Current ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Academic/Scholarship, Research, and Advancement:

  • Grant Funding by Kaiser Permanente – Kaiser/Trinity Practitioner Professional Development Scholarships. Due to the impact of collective trauma on mental health providers and school counselors, we were granted an extension from Kaiser to begin providing professional development for the Fall of 2023- Spring of 2024. One cohort successfully completed the program in April 2024. Also, to achieve the goal of having two cohorts complete the professional development program, Kaiser has extended a continuation of the project for 2024-2025. Recently, The Washington Informer released a story about the purpose of the grant and interviewed some of the Kaiser/Trinity Scholars.

The research team provided the following presentations, trainings, and workshops for the Community:

  • DC Early Educator Experience Conference – Sponsored by the Banium Family Foundation.

      Presentation Title: Level-Up: High Impact Mental Well-Being Practices for Early   Childhood Educators. Sub-topic – Self-care to Collective Care: Strategies of Resistance for Building Resilience (Dr. Cynthia Greer).

  • Banium Family Foundation- DCEarlyEDX Conference Presentation: “Level-Up! High-Impact Mental Wellbeing Practices for Early Childhood Educators” (Dr. Deneen Robin).
  • Symposium on Artificial Intelligence – Trinity Washington University.

Presentation title: “You won’t Break My Soul” Living with Artificial Intelligence – A Trauma Informed and Responsive Prospective.

  • Oprea presented a workshop at the Northern Virginia Community College to a group of students who are caregivers on the “Impact of ACEs on Caregivers of Adult Family Members and the Importance of Community Support Systems.”

Dr. Oprea presented training to the mental health staff at Child Protective Services in Virginia on “Theory and Techniques of Trauma-Focused CBT with Children from Abusive Environments.”

Curriculum Development and Instruction:

  • Annual October Professional Development Workshop for Counseling students. All counseling students are required to attend this annual professional development. The guest presenter was Dr. Hannah Snyder, a Licensed Psychologist from the Child and Adolescent Protection Center – Children’s National. The topic of her very informative presentation was: Maternal Infant Health and Exposure to Violence: Holding the Mother, Holding the Child. Children’s National is also a community partner of the Research Initiative.
  • The Center for Community Resilience/GW School of Public Health requested that the ACEs Research Team provide a services and resources document of services in the DMV that were trauma-informed and responsive. For example, the document includes curated information about what beauty salons are sensitive to children and adults who have been abused and would know how to respond appropriately. Dr. Oprea facilitated the development of this document, and the students in practicum and internship courses were involved in the curation. The document was given to CCR and is included in one of the new counseling LibGuides.
  • Social Justice Forum (Lead facilitators- members of the Research Team). The theme was: Truth, Equity and Healing: Developing a Trauma Responsive Platform to Build Community Resilience. Oprea organized and facilitated a panel composed of faculty, and alumni, including a recent graduate of the counseling program. The panel “What Happened to You? A Community Resilience Response” addressed the social justice issues and community service projects in which each person was involved. Also, students who Dr. Greer and Dr. Oprea mentored presented their research projects. A student who developed a research project in the advanced research course, Research Problem in Counseling gave the keynote presentation on Black Maternal Health. Also, the Kaiser/Trinity Scholars gave a presentation and were given certificates of completion of the professional development program.
  • The Research team continued to update syllabi on ACEs and trauma with a focus on trauma responsiveness. Many of the syllabi have now incorporated trauma-responsive models and advocacy models from Building Community Resilience and the Center for Community Resilience.
  • Robin developed a required assignment in the Fall Introduction to Counseling Course in which students who were placed in teams developed articles for the Trinity Times examining mental health issues. This was the first time that the counseling program had collaborated with the University newspaper. Two articles were written and published by the Trinity Times. Articles were required to include a childhood adverse experience.
    • “Therapy helped Trinity alum cope with childhood grief in the loss of a parent”
    • “Trinity employee links childhood trauma to his adult addiction”
  • Development of LibGuides with the support of the Trinity reference Librarians – Two LibGuides have been developed. One LibGuide consists of a compilation of research articles related to the topics addressed in the Social Justice Forum. The second LibGuide is titled “Black Lives Matter”. This guide is a compilation of research on the Black Family based on the research from Child Trends, a research institute (Dr. Oprea). The second part of LibGuide is a compilation of the research provided by Destinee Smith who is completing her dissertation on the impact of “Adultification” on Black youth.
  • The research team continued to provide current research to NHP faculty on ACEs and Trauma for integration into coursework. Full and part-time faculty have access to the Moodle site on ACEs which provides curated research based on academic fields. (Research Team members)

