, and unless we know someone’s story, we need to be careful about making assumptions that can not only slow the healing process, but that can further exacerbate the trauma.
      This is where active listening, empathy, and, as you contend, better training comes into play. Thank you for an insightful posting.

      Reply
    2. Lake Luther Avatar
      Lake Luther

      Hi Rachel,

      I agree completely that we cannot know how someone is going to experience their trauma or how they will react to their situation. It is never a good idea to assume what someone is going through or how they will process as each person is different. It is better to talk with each individual and listen to what they need before jumping to conclusions. I would also agree that trauma can be more than the “stereotypical” trauma one might imagine like you explained with breaking up or moving. People experience things differently and we can never know how that may impact someone. NAU does not do a great job in preparing employers to respond to these kinds of situations, so I appreciate you for pointing that out. There could be a lot more explained and discussed in that regard. Thank you for sharing all your perspectives!

      Best,
      Lake

      Reply
  32. Salvador Lopez Avatar
    Salvador Lopez

    Trauma! A very delicate topic but essential to discussed in higher education. According to Shalka (2019), “trauma has been identified primarily as a serious of physical or psychological injury that results from an experience that overwhelms the body’s physical and psychological capacities for survival” (p.223). However, trauma has a winder impact range affecting an individual’s community in different ways, such as relational, cultural, and individual. Students live individual lives influenced by many variables, such as social-economic status (SES), cultural customs, values, and more. Unfortunately, many individuals experience a life-changing moment resulting in trauma. Trauma can play a significant role in a student’s everyday life. As mentioned previously, every student is unique, meaning that everyone is affected by trauma differently. Shalka (2019) pointed out that there are two dominant traumatic stress reactions. There are hyper and hypo responses. Students who are under the state of hyperarousal response look stress, agitated, and overwhelmed. On the other hand, those under the condition of hypoarousal show the opposite of that by showcasing actions such as being passive, less interested, and distant, and emotionless. It is a little more noticeable to identify an individual in trauma who is experiencing hyperarousal rather than hypoarousal behaviors. Therefore, many students who share the hypo response tend to float under the radar of institutions.

    I have encountered two students who dealt with trauma throughout my short career as a student affairs professional. These two individuals demonstrated to respond under the hyperarousal form. Due to adequate training, I was able to support those students to the best of my abilities. This action brings back the question about how student affairs professionals can support students with trauma? Being a mandated reporter can be both a possibility and an obstacle to helping students. Before having a personal discussion, student affairs professionals have provided a disclaimer about their role as reporters. If a student still feels comfortable sharing their experience, it provides practitioners with an opportunity to follow up with this situation and/or student frequently). On the other hand, if students would prefer not to share, professionals will be limited to the support that they can provide. We need to keep in mind that if we are supporting students through trauma, it’s essential to focus on their experience leading to the student feeling calm and supported. Shalka (2019) emphasizes another great point when discussing the action of referring. When is it okay to refer a student? Why are we referring people to a different campus partner? Is it because we don’t want this type of stress in our role or aren’t knowledgeable about trauma? (p.229). Professionals should not feel guilty if they refer students to a different campus resource because they don’t have the knowledge needed to support students with trauma. It’s better to direct rather than to do more harm. However, that can also serve as a calling for those individuals to find resources where they are able to learn skills, practices, methods applicable for supporting others with trauma. It is not okay to refer a student if you, as the professional, don’t have time or are too busy to assist with their situation. We sought this job to protect, support, and help students through their college experience. Are we even doing them any good by not wanting to hear their story? Are we even doing them a good by not being fully present when sharing their experience leading to trauma? Student affairs professionals need to stop a minute and figure out how much attention/support we provide students who are dealing with trauma. If we aren’t providing enough, then it’s time for a change!

    Reply
    1. Tashauna Stewart Avatar
      Tashauna Stewart

      Hi Salvador,

      Thank you for your post and for sharing your personal experiencing working with students who were experiencing trauma. I am glad that you felt as if you had adequate training to support those students. I agree that being a mandatory reporter in our role provides possibilities but can also be an obstacle. As Taylor refers to in her post, it really comes down to the relationship that we have built with the student. I also agree with your worry that we may not be able to support the student if they choose not to share after we disclose about our duty to report. In this case, however, I think that it is important that we explain our mandatory reporting role with inclusion of information about other resources that are available to the student so they aren’t just left without having talked to someone about their traumatic experiences and how it is affecting them. Similarly to you, I do not think that there should be any guilt with referring students to other campus resources because our intent should be ensuring that the are getting the appropriate assistance and support. On the other hand, I do see how it can bring a guilty feeling because as student affairs professionals, we often want to be the ones providing support to our student. It is important that we acknowledge other resources as a part of us providing this support to students.

