Trauma Response Team: Meeting the Needs of the Campus

and Providing Training for Future Responders

Margaret Nauta, Joseph Abhold, Steven Koffman, Peter Duggan, and Nikki Nollen

Counseling and Psychological Services Center

Ball State University

Muncie, Indiana 47306

(317) 214-2050

A panel--consisting of a staff psychologist, two pre-doctoral interns, and two masters interns--will provide an overview of the Trauma Response outreach team at Ball Stater University's Counseling and Psychological Services Center. Particular emphasis will be given to ways in which the team meets the crisis response needs of university students and staff, while at the same time, meeting the training needs of a masters and doctoral level interns. Each panel member will describe his/her role on the team and how these roles change over the course of an academic year to utilize the developing skills of the trainees. Material presented should be of particular interest to mental health providers, trainees, and volunteers, as well as to anyone developing or considering developing a trauma response team. Audience participation will be invited throughout the presentation.

Overview of the Trauma Response Team

The Trauma Response outreach team at Ball State University's Counseling and Psychological Services Center consists of two staff psychologists, two pre-doctoral interns, and two masters-level interns The purpose of the team is to respond in situations in which there has been a trauma (e.g., death of a student) by helping surviving students, faculty, and staff deal with the event. Through the use of debriefings, dissemination of psychoeducational information, and referrals to campus and community resources, the team's goals are to help mobilize coping abilities, restore and enhance problem-solving capabilities , restore and enhance the use of social support networks, and prevent destructive or negative outcomes. The Trauma Response Team has received favorable evaluations by groups of students and university staff following its responses to crises. In addition, trainees have found the team to be an extremely useful part of their practicum and internship experience.

Developmental Training Model

The Trauma Response Team uses a developmental training model to help trainees acquire crisis intervention skills and to maximize the use of these skills throughout the academic year. Initially, the team's senior leaders familiarize trainees with crisis intervention theories and literature, placing particular emphasis on critical incident stress debriefing. Trainees are encouraged to draw upon their own experiences with crises as well as to observe and learn from the clinical skills of the senior leaders. In addition, role-plays are used to provide trainees the opportunity to practice group crisis intervention skills. The team's initial responses to incidents are coordinated and led by a senior staff member, with at least one masters or doctoral-level student accompanying and assisting by playing a secondary role. As the academic year progresses and trainees have become more skilled, doctoral interns take on primary leadership roles, with masters interns taking secondary roles and the senior staff members serving as consultants.

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