Facilitating Recovery from Interpersonal Violence and Bullying

Link for Access:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81274251453

The World Health Organization recently declared an international crisis of prejudice, racism, and interpersonal violence and emphasized the need for multiculturally affirming interventions for adults and children that address trauma and shame. In light of the current racial, cultural, and political divisions across the nation, counselors and counselor educators are likely to encounter clients and students experiencing the effects of prejudice and oppression. Knowing that the effects of bullying, racism, and interpersonal violence include PTSD, depression, anxiety, and shame (Bryant-Davis & Ocampo, 2005; Harrell et al., 2003; Speight, 2007), there is a distinct need for counseling experiences that foster community, unite individuals, promote empathy, and effectively address symptoms (Bauman, 2010; Bauman et al., 2013; Bayne & Thomas, 2018). Counselors and counselor educators must promote social justice and cultivate cultural humility (Chang et al., 2010; Guth et al., 2019; Ratts, 2017). The Creative Arts Personal Growth Group to Promote Community, Compassion, and Courage (CAPG), a manualized treatment, promotes recovery from interpersonal cruelty and is suitable for clinical work and counselor training (Sosin et al., 2021).

CAPG focuses on helping people learn to monitor and modify trauma, shame, and fear symptoms brought on by bullying and interpersonal violence. CAPG’s six-session group protocol is an active and purposeful interpersonal experience that (1) places group members in a safe, inclusive community; (2) provides effective tools to monitor and modify symptoms of shame and trauma; (3) allows members to share their shame narrative and redevelop it into a story of courage and resiliency; and (4) promotes identity solidification and self-acceptance. CAPG helps group members re-establish and value their unique, core, and multicultural identities. Two recent studies explored the lived experiences of ten CAPG group members (Sosin, et al. 2021; Sosin et al., 2022, under review) reveal CAPG potential to promote recovery.

CAPG shows promise as a brief group counseling intervention for addressing the fear and shame that result from experiences of racial trauma and prejudice. The protocol promotes self-regulation, meaningful connection with self and others, mutual compassion, and trauma processing for participants. CAPG promotes social justice, fosters cultural humility, and creates spaces for courageous conversations in group work that are affirming and humanizing, meeting a current need in counseling and in our communities (Chang et al., 2010; Guth et al., 2019; Ratts, 2017).

In this webinar, Dr. Sosin describes the bio-psycho-social-multi-cultural impact of bullying and interpersonal violence and provides a set of research-informed creative and expressive arts interventions that promote recovery. Individuals impacted by interpersonal cruelty and those who work (clinical mental health counselors, school counselors, marriage and family counselors, and counselor educators will benefit from this interactive, experiential webinar.

References cited available upon request.

Lisa Sosin, Ph.D., LPC, LLP, BACS

Lisa S. Sosin, Ph.D., LPC, LLP, BACS is the Director of the Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision Program with the Department of Counselor Education and Family Studies at Liberty University. Dr. Sosin has over years of clinical and teaching experience. Her clinical practice includes the assessment and treatment of children, adults, couples, and families; as well as teaching, supervising, public speaking, and consultation to clinicians in training, physicians, educators, organizations, and clergy. Dr. Sosin has developed scholarship, graduate curriculum, and community programs covering diverse subjects including qualitative research, family development and functioning, evidence-based practice, and clinical excellence. Dr. Sosin’s primary research interests include the integration of creativity, culture, and spirituality in evidence-based practice, qualitative research related to counseling practice, emotional development, and emotion regulation.

https://www.drlisasosin.com/

Daniel Kimonyi, MA, Ph.D. Student

Daniel Kimonyi, MA, is a PhD student in Counselor Education and Supervision at Liberty University. He is a clinical mental health counselor in residence in the state of Virginia, where he works as a therapist in private practice. In his previous experience, Daniel worked in college counseling, and with individuals in acute crisis situations at a hospital setting. Daniel has previously presented on foreign student acculturation, and recently, on the impact of COVID-19 on the grieving process at NBCC’s Mental Health Connection Conference.

Deepa Emmanuel, M.A., Ph.D. Student

Deepa completed her M.A. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Liberty University, following which, she worked as a therapist for inner-city at-risk youth in Lynchburg, Virginia. She later moved back to India, where she did voluntary work at the children and adolescents' unit of the department of psychiatry at one of the best medical institutions in the country, until the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to strict lockdown measures in India, she began working from home as an academic reviewer and editor for academic journals. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision at Liberty University. However, she has been unable to travel to America due to the pandemic and is, therefore, currently in India but hopes to be able to travel soon.

Ana Barend, M.A., Ph.D. Student

Ana Barend, MA, is a National Certified Counselor (NCC) who serves as a therapist at a non-profit setting in Massachusetts. She also serves as the secretary for the Chi Sigma Iota's Rho Eta Nu Alpha Rho chapter. Ana is EMDR and Logotherapy trained and is a member of ACA (ACES, AMDC, ASERVIC) and AACC. She is now pursuing her doctoral degree in Counselor Education and Supervision at Liberty University. Prior to working as a therapist Ana was a sports chaplain serving the World Surf League.