      Reply
  33. Rebecca Seeger Avatar
    Rebecca Seeger

    What is trauma? I define it as an extremely stressful event, series of stressful events, or prolonged stressful event(s). Shalka (2019) describes a traumatic event she experienced that began as a physical and mental stressful and injurious event, being trapped in a burning hotel, that morphed into a prolonged physical and mental stressful event, experiencing severe burns across a third of her body and in her lungs, a long recovery, and the daily visible reminder of the scars. Shalka states that trauma impacts more than just people, but also relationships and cultures. She discusses “non-event-based traumas” (p. 224) such as “historical trauma, microaggressions, or persistent neglect or abuse” (p. 225). I contend that these types of traumas are prolonged stressful events rather than non-event-based. For example, Shalka looks at systemic oppression as a non-event-based trauma, whereas I look at it as a prolonged event that is manifested in potentially daily stressful experiences that can be physical, such as food insecurities; mental, such as marginalization; or both, such as continued child sexual abuse.
    One of the most perplexing issues with trauma is that it can be hidden, whether physical or mental. For example, pulling from today’s headlines, COVID19 infection can lead to long term heart and lung problems. Similarly, being bitten by a dog as a child can lead to a long term fear of dogs. Further, the protracted combat operations in the Middle East have led to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) for far too many deployed military and civilian personnel. These are all examples of prolonged physical and mental trauma.
    Trauma response has significant implications for education professionals at all levels from early childhood development to graduate schools. For many students, schools can serve as a safe haven from domestic abuse. Similarly, as noted by Zaytoun (2019), schools can be the source of trauma through institutional oppression, hegemonic marginalization, microaggressions, and cultural isolation.
    Shalka (2019) and Zaytoun (2019) present ways in which student affairs professionals can assist students who have experienced or are in the process of experiencing trauma. These all have value and should be used in a holistic approach as what “works” for one student could be detrimental for another. For the remainder of this post, I want to focus on Zaytoun’s statement, “According to Susan Brison, ‘saying something about a memory does something to it’ allowing the survivor to begin to take control over the experience in its aftermath” (p. 235). Further, I want to approach this from the perspective of labels, specifically victim and survivor.
    Shalka (2019) avoids the term victim altogether, while Zaytoun (2019) only uses the term once in quoting Judith Herman, “Remembering and telling the truth about terrible events are prerequisites both for the restoration of the social order and for the healing of individual victims” (p. 233). Pinkert et al. (2012) assert that the term victim implies the loss of one’s agency or power to address the causes of the trauma, especially institutional trauma such as systemic racism and classism. Another concern with victimhood is the helplessness that accompanies feelings of victimization (Pinkert et al., 2012).
    Both Shalka (2019) and Zaytoun (2019) use the more affirming term survivor when addressing those who have experienced trauma. Yet the label survivor can also carry baggage. Pinkert et al. (2012) state, referring to those who experienced the Holocaust, “the labels ‘survivor’ or ‘victim’ help to relegate prejudice, policy, and inhumanity to the past, suggesting that the present (and those in it) are different—that they have moved beyond the evils and injustices of the Holocaust” (p. 62). I contend that these same labels can carry similar reactions for those who experience any traumatic event.
    As Zaytoun (2019) indicates, giving voice and agency to those who experience trauma is a significant step to healing. But discussions should be concerned with how the person who experienced the trauma sees themselves: victim, survivor, or something else. What does this mean for student affairs professionals? First, reflect on removing the label victim from the discourse. Zaytoun (2019) states educators should take on trauma to give those who have experienced it voice and control. That is, allow those who experience trauma to be active in their recovery and not passive vessels without means to address the effects of the trauma on their lives.
    Second, discuss the notion of survivor with those who have experienced trauma. What does it mean to be a survivor? Does being known as a survivor relegate one’s sense of agency and power to address traumatic events to the background? Does being a survivor imply the event is a memory and no longer affecting one’s life? How does the individual view their agency regarding the trauma? There is also a concern that a “survivor” of trauma may not believe they are surviving at all. Consider someone who has PTSD: they are continuing to experience the consequences and effects of the trauma rather than surviving the trauma. Further, the effects can last for years and potentially a lifetime.
    Student affairs professionals and educators can play an important role in the healing process relative to traumatic experiences. To do so, they must ensure that they do not contribute to the trauma through the use of labels that may decrease a person’s sense of agency and power over a traumatic experience.

    References
    Pinkert, A., Brawn, M., Cabrales, J., & Donatelli, G. (2012). The transformative power of holocaust education in prison: A teacher and student account. Radical Teacher, (95), 60-65.
    Shalka, T.R. (2019). What is the role of student affairs educators in helping students whose learning is complicated by experiencing trauma? Navigating the complex space of supporting student survivors of trauma. In P.M. Magolda, M.B. Baxter Magolda, and R. Carducci (Eds.), Contested issues in troubled times: Student affairs dialogues on equity, civility, and safety, (pp. 221-232).
    Zaytoun, K.D. (2019). A focus on relational and narrative aspects of trauma: Challenges and opportunities for higher education. In P.M. Magolda, M.B. Baxter Magolda, and R. Carducci (Eds.), Contested issues in troubled times: Student affairs dialogues on equity, civility, and safety, (pp. 233-238).

    Reply
    1. Salvador Lopez Avatar
      Salvador Lopez

      Hello Rebecca,

      I want to thank you for providing a very detailed response. I think you continue to address a point that I made about individuals’ experiences that lead to trauma. You mentioned COVID-19 as a current example that has directed to trauma. Many lives have been lost due to this horrendous pandemic. Some individuals probably have developed a fear of the outside world and physical contact. This situation raises a question on how we are supporting those affected by COVID-19 that have developed trauma? Are there any resources that helpful/useful for them? I agree with your statement regarding student affairs professionals having an essential role in helping students heal or cope with their traumatic experiences. Trauma needs to be addressed within the higher education system.

      Reply
  34. Denyse Herder Avatar
    Denyse Herder

    I think both articles provided great insights into the topic of trauma and highlighting its relevance to the profession of Student Affairs. Throughout the reading of both essays I was thinking of how in cases where institutions are struggling with the resources to assist students through counseling services, that perhaps if staff/faculty/administrators can utilize trauma-informed practices, that maybe this can be one of the strategies to support the emotional well-being of students. As evident in both articles and Shalka speaks to this trauma has many forms and does not always reveal itself to the naked eye, and often it is the visible signs that are searched for. The mentioning of looking for visible signs and even just asking yourself, “Am I missing something” was helpful advice. I appreciated Shalka’s messaging about the concept of survivors thriving instead versus surviving. I like this approach because to me it reiterates the importance of meaning-making as part of college development. If students are not able to address the trauma within themselves and if institutions are not being proactive about supporting them, how are students supposed to make meaning of college? If students are merely surviving then perhaps that implies more can be done.

    In Shalka’s personal story they describe how their greatest fear was moving forward with a normal life, fearing not being able to fit in (like many trauma survivors). Because Shalka’s support system at the university was compassionate, understanding, encouraging, and acted normal around them, Shalka was able to move forward in a good way. This supports the message from both essays that recovery very seldom will happen in isolation, therefore a communal approach can be beneficial. Zaytoun, makes a great reference to Shalka’s idea that when survivors have good partners in their healing journey, that recovery and comfort are possible. This again really resonated with me because in addition to being a connector to resources (just one of our many hats) that we can also be that person holding supportive space for someone healing from trauma. Both Shalka and Zaytoun emphasize recovery is possible through relationships, in other words healing is relational in nature. They take this a step further and extend the impact of trauma to family, friends, community, culture, and even society. As student affairs practitioners building relationships is one of the fundamental roles we have and perhaps one of our greatest tools in supporting our students and others. Very seldom do we know everything, so I appreciated Zaytoun’s mentioning that we as helpers can learn from survivors.

    Shalka cautions as helpers we should also be cautious of the dynamic of vicarious trauma; I think the strategies they provided with self-care for helpers was great. In particular, I liked the suggestions of critical self-assessment and having positive outlets to process our own feelings. Critical self-assessment can even be tied to Shalka’s mentioning of conscious referrals in that we can reflect on why we might be overreferring or overinvolved. This then brings to mind the implications of our own trauma as helpers on the work we do with students as well as others. With all of the different traumas students or even our colleagues can disclose to us, knowing how to support them in that moment and then take care of ourselves afterwards is critical. I also think the mentioning that trauma can be tied to privilege and power as well as social inequity. Having this more expanded knowledge of trauma sources can be beneficial in Student Affairs especially with the growing diversity of student populations. I personally am partial to Zaytoun’s idea that telling stories of trauma can be helpful, even if this is may not be right for every survivor. On that note, for a survivor to tell us their story of the trauma(s) in their life is one we should hold care as in that moment they look at us and invite us in as part of their healing, which is one of the most important responsibilities anyone can have.

    Reply
    1. Salvador Lopez Avatar
      Salvador Lopez

      Hi Denyse,

      I want to thank you for providing excellent insights! You bring up a critical point about institutions struggling to provide resources such as counseling services to support students. Are there enough counselors on a college campus to support students through their trauma? This statement refers back to my comment about guiding students to different campus resources. Professional refer students to the counseling center for support and guidance. However, most of these support centers are already slammed with several cases that require counseling. So, where else can we refer students to find assistance? Students shouldn’t feel tossed from department to department seeking help. Instead, a professional should provide as must aid as possible to help students cope and deal with their trauma. I agree with your statement about holding care for students inviting us to be part of their healing process. Again, thank you for opening a great discussion.

      Reply
  35. Ashlee Shifflet Avatar
    Ashlee Shifflet

    From this chapter of contested issues, there were some very important points made in each essay. Starting with Shalka, the in depth testimony of personal experience with trauma really highlighted the different kinds of trauma one can move through. In addition, it was extremely valuable that Shalka informed the reader of how trauma can also be an effect of oppression and marginalization. As student affairs professionals, it is important that we seek out ways to identify when these traumatic experiences most often transpire and what the signs are when it comes to how they are affecting students. Another take away from the first article in chapter twelve is the notion that not all people who are traumatized are aware of their own trauma. As Shalka mentioned, because the definition of trauma is so narrow, it might be hard for some students to understand what is affecting them and why. I think that as a college student moves through the different stages of development, working through trauma can and should be one of those stages. It is impossible to know what every student is going through, but being available and knowledgeable with resources readily available for students is a good step forward.

    In Zaytoun’s reflective essay, I found importance in the idea of student affairs professionals providing spaces for trauma survivors to tell their story. Being able to speak one’s own truth really is so important and although some may opt out, I think that those who want to share their story should be able. For many, sharing is a part of the healing process. I know that at my current university, we don’t have many – if any – spaces dedicated for survivors and victims alike to safely speak their truth without judgement. Although it may be part of our jobs as student affairs practitioners to lend a listening ear during one-on-one meetings with students, creating other spaces for conversation amongst peers is just as important. I think that at this point in time, some of the topics that used to be taboo in our society are now coming to the forefront as normative. However, there is still a lot of work to do in terms of retracting blame and shame from the trauma survivor’s experience. The first step towards dismantling this stigma involves speaking about it supporting one another. Because of the high volume of students at large four year universities like NAU, it is vital that administrators begin to recognize the very real and life-changing events that students have possibly experienced.

    Reply
    1. Janelle Seibert Avatar
      Janelle Seibert

      Before reading this chapter, my definition of trauma was quite different but from reading the first essay by Shalka, it’s expanded quite a bit. Trauma can manifest itself in a lot of different ways. I also took away the importance of how trauma may and does impact student development and how some students may not even recognize that they are dealing with their own personal trauma. One thing that I was grateful that you emphasized was that trauma can come from dealing with oppression and marginalization. Too often, I feel that people invalidate students’ lived experiences and think they make excuses for the ways in which that trauma shows itself. The process of healing is a messy one. You can feel like you’ve made amazing grounds and then one day have a mental break or become triggered and it can feel like you are right back where you started. Zaytoun’s essay brought even more to light on how universities are or are not helping those who have or are currently dealing with trauma. I really liked that you brought in your own experience with NAU and how there may or may not be spacing for students to openly speak about their trauma or how they are healing. For some, that’s the last thing they ever want to do but for the others, that may be the only way they can begin to get some of that same, guilt, or anger off of their hearts. Thank you for your post and perspective Ashlee!

      Reply
    2. Denyse Herder Avatar
      Denyse Herder

      Ashlee, I agree with you there were very important points made in both essays. I think you speak to the overall importance of how we as student affairs professionals must be familiar with trauma-informed practices as well as connecting students to valuable resources (even if we do not know exactly what they are going through). I think at minimum we should be able to make thoughtful referrals even when facing situations that involve trauma that can make us feel uneasy. You also make a great point that not everyone is aware of how trauma may be impacting their lives, this includes student affairs professionals. This to me brings up the issue of how our role as a helper can be impacted when we are not addressing our own trauma or how we impact survivors based on where we are at in our own healing paths. Prior to reading this article my understanding of trauma was not as expansive of how they explain it in both of the essays. Now I know how important it is for institutions to be cautious of the verbiage used when discussing trauma and supporting students; in adding to your mentioning of narrow definitions, some students could potentially be excluded from available services or limit the engagement in their healing path.

      Although this may not be the right pathway for every survivor, I do believe in the power of survivors telling their story in safe spaces. In addition to what you said, I too believe it gives them a voice in something that changed their lives. In telling their stories, perhaps they can release repressed feelings or even find ways to think positively about their futures, thus they can feel empowered. I think you allude to the fact that too often in society there blame placed onto victims or the expectation for them to toughen up and get through things alone; and as both Shalka and Zaytoun expressed, approaches grounded in concepts of community and looking at trauma as expanding beyond the individual can be impactful. And I think size of the institution does matter just as you had mentioned especially knowing here at NAU support can be limited through Counseling Services due to limited resources. Great post!

      Reply
  36. Scout Miller Avatar
    Scout Miller

    I think that “what is the role of student affairs educators in helping students whose learning is complicated by experiencing trauma?” is a loaded question, and for a lot of reasons. Mental health crisis is exponentially increasing, not just in higher education, but across the country. I was recently speaking with an officer on campus regarding officer responses to suicidal ideation. There are some larger, city departments who are no longer responding to suicidal people in person because of the safety concern of the officers, as well as people wanting to “die by officer”. While I think that both authors brought up important topics for student affairs professionals, I also think that we have to ask the question of “when is it too much?”, and I don’t know if there is an answer for that. At what point should I not support a student during trauma because it hinders more than it helps? I think about this not only with suicidal ideation, but other traumas where I respond in person as a hall director. Everytime I show up to a students room, the question of “will I be able to help or am I just going to make it worse?” is at the back of my mind.

    Shalka spoke of wanting to resume their “normal” life and it was remarkable the amount of support they received after their trauma to accomplish that. I think that student affairs professionals have the ability to make a difference in the lives of students and their traumas, but I also think that there are some people who are bad at identifying limits. I am a hall director, not a trained counselor. There is only so much I can do for a student based on my training. There are other hall directors who don’t see those boundaries and want to be the “fixers” of everything. I think this is when student affairs professionals begin to hinder the healing of students and communities during trauma. I have a current RA who is going through some trauma and they need to be left alone to heal and process on their own. They will reach out when they want support and it’s overwhelming them because people won’t stop reaching out and checking in. They feel like they can’t move on and heal because people aren’t giving them that space. There is too much hyper response, when this RA needs some more hypo response. I would agree that many of us are drawn to the field because we want to make a difference, but we can’t force that difference.

    Zaytoun states that healing, learning, and growing are relational to the trauma process, and that healing from trauma is not an individual task. While I agree that community, connection, and support is needed for students to heal, learn, and grow, I think that the community, connections, and support needs to be student driven. Like Zaytoun said, people are connected to trauma in complicated ways, and I can’t force my way of healing onto my RA if that isn’t going to help their process. Yes, trauma lives alongside us, and I think that it is important to recognize vicarious trauma because I think that it can impact the way student affairs professionals respond to trauma, and could take the agency away from the student. Student affairs professional can be a part of the student’s process, but they need to help the student give a voice to the trauma. If the professional is the one giving the voice, it’s no longer healing or beneficial for the student. This can be hard to do when the trauma is salient to the professional. This is where it is important to identity those limits and know how trauma will individual impact you as you work through a career in the field.

    Reply
    1. Kimberly Bright Avatar
      Kimberly Bright

      Hi Scout,

      I can completely relate to the uncertainty surrounding the idea of when is it too much. I also think about who is the one to make that call? Surely we have agency when we know our threshold, but often times I think the communication from chains of command come into play when working with students. It is difficult when I feel that I have still left in me to help and have built relationships with students just to be told they are monopolizing my time.

      I was also intrigued by the use of the word “normal” in Shalka’s writing. It makes me think of what does normal mean for a student who has recently experienced trauma such as this case, as compared to a student with longer term trauma. Do you think the needs are going to be vastly different? I also wonder what institution size and type might mean for these students. The school mentioned in this essay, Dartmouth, which is private and relatively small in size (under 6,500 students). This would surely feel different than my current university, which is public and hosts just under 30,000 students and has 5 (with the potential for 6) active counseling professionals available for appointments- that is roughly 6,000 students per single professional.

      While I agree that healing needs to be student driven, I struggle with the idea that response to trauma can be dangerous at times, to which what is our role. At which state do you think it’s appropriate to switch and take some of that agency on, if at all?

      I appreciate your insights, Scout. Thank you for sharing your perspective!

      Reply
    2. Janelle Seibert Avatar
      Janelle Seibert

      Thank you for being so reflective and bringing in your own experiences in to your post. I would have never realized that some departments and officials are no longer responding to suicidal persons due to the fear that they want to die by officer and I can only imagine how terrifying that could be for an officer. As student affairs professionals, I also worry that I may make a situation worse and even though if a student is already at the point of taking their own life, I still feel that if a student I responded to ended up dead, I would put blame on myself. It would be really hard not to due to that ever present thought in the back of my head. When you said “I am a hall director, not a trained counselor” that hit home, especially looking at the variety of hall directors on our campus and how different each of our responses may be. In theory we should all be providing the same care and support but from my experience, I have not always seem that. Boundaries are a real thing. I do think that we can support students however they want to be supported but that may take those direct conversations. I’ve touched base on Shalka and Zaytoun in my other posts but I really valued your outlook from our positions specifically and your experience being able to talk with officers in the field.

      Reply
  37. Natalie Schmitz Avatar
    Natalie Schmitz

    I strongly appreciated Shalka and Zaytoun’s approaches to the topic of trauma in higher education. Shalka brought up an extremely important point about there being a common image of what trauma is or how people “usually” react. I think the media paints a very limited picture of trauma which can limit professionals in any field in recognizing these effects. I think about the work I do in student conduct and the impact trauma can have on their decisions or how they react to any kind of formal action from the school. Shalka did a great job of outlining the different ways a person can react to trauma and how this can be mistaken for general loss of interest or not be seen as concerning by professionals. While everyone heals in their own way and in their own time, it is important for professionals in higher education to tune in to some of those signs. The discussion about trigger warnings was especially interesting to me. Shalka left it very open for how trigger warnings can be helpful versus harmful and I’m still not sure where I would feel those warnings are necessary. Part of learning and growing is experiencing situations that may challenge us whether we have experienced trauma or not. An interesting concept I have encountered is the idea of post traumatic growth. This concept is based on the idea that while trauma can be extremely harmful and spark negative effects, it can also be an opportunity for that person to learn, grow, and become stronger. I don’t like the idea of shielding or warning students that they should not watch or participate in something because it may cause discomfort when it could actually be the opposite. This is obviously extremely different for every person, but it is something to consider.

    Zaytoun brings up the great responsibility higher education professionals may feel as being part of a community that may help or hinder a student working through trauma. Serving as a supportive structure for someone who has experienced trauma can be incredibly validating and helpful. On the other hand, I have a large concern with professionals conflating their role as a professional and serving as an informal counselor. While we all can and should support students in whatever journey they may find themselves on, it would be irresponsible for us to give specific guidance as it relates to working through trauma or attempt to serve in that role. I have many questions about the martyrdom that exists with professionals who do this and how we can define where to draw the line as it relates to supporting students and referring them to other resources.

    Reply
    1. aprilludgate1 Avatar
      aprilludgate1

      I loved all of the points you mentioned in your second paragraph! I also feel that a student affairs professional’s reaction to a student disclosing trauma can be extremely helpful or harmful in that student’s ability to cope or move forward. I think student affairs professionals should receive rigorous training in how to detect signs of students who are experiencing trauma. Like you, I believe the focus should then be funnel them into an appropriate resource. My fear is that if student affairs professionals get too involved, the students could form an unhealthy attachment to them and look to them for answers rather than a professional who has been trained in how to help students navigate their trauma (i.e. a counselor). However, the distinction between lending an empathetic ear to a student versus providing too much advice and getting too close to a student is often very blurry and nuanced.

      Reply
    2. Jana B. Avatar
      Jana B.

      I really connected with your first paragraph Natalie! I agree that media does paint a very limited picture of trauma, mainly focusing on Title IX, extreme situations, or sudden loss, which affects how we view trauma as well within our field. Shalka discusses how student affairs practitioners must decide what “counts,” but I also think this could be a sticky situation if someone does not understand what a student is going through and does not recognize or acknowledge that it is trauma that a student is facing. I also really appreciate that Shalka shared their story of trauma, as I felt that explained another way that trauma can happen and affect students outside of Title IX.

      The topic of secondary traumatic stress and vicarious trauma toward the end of Shalka’s section was also something nice to read. Similar to how you just mentioned traumatic growth, these are all topics that I’ve noticed are not often discussed when trauma and supporting students is brought up (at least around me where I am). I feel that sometimes we do not acknowledge that secondary or vicarious trauma that is affecting students, nor do we discuss how trauma can lead to growth for a student. Each person handles trauma different and is important to do what we can in this field to support each other as well as our students, which I think Shalka explains well at the end of their section.

      Reply
    3. Kimberly Bright Avatar
      Kimberly Bright

      Hi Natalie!

      Thank you for sharing your perspective, especially as someone who works with trauma often.

      I am really connected to the section you commented on about trigger warnings. Do you think there is a difference between trigger warnings and content advisories? I think I often flip flop back and forth.

      I think about how television and movies are rated for appropriate age range based on content. It does not tell people of these ages that they cannot watch, but just that it might not be the most appropriate and can consider watching something else. Similarly, I think of content advisories in similar ways. If there is content known to be potentially harmful, I think that it is appropriate to be able to share that these are the things that are going to be discussed in order to prepare students, but also give them the agency to make a decision for themselves if at this point of their trauma sitting through the content would be appropriate or not.

      Especially since we cannot possibly know what all students are experiencing at any given time, I tend to fall in favor of these types of advisories as helpful and a way for students to continue to take control over their trauma.

      Reply
    4. Denyse Herder Avatar
      Denyse Herder

      Natalie, you make some very great and valid points. I agree the media ingrains a limiting picture and understanding of trauma and as you mentioned this can impact a student affairs professional’s trauma lens. For me, Shalka’s mentioning of relating general loss of interest as a sign of trauma was very intriguing. This makes me reflect on the times I may or may not have had this initial thought about a trauma survivor, I know for sure I will definitely strive to be more reflective going forward. Personally, I believe trauma exists all around us as a society, therefore, as student affairs professionals it should be part of our job and everyday routines to understand some of the fundamental concepts of trauma-informed practices (especially also with often limited resources through Counseling services). Although we might not be able to immediately identify signs of trauma in a students, perhaps we can at least learn to at least consider what is missing or why the student or professional is behaving a certain way. I think even being able to effectively refer is such an essential part of our job in supporting the healing of students as we ourselves might not be fully equipped with the training/experience to assist them in certain situations. Both Shalka and Zaytoun allude to the importance of relationships in the healing process so I think through relationships perhaps professionals can gain more insight of the student’s experiences and thus be able to tune into potential trauma symptoms.

      I too thought the insights on trauma resulting in growth was very interesting. I think sometimes the tendency is to default to and focus on the negative outcomes. Because we live alongside trauma I think there needs to be a shift to also looking at the growth that can happen and acknowledging the growth that has already happened; because as you had mentioned perhaps as a result of trauma survivors, along with the hardships, can also experience growth, strength, and resilience. For example, as a Native person in addition to my individual traumatic experiences, my very existence is tied to the bigger traumatic experiences of Native communities. There is a lot of healing still taking place within Native communities and for me personally, my healing involves not only examining negative impacts but also moving forward with acknowledging the resilience and empowerment that came from my individual and community traumas. In sum, although there can be some benefits to facing trauma by one’s self, I think there are greater long-term benefits in having the support of others. Great post!

      Reply
  38. Madeline Cairns Avatar
    Madeline Cairns

    Trauma is one of the most frequent discussions we have within student affairs and class, and learning more about the background of those affected by trauma, what that means, and how we can support these students was enlightening and interesting. One topic that stuck with me specifically was the idea of understanding the ways that trauma manifests itself– often times, we look to students that may seem withdrawn or “off” but there are both hypoactive and hyperactive responses to trauma. I think the piece of the chapter that stuck with me the most was the idea of the background of trauma– the most pivotal information, such as why this topic is important and the impact it has on our students is often forgotten in our responses, which take into account multiple perspectives (mandated reporting, a student centered approach, etc.)

    Another critical piece of understanding trauma includes our role as student affairs professionals—vicarious trauma is real and needs to be addressed within our work. Secondary trauma is common in higher education, and I appreciate how Shalka outlined a solution to this problem. Often times, there isn’t a discernable solution or it is considered case-by-case, but in vicarious trauma, the suggestion for self-assessment is incredibly important. Understanding your personal boundaries PRIOR to encountering a student with trauma creates for more meaningful conversation and impact for both the supporter and the student. Identifying limits is a strength, not a weakness, and encountering a situation you are not adequately prepared for mentally does a disservice to yourself and a student, when it could be avoided through self assessment. With that, developing strategies to cope with these issues is essential to honoring your boundaries, as “self-care” can be a trigger word and often only puts a Band-Aid on the idea of taking care of yourself.

    Ultimately, Shalka said it best; “one of the primary reasons I thrived rather than survived was because of remarkable administrators and faculty who encouraged, supported, and believed in me.” In higher education, it is very easy to blur the lines between counselor, student affairs professional, supervisor, or other roles. Regardless of this, the most important role we can play for students is that of supporter- this is through proper education of trauma and a sensitivity to topics and backgrounds that could affect a student’s success.

