Lucas Center Professional Development Awardee, Julie Alter-Kay

April 18, 2025

Professional Certification; College Student Wellbeing, Trauma, and Resilience, Florida State University

Thank you to the Lucas Center for bestowing upon me a professional development award for the summer semester of 2024. It enabled me to complete this self-paced curriculum which included 20 hours of course content and nine chapters of evidence-based, readings, case scenarios, multi-media materials, assignments, and quizzes. Upon completion, I was awarded a professional certification to add to my professional record and earned continuing education units required to keep my Social Work license. I found the curriculum to be very engaging, comprehensive and a great mix of learning modalities. The handouts were able to be downloaded and I have included links at the end of the blog. I loved the variety of videos/Ted talks included. The information included on statistics and neuroscience information contained research-based and updated information I did not always gain from other trainings which I have attended on this subject.

Here are a few (of the many) takeaways:

Trauma is nearly universal and is considered a public health issue because of its potential impact. Thus, when we talk about student success, we must think about the impact of trauma and mental health.

Working with athletes at FGCU, I was reminded when student athletes need help, they are far less likely to go to counseling than traditional students— because of time restrictions, public stigma, and fear of losing playing time.

The National Academies Report recommends that to improve these outcomes, institutions can:

- Acknowledge the challenges faced by students
- Consider the contributing effect of campus culture on student mental health
- Create inclusive and supportive learning environments
- Implement supportive medical leave and re-enrollment policies
- Invest in mental and behavioral health services (National Academies, 2021).

Three campus resilience approaches and strategies to promote student wellbeing outlined in Chapter Seven are worth mentioning:

- Strength-Based Approaches-- campus professionals should begin with, and focus on the client’s strengths, instead of their deficits
- Values Affirmation-- remind individuals of their strengths, help them become more receptive to health messaging
- Stress Management-- learn healthy stress management techniques to promote active coping, instead of maladaptive coping processes

Advising Trauma-informed strategies for working with students.

- Build a relationship with advisees. It is important to build trust with students.
- Clearly communicate the institution’s expectations for degree requirements.
- Offer students a pathway and empower them to succeed.
- Provide first-generation college students with resources on financial aid, housing, health services, etc. specific to each institution.
- It can be helpful to learn de-escalation techniques to manage tension if it arises in an advising meeting.
- It can be helpful to learn the strategies of Mental Health First Aid to assist if a student has a trauma reaction.

Handouts: