Part 1

• Understanding Behavior: The Pathophysiology of Trauma Disorders.

• How We Frighten Ourselves: Traumatic Events, Cognitive Appraisals, & Emotions.

• Core Beliefs and Moods: The Driving Forces of Our Lives.

• Coping and Emotional Control. Positive vs. Negative Emotions. Patterns of Thinking.

• The Stress Response: Foundations of Anxiety and Trauma Disorders.

• Major Categories of Stress: Acute Vs. Chronic. Sympathetic & Parasympathetic Pathways. Physiologic, Perceptual, & Imaginary Factors

• Our Greatest Concerns – Are They Really a Threat? The 2019 Stress in America Survey.

• The Psychological Profile of Mass Shooters. The Role of Suicide. Assessing the Threat and Reducing the Risk.

• The Role of Chronic Fear in Anxiety Disorders. Increasing the Risk for Trauma Disorders.

• Dental Stress and Dental Anxiety: Dental Anxiety in the Era of COVID-19.

Part 2

• Resilience: A Buffer against Trauma Disorders. “Bouncing Back.” Sully and “The Miracle on the Hudson.”

• Managing Stress and Coping with Trauma: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. The Relaxation Response. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.

• Stressor- and Trauma-Related Disorders. Patterns of Responding to Traumatic Events.

• Disrupted Attachment in Early Childhood. Reactive Attachment Disorder. Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder.

• Adjustment Disorders: Responses to Continuous or Recurrent Stressors.

• Acute Stress Disorder: Initial Response to an Extremely Stressful Crisis. Principles of Crisis Intervention.

• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): What Causes PTSD? Criteria for Diagnosis.

• Adult Developmental Trauma Disorder: Are There Differences Between Childhood- or Adult-Onset PTSD?

• PTSD Subtypes. Dissociative Symptoms, Delayed Expression, Complex PTSD, and Rape Trauma Syndrome.

• COVID-19 Pandemic and Continuous Traumatic Stress (CTS). Coping With a Chronic Viral Threat. 

• PTSD in the Military: More Complex Than It Seems. Combat Vs. Non-Combat PTSD. Veterans and Suicide.

• Treating PTSD: Cognitive Processing Therapy. Prolonged Exposure Therapy. EMDR. Medications.

• Compassion Fatigue in the Time of Coronavirus. Secondary Traumatic Stress of Caregivers

 Learning Objectives

1. identify the major causes and pathways of the stress response.

2. describe how worry, traumatic events, threats, and crises can cause anxiety and trauma-related disorders.

3. list the characteristics of acute stress disorder and the principles of crisis intervention.

4. identify the symptoms, subtypes, and treatments of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

5. discuss effective stress management strategies including resilience building, mindfulness, relaxation, cognitive behavioral therapy, and medications.

6. list the methods of managing compassion fatigue in caregivers and health care professionals.

7. describe how the information in this course can be utilized to improve patient care outcomes across disciplines.

8. describe, for this course, the implications for nursing, dentistry, mental health, and other health professionals and improve patient treatment co-morbidity outcomes for occupational and physical therapy.