The Division Engagement Office staff reached out to division leaders who received Interdivisional Grants from the Committee on Division/APA Relations (CODAPAR) and asked about their experience over the course of the project. The questions were designed to inform divisions who are considering submitting a grant proposal.
One response came from Bryann DeBeer, project coordinator for the Interdivisional Grant project “Trauma Assessment Video Training with High-Risk Trauma Diverse Clients,” which received a grant of $5,027. For more information on the Interdivisional Grant Program, including other recipients and how to apply, visit our grant program page.
Tell us about your project
This project created an educational tool for psychologist clinicians and other therapists to identify nuances specific to high-risk trauma clients (HRTC) in the assessment of trauma events in these individuals. Such guidance to the clinician is important for several reasons. First, avoidance is a key symptom of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in individuals diagnosed with PTSD, which is displayed in guarding and withholding trauma information. Next, avoidance is compounded in HRTC with mistrust toward clinicians representing the dominant culture and clients may withhold more information. Finally, trauma events may and often occur within the context of discrimination (e.g., interactions with the police) and are likely difficult for the client to discuss with a therapist of another race who does not face such discrimination. A clinician lacking direction could prevent the accurate assessment of traumatic events, leading to poorer PTSD diagnostic assessment and/or impeding progress in treatment. Nontrauma clinicians and early career therapists are at a disadvantage with little guidance. While experienced trauma clinicians may have developed the skills in eliciting trauma information, they too may benefit from an assessment video that provides direction with HRTC populations.
The goals of our CODAPAR grant were to:
- Increase the knowledge of general practice psychologists in the assessment of trauma in high-risk, trauma-vulnerable populations, specifically in women, LGBT persons, individuals with disabilities and ethnically diverse veterans in a culturally sensitive/responsive manner.
- Develop and create training videos of assessment interviews with above populations, identifying and noting pertinent details in each interview. These videos were targeted towards psychology students and early career psychologists to be used as a tool to further education regarding HRTCs.
How did you come up with the idea and get divisions together to work on it?
Research has demonstrated that individuals who are female and/or from diverse backgrounds are subject to higher rates of PTSD than their majority counterparts. These findings suggest minorities and women are particularly vulnerable to developing PTSD and as such, need special attention in assessment and treatment.
The assessment and treatment of PTSD has received much attention since the identification of the disorder by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-III (American Psychiatric Association, 1980) and evidence-based guidelines have been developed for both. However, little focus has been on the assessment of trauma events, essential to the diagnosis of PTSD. Assessment of traumatic events has relied upon either self-report scales, such as the Life Events Checklist (LEC; Gray, Litz, Hsu & Lombardo, 2004), or more commonly, open-ended, unstructured questions posed by the clinician. Neither of these methods provide guidance to the clinician in asking questions about trauma events in general nor importantly, to the unique trauma experiences of diverse populations and particularly highly vulnerable populations such as ethnic minorities, LGBT individuals, women and persons with disabilities.
Trauma affects many different populations and intersects with topics that are of interest to many divisions. We contacted other divisions to see if they would like to get involved. Several divisions joined on to the grant, including: Div. 17 (Counseling Psychology), Div. 22 (Rehabilitation Psychology), Div. 35 (Psychology of Women) and Div. 44 (Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity). They all provided expertise that shaped the final product.
What was the process of preparing and submitting your proposal like?
The application process was very smooth in comparison to other grants I have submitted. We reviewed the literature, described our planned activities in detail and asked for input and ideas from the other divisions.
The purpose of the program is to support joint activities that enhance the work, interests or goals of two or more divisions. What was it like to work with other divisions on this goal?
It was fantastic to work with other experts to create a cutting-edge training tool. These experts from other divisions provided outstanding knowledge of specific patient populations. This allowed us to create an educational tool that was both distinctive and highly applicable to clinical practice.
Your submission was in 2017, your project happened during 2018, and you completed your project and submitted your final report in 2019. How did it feel once it was done?
We are very proud of the work we have created. We have disseminated our videos in hopes that they will be used to train the next generation of clinicians in assessing trauma in diverse populations.
What did you learn from working on this?
I learned a lot about creating educational tools, video production and editing and dove deeper into the challenges of assessing trauma in diverse populations.
What’s your best tip for another group about to submit a proposal?
The strongest proposal comes from the input of diverse experts. I would encourage others to work collaboratively with other divisions to produce unique ideas that move the field of psychology forward.