    Reply
    1. Natalie Schmitz Avatar
      Natalie Schmitz

      I really appreciated what you had to say about professionals’ self-assessment and identification of limits. There are many times when the customer service attitude of going “above and beyond” is incredibly harmful to professionals and to students. In our counseling classes, we have discussed the importance of identifying areas of growth or insecurity in ourselves to then learn to better serve clients/students. This is no different even if one is not going to be in a counselor role.
      I think it is also important for professionals to give themselves some slack as they may not realize a necessary boundary until it has been crossed. Navigating these situations can be difficult but it is extremely harmful to let the “student first” mentality destroy the relationship built or the progress of that student. Thanks for your thoughts!

      Reply
    2. Scout Miller Avatar
      Scout Miller

      I use the term “band aid” a lot when I’m talking to students during trauma or other on call situations. I often will tell them that I am here for a short term solution and want to aid in anyway I can in this current moment. I think that it is important to have that conversation with someone going through trauma when thinking about boundaries. I have to tell students that I am a short term resource, especially with some traumatic events. They might see me for the night and then have to talk with other student affairs professionals or staff on campus, and if I don’t set that boundary for myself or the student, it can negatively impact the rapport I have with them. I don’t think it makes my response and my part of their healing any less than, instead, I think it allows them to be realistic with how they are going to move forward, and what support they need. I think that for trauma, the process would be learning, healing, and then growing if you were moving in a sequential order. I am the band aid during the learning process of healing when providing those resources, getting people connecting, and helping them beginning the healing stage of their journey.

      Reply
  39. Molly Flesher Avatar
    Molly Flesher

    Within student affairs we often discuss how to work with students who are experiencing trauma or students in crisis. However, it feels that little time is spent talking about how to work with students who have past trauma. All students deserve support and encouragement and as Shalka states, for those who have experienced trauma that could be exactly what is needed for them to persist and succeed. It’s impossible to have a full understanding of all forms of trauma and how it affects any one person but knowing this fact alone can help us as professionals to gain better insight into what the needs of our students are. Not only do we need to be thinking about what affects our students, but how survivors of trauma may behave so we can do our best to support those students. I much appreciated Shalka’s outlined dilemmas as someone who knowingly doesn’t often work with survivors of trauma, these dilemmas are ones I think about frequently. I tend to worry about what the best course of action is when a either a situation arises with a student or a survivor of trauma is needing extra support. These are things that I’ve not been trained on in my positions and the infrequency of these occurrences in the work make me feel out of practice and distant from the situations. Because of this I find Shalka’s implications for practice helpful. We should always be thinking “what else might be going on here” when we work with students regardless of what we already know or think we know. Zaytoun illustrates in their response article that while we need to be considering what trauma might look like to different students, we also need to be conscious of the slow-burning trauma caused by systemic conditions. Zaytoun goes on to suggest how higher education can play a major role in addressing and alleviating trauma cause by systems of power and oppression. Despite the how higher education may play a crucial role in engaging with systemic trauma I wonder how it may be equally contributing to the problem. Is higher education not already a system of power and often times oppression of marginalized identities? How can we address these systems of power without addressing the issue internally? While I don’t have answers to these questions I think we, as professionals, can work towards eliminating the trauma we induce and to better support and encourage our students.

    Reply
    1. Ashlee Shifflet Avatar
      Ashlee Shifflet

      Hi Molly,

      I enjoyed the insight you gave in your post, especially when you talked about your own personal experiences and what you consider a lack of training in areas regarding trauma. It made me think about how those who are trained feel. Do they still feel ineffective or under prepared at times? I’m guessing they do. Trauma is such a serious topic that can affect people in different ways, as you mentioned, so that being said, maybe there isn’t a clear cut way of handling it and maybe there is no one to blame for that reality.

      Reply
    2. Jana B. Avatar
      Jana B.

      I think what both Molly and Ashlee shared are important thoughts for us to consider, so thank you both for sharing. As someone who has been trained in trauma and crisis response (in relation to this field), I can honestly say that I have walked into situations feeling unprepared and unsure how to respond. And even in situations where I responded appropriately, that I did not mean that I left feeling any better. This can be a challenging are to effectively prepare staff to deal with, so I hope this conversation continues.

      Aside from the systemic issues of power and oppression within higher education, Zaytoun also discusses how, “No one should be forced to share their stories,” even though they also shared how important it was for Shalka to share theirs in the first part of the chapter. This literature is timely as we are currently in an era of movements that include people sharing their trauma to uplift and support others, while simultaneously hoping to prevent the same thing from happening to someone else. I personally feel that it is important for us to look at our role in student affairs, examine the strength of power, and use whatever we have to support our students how they need, to the best of our ability, through this time.

      Reply
  40. Alejandro Hernandez Avatar
    Alejandro Hernandez

    Something I liked from Shalka’s essay was expanding the understanding of trauma to include its impacts on individuals and communities, as well as acknowledging that it is not always a singular event. The discussion about PTSD was also very interesting. I think that while it can be useful to have a restrictive definition, it can lead to students not seeking out help they need because they do not think their experiences are traumatic enough, or they focus on the idea that other people have it worse. I know that even in my own experience it can be difficult to not try to use other people’s experiences as a way to downplay and ignore your own experiences. We have to remind students that their emotions and experiences are not any less valid just because they perceive others to have it worse. Finally, the part about trigger warnings stood out to me because it is an issue that I constantly find myself switching my opinion about, and this section completely summarized why I go back and forth with how I feel about them. On one hand, I want to be considerate of the fact that some students have faced trauma and that certain things would put them in distress and impact their learning. On the other hand, I also worry that overdoing it could be coddling and prevent them from working through their trauma. However, there is also the problem that I am not and will not be a licensed therapist, so who am I to decide that someone is not doing enough to cope with their trauma? How can we differentiate between uncomfortable moments that are necessary for growth and learning and content that negatively impacts the students’ learning, especially when every individual has their own level of tolerance for working with difficult subjects. Even if I do incorporate trigger warnings into my work, I may be forcing students to disclose that they have experienced trauma when they may not want that information known. I think that in the context of education, I fall more in support of trigger warnings depending on the subject and how it will impact learning, but I do not think I hold that same standard for other areas such as entertainment.

    I like how Zaytoun expanded on the idea that trauma is a communal experience. Although an event or experience directly involves one person, the effects can be felt or caused by the individual’s community. The coping process also requires support from a community. In our role as student affairs professionals, we are part of this community of support. We are responsible for doing more than just listening and handing students a list of resources. As Zaytoun writes, when we have the ability to implement changes such as policies and procedures for identifying risks and barriers or creating centers for communities that are more at-risk for trauma, we need to take those opportunities. Being a source of support requires proactivity and flexibility to help students with different types of trauma. We likely will not be prepared for every type of traumatic experience, but we should know how to navigate those situations to help our students and work towards change that provides more future benefit and support.

    Reply
    1. Madeline Cairns Avatar
      Madeline Cairns

      HI AJ, I also agreed with your reflection of Zaytoun’s concept of communal trauma. I think that there are no one experience are the same, but identifying support systems that can relate to a response, specific occurance, or a small piece of your coping can really enhance a student’s relation to their own trauma, and the world around them as a result. Identifying some of these policies and procedures to assist in this topic are key, but also understanding it is not our job to “fix” students who experience trauma, but rather provide them with the support necessary.

      Reply
    2. Jennifer Imel Avatar
      Jennifer Imel

      AJ, I think you bring up a really great point about trigger warnings in your response. I never really thought about how it could be very isolating for a student who may have experienced the trauma the trigger warning is for to have to disclose in some way (leaving the room, for example). I think this is something to keep in mind when thinking of trigger warnings and how we portray them to the target audience. Similarly to you, I agree that trigger warnings are an important part of our profession. I think the point you make about using someone else’s experiences to minimize our own is a common practice in our profession. I wonder how we can move away from this, knowing we often times feel as though we have to work through our trauma quickly to help our students process a variety of things. I think we often forget about taking care of ourselves, even though we often repeat this message to students on a daily basis.

      Reply
  41. Austin Connell Avatar
    Austin Connell

    Overall, both essays made some great points in regards to trauma and how student affairs practitioners can go about best supporting students who experience traumatic experiences. I think that both authors made great contributions and I appreciate how open and honest they were, especially Tricia Shalka.
    When reading the first essay by Shalka I really appreciated the fact that they said that not all traumas are visible to everyone. Some traumas are not visible and we may have no idea what has been going on in a students’ life. Due to this, it is important for student affairs practitioners to remember that “abnormal” behaviors may be caused by something severe in a student’s life and we need to take that into consideration. In addition, I think it is important to note that it is not our call to make to determine if a students’ experience counts as trauma. Trauma can take many different shapes and forms and it also affects every student differently. Therefore, I do not feel it is our job to tell a student if they are experiencing trauma or not – it is the students’. We may not perceive a students’ experience as traumatic, but we are not that student and we may not know their history or their other experiences, so it is important to keep in mind that every student is different and there is not a cookie-cutter definition for trauma.
    Shalka also brought up another interesting argument in their essay – should student affairs practitioners incorporate trigger warnings into their work with students? For me personally, I feel that this is necessary and beneficial for students and that they should be given. Trigger warnings allow time for students to determine if they are wanting/capable of staying in the room or not. If we do not give trigger warnings then we are choosing to bring up a potentially difficult subject without giving students any context or voice in the matter and, therefore, could be making it so that the student has to relive their trauma, which is something that they may not want to do at that moment in time. Furthermore, I know that I personally have benefitted from trigger warnings because I know that I cannot sit through a video depicting a horrible accident involving motorcycles due to a previous experience that I have had. Due to all of this, I feel that we should be giving trigger warnings out because it allows the student to have a voice as to whether or not they want to sit through a potentially emotional or strenuous situation.
    In Zaytoun’s essay, I appreciated how they continued to build off of what Shalka stated. I also appreciated how they brought up how trauma affects not only one person, but also a multitude of people including family and friends. I feel that at times, student affairs practitioners, can forget or not place a great emphasis on working with students if that student personally did not experience that trauma. However, we need to remember that even if the trauma did not happen to that student it still affects them. Say a student’s brother went through a traumatic experience and the student used their brother as a support and resource for them, that event is still going to have a great impact on that student and we should be working with that student regardless that way we can be a support for them, if they need one, and provide them with resources, if needed.
    Another great point that Zaytoun brought up in their essay is providing resources not only for on-campus offices but also for resources off-campus. I feel that a lot of times we just provide resources to students that are on campus, but we limit ourselves and students from having other great opportunities by not providing resources in our local community. I feel that if we did offer more resources in our local community, in addition to on-campus resources, we have the potential to build great relationships with these resources and then, in turn, have great collaboration with them in the future. By including the local community more into a university setting I feel that we can better provide for students since we are giving them more resources which can in-turn give more power to the student in terms of the support that they need.

    Reply
    1. aprilludgate1 Avatar
      aprilludgate1

      Thank you for providing such rich insight! I agree the main takeaway from the article is to never make assumptions. Never assume that your definition of trauma matches someone else’s. This is where empathy comes into play. Though one might not necessarily view x event as traumatic, it is their responsibility to empathize with the student. Downplaying another person’s trauma can create a toxic culture that may prevent students from disclosing their trauma out of fear of invalidation and belittlement, which can traumatize them further. Also, never assume if someone’s grades start to slip or they begin missing class that they flat-out don’t care. Regardless of whether trauma is a part of the equation, I believe it is the duty of student affairs professionals to always dig a little deeper and probe (in an appropriate and respectful manner) because there could be many reasons for a change in a student’s performance or behavior, especially concerning trauma.

      Reply
    2. Alejandro Hernandez Avatar
      Alejandro Hernandez

      I definitely agree with your point about needing to remember that students do not need to directly experience trauma to still be affected by it. It can be very easy in our role to focus so much on the individual student that we forget about the contexts and environments they grew up with and are existing in. I also appreciate your emphasis on not using our own personal feelings about what we would consider trauma to dismiss what students experience as trauma. Although it is important to help students work through their trauma, we can’t be so caught up in wanting to help that we ignore the many ways they are affected.

