Social Contexts of Trauma Studies (SCOTS)
Traumatic experiences never happen in a vacuum. Our work appreciates the social aspects of traumatic events and recovery. The goal: find ways we can better serve trauma survivors, keep them connected or welcome them back into community, and promote posttraumatic growth.
Major Themes
Personal Experience
Many of us endure stressful experiences that shape who we are. The SCOTS lab aims to understand these lived experiences, especially how they may help or hinder post-traumatic relationships and be harnessed in evidence-based care.
Interpersonal Context
How other people and institutions react to our traumatic experiences influence our recovery. The SCOTS lab focuses on institutional betrayal and courage, looking to help others help survivors.
Education
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela. The SCOTS lab studies how to teach about mental health in a way that centers lived experience, empiricism, and diversity.
Ongoing Projects
Intrapersonal Changes after Traumatic Experiences
Two ongoing projects examine how making meaning and centralizing one's identity in trauma impact outcomes of evidence-based treatments for PTSD. Another project explores the intersection of posttraumatic stress and autistic burnout.
Institutional Betrayal's Impact on Treatment Outcomes
Two ongoing projects delineate treatment outcomes for patients who sought evidence-based treatment for PTSD after institutional betrayal. Another project confirms if a peer adjunct in treatment is effective for betrayed patients.
The Traumatic Impact of Misconduct in Medicine
A specific line of research on institutional betrayal includes traumatic experiences in medicine. One project analyzes people's reactions to a hospital's response after a complaint. Another longer-term study aims to build a consensus of what constitutes physician sexual misconduct.
Teaching About Psychosis
In partnership with the INSPIRE clinic at Stanford University, the SCOTS lab is studying how to teach about psychosis in a way that increases both knowledge as well as empathy for folks with lived experience.