Community Partnerships, Activities and Engagement

  • Milken Institute School of Public Health – The George Washington University – Center for Community Resilience (CCR) Collaborative national network – Truth, Equity/Reconciliation. CCR developed the reconciliation process for the city of Cincinnati.  Collaborative members reviewed the project for adoption for the District of Columbia. Trinity has signed on as a partner for the project, and the research team will be involved through CCR as a partner. Meets once a month for learning sessions and policy discussions. (ACEs Research Team)
  • *DC BCR Policy Network (the local network of CCR) – representatives from local social service agencies, health providers and support networks for people experiencing poverty. This group meets twice a month to hear an update about problems and concerns in providing resources for Wards 7 and 8. Based on this information policy initiatives are determined that may need to be presented to the city council or other city leaders. (Lead – Dr. Greer)
  • *DC Building Community Resilience (BCR) Network Members:
    • Initiative on ACEs and Trauma- Trinity Washington University
    • Ward 8 Health Council
    • Good Foods Market
    • Martha’s Table
    • Parent Watch
    • Children’s Law Center
    • Children’s National Hospital
    • Community Wellness Ventures
    • The Center for Health and Healthcare in Schools
    • Reaching Out to Others Together
    • The Early Childhood Innovation Network
    • The Redstone Center for Global Wellness at the
    • George Washington University
    • The Rodham Institute at the George Washington University
  • Youth Justice and Housing Coalition – The purpose of this group is to eradicate Youth and family homelessness. Coalition of grassroots organizations who advocate for additional resources and supports for Children and their families. Advocated successfully for additional funding for mental health services in the mayor’s budget. (Dr. Greer)
  • Homeless Children’s Playtime Project – meet periodically with the Director about changing goals for the organization based on the existing challenges due to the lack of affordable housing in the District.
  • The Public Defender’s Service for the District of Columbia – Dr. Oprea serves as a mental health consultant to the Public Defender’s Office. Consults with the legal and behavioral professionals in the juvenile and family section of this office in the implementation and follow through of the Building Community Resilience (BCR) and Center for Community Resilience (CCR) models.
  • Rodham Institute – The George Washington University. Provides educational programs on a variety of health and well-being topics for underserved communities in D.C. The research team provides support of educational programs sponsored by the institute.
  • Crittenden Services of Greater Washington – Attend events and support initiatives in support of social and development of girls and young women.
  • Children’s National Hospital – Adolescent Protection Center. Receive updates from center on the need for advocacy on issues concerning the protection of children from abuse and trafficking and provide advocacy support.
  • Ward 8 Health Council Meetings – UDC Congress Heights Campus. Pre-COVID attended the once-a-month meetings. Community partners are informed of the various needs of the community.
  • PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Due to the two pandemics and the increasing research on ACEs and trauma and all of its different manifestations, toxic stress, and epigenetics the research team members have needed to keep ahead of the current research. The list below is a summary of the webinars, seminars and conferences attended or accessed:
  • American Counseling Association National Conference in Atlanta – attended workshops on Race Based Traumatic Stress and workshops on collective, historical, generational trauma and healing. (Dr. Greer)
  • Webinars sponsored by CCR/BCR on The Resilience Tree, Creating Thriving Environments for Children and Families
  • Webinars provided by the Mental Health Academy on the following topics: A Social Justice and Antiracist Framework for Success; Culture-Centered Trauma and Informed Care; The Power of Emotional Intelligence to Achieve Well-being and Success; Navigating Trauma and Supporting Diverse Student Populations During a Double Pandemic; Creating Social-emotional Supportive School Environments. (Drs. Greer and Reese)
  • Webinar sponsored by PACES (Positive and Adverse Childhood Experiences). Reimagining Black Family and Child Well-Being in Research, Programming and Public Policy.