The First Graduate-Level Resilience Course in the Country

I'd love to see a copy of your syllabus! Would you be willing to share?

Deb Berke

This sounds fabulous, Brandy! Thanks for the clarification. btw, in our definition of ACEs science, we include resilience research....which includes everything from changes in the brain after resilience practices, to how schools' integration of resilience-building practices affects kids.

fwiw, in ACEs Science 101, toward the bottom of the post, there are links to quite a few articles about how different sectors have integrated practices based on ACEs science, and the outcomes.

So exciting!  Here is a link to the Course Catalog which lists this course:

FYC 6224: Resilience and Positive Youth Development

Congratulations, Brandy!!  That's such a HUGE accomplishment!  From what you describe, you have set the benchmark for more academic learning to follow; it's so timely and necessary.  You've accomplished a huge milestone in the trauma-informed movement--I'm so very grateful.  Thank you!

Brandy: The CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study was a public health study...the largest public health study of its kind. And the other ACEs sciences — neurobiology of toxic stress, long-term health consequences of toxic stress, epigenetics of toxic stress and resilience science — are all about prevention. I don't understand why something as relevant to trauma-informed and resilience-building practices wouldn't be included as a key foundation to understanding our (unhealthy, criminal or unwanted) behavior in reaction to ACEs and how we can change our systems from shame, blame and punishment to understanding, nurturing and healing to solve our most intractable problems. 

The most advanced programs (in organizations and communities), and those with the most success, do include educating people about ACEs science. 

Hi Brandy.  Congratulations to you and the University of Florida for putting this curriculum together.  Sounds like an awesome, timely, and exceptionally relevant course for our times.   We at Marshall University have a graduate curriculum on Violence, Loss, and Trauma (our VoLT Certificate of Advanced Studies) that focuses on mental health treatment for people whose lives have been touched by traumatic stress.  Grad students in Counseling, Social Work, Psychology, Nursing, and Kinesiology qualify for the Certificate.  But our Certificate does not address trauma from the public health perspective, and that's where your course is so valuable.  As I've nosed my way into public advocacy for trauma-informed anything (education, treatment, medicine, public policy, policing, courts, you name it) I see the need for ongoing education of public servants (both those who work for a given state government and elected representatives.  If we can conceptualize public health through a trauma-informed lens, I think we're doing our communities a great service and can avoid wasting time and money spent "barking up the wrong trees."  

I'm proud of the tremendous work Marshall is doing (and other initiatives happening throughout West Virginia).  We have a lot of challenges in our fair state, but we are also pulling together and doing great work together, across disciplines, and across agencies to implement trauma-informed approaches to the work we do.

All of this is to say congratulations on a great piece of work, and I wish you the best with the success of the curriculum -- I hope it gets wide exposure, and that a lot of people benefit from its perspective.  I join you as a fellow-in-arms working toward a more peaceful and vibrant future. 

Carol 

Jane Stevens posted:

Hi, Brandy: Does the course include a deep-dive into ACEs science?

Hi Jane! Neither the course on trauma or the course on resilience looks too far into ACEs science, but more the public health lens of creating programs to inform and educate about ACEs and build resilience in individuals and communities with past trauma. Definitions are included with brief resources on ACEs science, but with the course being offered through the college of public health, we decided to have a primary prevention and program-planning focus. Thank you for your question!

Hi, Brandy: Does the course include a deep-dive into ACEs science?

Great step in taking information to the communities with those trained to serve.

This is fantastic, Brandy!  I copied your post to the ACEs in Higher Education community - your courses are exactly the types of courses we need to see in more institutions of higher learning!

thank you for sharing!
Gail