A series of fast-moving wildfires erupted on Jan. 7 roaring across the Los Angeles area, killing more than 25 people, including some who died trying to prevent the fires from destroying their homes, while engulfing thousands of structures. How will the people who live there cope with the trauma?
ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½ Today reached out to Karin Coifman, Ph.D., professor and chair, Department of Psychological Sciences and co-director, ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½ Student Life Study, to ask how today’s students prepare for the significant mental health needs of the impacted communities.
ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½ Today: Talk about the specific training and coursework that ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½ offers to prepare students for working with individuals who have experienced trauma, such as those affected by the recent wildfires in Los Angeles?
Coifman: There are a number of excellent training programs on campus that can prepare students to work with individuals exposed to potentially traumatic events from a variety of professions. These include nursing, mental health counseling, public health, and of course, clinical psychology. All of these programs have some required undergraduate training but largely involve training at the graduate level, typically masters- and doctoral-level training to prepare students to work in this important professional domain.
ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½ Today: What issues are predictable when it comes to preparing our students to enter a field environment where traumatic events such as the wildfires or hurricanes have occurred?
Coifman: Importantly, trauma exposure is unfortunately common, whereas fortunately, mental illness related to traumatic exposure is rare. So many students interested in these professions often have the benefit of their own experiences. But, common across all training programs is building students’ capacity to manage their own distress with the situations and contexts within which they will find patients. This can be specific resilience building or time and case management strategies, to supervised training experiences where they get the benefit of experts in the field working with them in a supportive, mentorship and training capacity.
ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½ Today: How does the university integrate real-world experiences and simulations into the curriculum to help students develop practical skills in trauma-informed care?
Coifman: All of the training programs offered at KSU as well as universities across the country are required to offer practical training experiences for students/trainees so that students are prepared when they complete their graduate programs. These requirements are often overseen by medical/health profession licensure boards but they also make practical sense too. Students need to have hands-on experience doing the work they want to be able to ultimately do as a professional. Depending on the training program this usually involves at least one or two, to even four or five different kinds of practicum experiences at a variety of community settings, from clinics to hospitals, to prisons, or even schools. It is very much the dominant model of training across the health professions and has enormous benefits for patients and practitioners.
ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½ Today: What partnerships or collaborations does ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½ have with local or national organizations to provide students with hands-on experience in trauma response and mental health support?
Coifman: All of the health profession training programs at ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½ rely on community partners to facilitate these practical training experiences. These include local and regional hospitals, community clinics, schools, even all of the mental health clinics here on campus.
ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½ Today: Can you share any success stories or case studies of ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½ graduates who have become professionals in the field of trauma and mental health?
Coifman: We have so many students who are involved in the mental health professions across campus, there are too many success stories to point out! From my own department in psychology, we have several recent clinical psychology Ph.D. students who have gone on to work in the VA [Veterans Affairs] system across the U.S. For example, my former graduate student, now Dr. Pallavi Aurora, is a staff psychologist at the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, VA hospital. She is actively conducting research on ways to improve treatments for trauma victims, as well as, treating patients.
ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½ Today: How does the program address the emotional and psychological well-being of students who are training to work in high-stress environments, such as disaster response? In short, how do we set our students up for success?
Coifman: All of these training programs are designed to support all aspects of students’ training, including their own mental health supports and needs, in order to ensure they are prepared in their future roles as health professionals. One of the particularly important aspects of any clinical training is the role of supervisors and mentors in helping students to manage the emotional toll of this work. It is tough work to do, and students need to be able to turn to supervisors and mentors and instructors to help them to find healthy ways of managing this work.
ÇàÄêɬµ¼º½â€™s Department of Psychological Sciences offers expert-led education, research and specializations in fields like clinical psychology and neuroscience, preparing students for careers in research, therapy and education.
Learn more about the Department of Psychological Sciences.
Top Photo credit: Yivers, via pixabay.