      Reply
    3. Jennifer Imel Avatar
      Jennifer Imel

      I really appreciated what you said about how we determine what trauma is. I think you are completely right in saying that we are not able to define trauma for an individual. Sometimes I feel as though we can try to assess what has happened to someone from our own eyes, which can sometimes affect how we percieve their experience. We need to make sure we are listening to a person’s lived experiences and allowing them to understand their trauma and how that affects them personally. I also feel as though trigger warnings are an important part of letting people who have experienced trauma decide for themselves whether or not they would like to partake in an activity that could resurface trauma for that individual. As student affairs professionals we need to be mindful of our students lived experiences. In the article it mentioned how this is coddling college students, to which I would disagree. If we are functioning under a challenge and support method, we need to give students the opportunity to be challenged, not force them into things. Trigger warnings or content warnings allow for this.

      Reply
  42. Stephen Hosburg Avatar
    Stephen Hosburg

    I really appreciated the tangible suggestions that Shalka wrote in their essay. Specifically I was interested in two of the suggestions provided: Conscious and informed referrals and what else might be going on? Most of us, as student affairs professionals, are in fact trained mandatory reporters. This means that we will likely work with students who are affected by trauma many times throughout our careers. During the work that we do, it is important that we are aware of people that we can refer students to but that we do not take too much advantage of them to the point that we put up a wall and funnel students to that other resource. However, I appreciated that Shalka recognized that many of us will have personal connections to trauma and that it may be in our own self-care interest to delegate response to another person who can better handle the situation.

    The other suggestion that I appreciated was to ask what else might be going on? The author spoke about this suggestion in a reactive way such as looking at a student’s grades and asking what else might be going on that would lead to a student having poor grades. However, it can also be helpful to ask this question in a proactive way. Asking a student who has gone through trauma if they have eaten that day or gotten enough sleep can be a way to show the student that you care and want to help them succeed.

    Reply
    1. Austin Connell Avatar
      Austin Connell

      Hi Stephen!

      I enjoyed reading your post and had similar thoughts to you. I also really resonated with the idea of looking at what else might be going on. All of our lives are complex and the same reigns true for the students that we work with. If we stop and ask students even the little things we start to establish a trusting relationship with them and we can in turn be a support for the student or refer the student to the appropriate resource, or both. By asking the little things we get the opportunity to see into that student’s life and see if some other things are going on that we can maybe assist them with. Talking to a student and listening to them go a long way to the student and it could be the deciding difference as to whether a student is retained or not.

      Reply
    2. Alejandro Hernandez Avatar
      Alejandro Hernandez

      You brought up a great point about not putting up walls and just funneling students to other resources. Even though it is important to recognize our own personal limitations, we still have to take responsibility in helping students to the best of our abilities. We should be working towards developing our skills enough so that we can be an initial source of support and refer students to additional resources if needed, but not default to sending students to someone else. Knowing how to filter when we should and should not do referrals may also help alleviate some of the issues we see on-campus with resources not being readily available because they do not have the capacity to take every student as needed.

      Reply
    3. Molly Flesher Avatar
      Molly Flesher

      I appreciate your thoughts around finding a balance between just passing a student off to someone else and taking care of ourselves. I think it’s a delicate thing to have to practice, but necessary nontheless. All too often are we conditioned to work on one side of the spectrum or the other. We either don’t care enough and just bounce students around hoping they find help or we care so much that it’s at a detriment to the student by offering too much hand holding or to ourselves by inviting vicarious trauma or just generally overworking ourselves. Thanks, Stephen!

      Reply
    4. Natalie Schmitz Avatar
      Natalie Schmitz

      I really like what you had to say about referring students. I sometimes think that higher education professionals feel the need to follow through even though it may be outside of their abilities or comfort level. With that said, I think all professionals could use more training or education as it relates to recognizing or working with students who have experienced trauma.

      Reply
  43. aprilludgate1 Avatar
    aprilludgate1

    Shalka brings up an interesting point regarding survivors re-entering an environment after experiencing trauma. I see positives and negatives of choosing to return to the same environment/school and choosing to go to seek out a new environment/school. A new environment has the benefit of not knowing anyone. These strangers will not remember the way one used to be before their trauma and will not have expectations. One can be anyone that he or she desires. However, the main advantage of returning to the same environment is a more solid support. The friends, staff, etc. at the school will (hopefully) be able to provide tailored support since they already have a pre-existing relationship with you.

    Shalka mentioned several points that caused me to identify my own faulty assumptions about trauma. For example, I never took the time to consider that historical actions taken against a group of people and extreme poverty as just as traumatic as a singular event. I also found myself guilt of associating PTSD with trauma. I now understand that PTSD is one of many reactions to trauma. I am glad that Shalka mentioned the positive impacts that can sometimes result from trauma. One of my favorite quotes is that “when we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.” When working with students, I think we should keep this in mind. It is important to help people acknowledge their trauma without enabling them or continually discussing their trauma in negative ways and perpetuating a feeling of victimization. I think helping students come to terms with the trauma while finding a new sense of strength and resilience should be the goal.

    I appreciate Zaytoun’s idea of increasing social and cultural awareness around trauma-related issues. However, I feel obligated to point out that awareness is not enough. It must be accompanied by a solid course of action for true change to occur. It also assumes that people in society care about the issue and are dedicated to changing the culture. While this may be true for some, I doubt this is true for all. If people haven’t been personally affected by something (such as trauma) it usually harder for them to fully grasp all that it entails, especially something as nuanced as trauma. It takes a certain amount of education on the issue such as what trama is, what the possible effects are, etc. for people to truly understand the issue and truly care. Only after people understand and care about an issue can change be possible.

    Reply
    1. Stephen Hosburg Avatar
      Stephen Hosburg

      Evan, I think that you bring up a really good point regarding working with students who have experienced trauma. It is beneficial to the student if you are not helping them create a cycle of helplessness due to their trauma. One of the difficult aspects of experiencing trauma can be a loss of agency for the student. Rather than wallowing with the student in their self pity over losing their agency, we can challenge them and support them to continue to grow through the trauma and to engage in work that helps them to regain their agency.

      Reply
    2. Molly Flesher Avatar
      Molly Flesher

      You bring up a really good point with trauma and victimization. It’s easy to fall into pity and and other negative behaviors when working with survivors of trauma, but it’s something we as SA professionals should be working hard to avoid. The goals of supporting students you mentioned I think are spot on. I also agree with you regarding changing the societal perspective of trauma. It takes much more than awareness to shift an entire culture around something especially a topic as stigmatized as trauma. Great insight. Thanks!

      Reply

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