Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

[Emily Dworkin <>]

Hi Molly and others,

Such a rich question! This is something that I've been thinking about a lot. I realize that I come at this from a different professional role than some others on the listserv as a researcher and clinician in clinical psychology (focused on ways to make contexts more healing to survivors), so feel free to take or leave my perspective. 

I'll put my clinical psychologist hat on first. For survivors with PTSD or other anxiety related to trauma exposure, we know that one of the most effective ways to support them in reducing distress related to triggers is to help them hold their attention to the trigger without distracting themselves until their distress comes down. We also know that continued distraction/avoidance of triggers can actually maintain PTSD and anxiety. Although this might seem counterintuitive at first given that it involves some initial distress, what we find is that distress DOES come down, the trigger tends to be less distressing the next time if survivors can wait out their anxiety, and it will stop being a trigger over time if they continue to engage with it. I think most of us have had an experience analogous to this- we were afraid of doing something (maybe public speaking) but the more we did it, the less scary it became. But if we had stopped early, maybe stopped teaching because we felt too scared of public speaking to continue, public speaking would continue to feel very scary. Although doing a presentation is, of course, much different than therapy in many ways, therapies that help survivors approach their triggers systematically are some of the most effective therapies we have- most survivors who start with a PTSD diagnosis will not have one after 3-4 months of weekly sessions, even in complex cases. Survivors have told me that it feels very empowering experience to feel themselves regaining power over their triggers and emotions and not feel like the only safe option is to avoid them- I have heard from survivors that they feel like they got their lives back. 

All that said, I'm not sure how we can best use this knowledge in these kinds of contexts. You know better than I do about what would work in practice, but I could imagine telling students about the different options that they have for dealing with triggers, but including a brief explanation of the benefits of sticking with triggers as I do above. Students could be given a worksheet (that they could choose to use or not) where they rate how upset they are from 0-100 every few minutes, once they start feeling triggered. They could make notes about where they feel upset in their body, and what the specific feelings are (racing heart? clammy hands?). This worksheet would be for them to keep- it would not be turned in or shared with anyone. 

Of course, this means that students will be distressed in your presentation. If students are convinced of the benefits of approaching triggers, and continue to do it, there is a strong chance that this will promote their healing. My fear is that, if a student is agitated and doesn't continue sticking with triggers over time, or doesn't have good supports to help her work through that distress, she'd be distressed without much benefit. That said, survivors often find themselves in situations where they're triggered by things that are very hard to avoid or distract themselves from, and so those who are really going to be upset by triggers are going to be in the "distressed without benefit" position whether it's because of your presentation or not. It might be preferable for that to happen in a context like yours, which is a safe space with kind facilitators and a resource list at the end. 

I want to be clear that I feel VERY strongly that the decision to expose oneself to triggers must be 100% up to the survivor. I believe that trigger warnings are critical because they offer an opportunity for survivors to make that decision, but I think that giving survivors information about the benefits of sticking with their triggers is a way to further empower them to make informed decisions about their recovery. Essentially, it's a choice between lowering the short-term distress versus lowering the long-term distress. That choice is incredibly personal and there's no right or wrong answer. I trust survivors to be able to make that decision wisely when given information about the pros and cons. But by only presenting them options that involve leaving the situation or distracting themselves from the trigger, I would argue we miss out on a huge opportunity to promote their recovery. 

Just my two cents. You are all doing incredibly important work- thank you for all that you do for survivors.

Take care,

Emily 

On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 12:52 PM, Bridget Coffou <> wrote:

​I've used coloring sheets in the past, and that seems to go over well.  You could also provide some knitting or crochet materials.  I've found that activities that are a little bit more involved than a fidget cube/spinner work a little better for someone who is experiencing trigger based anxiety. Coloring, knitting and crocheting can be a mindless distraction, or you can submerse yourself in these projects rather than paying attention to what is going on around you.

I'd be interested in hearing about other tactics people have used.

In peace,

Bridget Coffou​

__

Bridget Coffou

She|Her|Hers

907-786-4680

Prevention Education Coordinator 

Office of Equity and Compliance 

University of Alaska Anchorage

SSHCC - 907-786-4040

STAR Crisis Line - 907-276-7273

AWAIC Crisis Line - 907-272-0100

Seawolves Speak Up

On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 11:30 AM, McLay, Molly Margaret <> wrote:

Hi all,

 

I run a mandatory first-year program that is peer-led and serves close to 10,000 undergrads each year. We are looking to find ways to better accommodate students in our workshops who are survivors, specifically during triggering moments. Some survivors ask to be excused from attending altogether, and we do this (although we don’t have a major advertisement of that). Others may want to attend (or remain) in the workshop but need ways to stay grounded, detach for a bit, or distract themselves in a moment of distress or during a triggering portion.

 

A student recently came to me explaining that going onto their phone was the only way they could make it through the workshop at times, but because so many students go on their phones because they do not wish to be there or pay attention for other reasons, we have a fairly strict no-phones policy that was enforced for that student. The experience did not go well for them because of that, and we were brainstorming alternatives to phone use for future participants.

 

Has anyone used something like a fidget cube, coloring sheets, or some other kind of activity or object for this purpose? I’m certain something like this could help a number of students with various learning styles, not just survivors. I’d love to hear what others have utilized!

 

Let me know what you think!

 

 

Molly M. McLay, LCSW

(pronouns: she/her/hers)

Assistant Director

University of Illinois Women's Resources Center

Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations

 

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If you need assistance related to sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking, please call the Women’s Resources Center at 217-333-3137 anytime Monday-Friday 9am-5pm to make an appointment. If you need support outside of these hours, please call the Rape Advocacy, Counseling, & Education Services (R.A.C.E.S.) hotline at (217) 384-4444 or the Emergency Dean at (217) 333-0050.

 

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--

Emily R. Dworkin, Ph.D.
NIAAA Postdoctoral Fellow
Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviors
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
University of Washington School of Medicine

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