Certificate in Trauma-Informed Approaches (TIA)

Purpose

Trauma impacts individuals, families, and communities in many ways and on many levels, and is said to be a hidden epidemic. A history of trauma is often a factor in psychiatric disorders, addictions, behavioral disorders, suicidal behavior, personality disorders, violent behavior, and a variety of chronic health problems (National Council on Behavioral Health, 2015). In the criminal justice system, nearly 100% of women and men report some sort of traumatic experience prior to incarceration.

A trauma-informed approach refers to how an agency, organization, and/or community responsible for providing services such as mental health, educational, crisis, and/or criminal justice services thinks about providing those services in a way that supports resilience, prevention, treatment, and recovery. Trauma-informed care incorporates an understanding of adverse childhood experiences and their impact on mental, emotional, and physical health.

The certificate in trauma-informed approaches prepares students to work in a highly recognized model of wellness, which supports resilience and recovery, promotes positive health outcomes, prevents the worst outcomes of psychological responses, and integrates knowledge about the pervasiveness of trauma in systems in policies, practices, and procedures.

Students will find that a certificate in trauma-informed approaches will greatly supplement their skills and knowledge not only in Psychology, Criminal Justice, Behavioral Science or Organizational Dynamics degrees, but also in disciplines outside of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, including, but not limited to, Business Management, General Studies, Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Environmental Health, Human Resource Management, Information Systems Management, Nursing, Allied Health, Organizational Management, and Sports Management. Incorporating knowledge of trauma into services can help ensure physical, psychological and emotional safety for clients and for the professional themselves, and creates opportunities to rebuild a sense of empowerment and autonomy for survivors of trauma. Students must complete the Undergraduate Certificate Program form so that the certificate will appear on their transcript.

Curriculum

Note: Students are held to all prerequisite requirements; some students may require more than 5 courses to complete this certificate.

Core Requirements (9 credits)

PSY 420 Introduction to Trauma-Informed Approaches

PSY 421 Trauma and Self-Care

PSY 422 Practical Implications of Trauma-Informed Approaches

Electives (6 credits)

Criminal Justice

CRJ 206 Corrections and Rehabilitation

CRJ 303 Administration of Criminal Justice Organizations

CRJ 305 Women and Crime

CRJ 341 Community Corrections

CRJ 469 Domestic Violence

CRJ 474 Victims of Crime

Education

ECE 201 Health, Safety, and Nutrition

ECE 202 Professional Issues in Early Childhood

ECE 214 Creating Environments for Learning

ECE 217 Family, Community, and School Partnerships

EDU 204 Leadership and Collaboration

EDU 304 Health and Physical Education

EDU 308 Teaching in the Middle School

EDU 313 Classroom Culture and Student Behavior

EPY 317 Assessment of Young Children

Health Care

HLT 380 Introduction to Military and Veteran Health

HSC 313 Ethical and Legal Issues of Healthcare

Organizational Dynamics

ORG 408 Culture of the Workplace

Psychology

PSY 304 Survey of Human Dynamics

PSY 305 Abnormal Psychology

PSY 316 Stress Management

PSY 322 Wellness in the Workplace

PSY 352 Human Sexuality

PSY 364 Disability Issues

PSY 412 Crisis Intervention

PSY 452 Multicultural Psychology

PSY 453 Families and Crisis

PSY 461 Topics in PSY: Psychology of Leadership

PSY 472 Bullying

PSY 477 Introduction to Conflict Management

PSY 481 Domestic Violence

Choose one of the following developmental courses

PSY 329 Life Span Development

PSY 330 Infant and Toddler Development

PSY 332 Adolescent Development

PSY 333 Psychology of the Exceptional Child

PSY 336 Child Development

PSY 401 Adult Development and Aging

Sociology

SOC 302 Marriage and the Family

SOC 303 Contemporary Social Problems

SOC 312 Community Health & Social Issues

SOC 350 Sociology of Disaster

SOC 352 Crisis Communications

SOC 425 Child Abuse: Recognition and Investigation

SOC 426 Responding and Investigation: Child Maltreatment

SOC 427 Responding to the Survivors of Child Abuse and Survivor Responses

SOC 464 Working in the Helping Professions

SOC 468 Case Management

Total Credits for the TIA Certificate: 15

This information applies to students who enter this degree program during the 2024-2025 Academic Year. If you entered this degree program before the Fall 2023 semester, please refer to the academic catalog for the year you began your degree program.