2- REPLIES

Respond to 2 classmates

i. Each reply should be at least 150 words and include:

1. 3 specific positives.

2. 2-3 constructive suggestions for improvement.

3. 1 scholarly citation that supports your feedback.

4. 1 Biblical principle that connects to advocacy.

1. Social Worker burnout–150-words

2. Generational Trauma in families-150 words

question and presentation, I was really

curious about generational trauma, and

specifically in families. And so that's kind of what

I'm going to get into today, kind of give

a little summary on the different studies I

looked into, the side effects, all of that.

But yeah, the first thing I wanted to talk

about is what is generational or intergenerational

trauma. Those terms are actually

can be interchangeable. and essentially

according to my research and what different

studies said is it's trauma symptoms that

manifest in descendants of trauma survivors

in the absence of a personal traumatic

experience so while maybe these descendants

could potentially have a traumatic experience

personally a firsthand traumatic experience

we're specifically looking at the trauma

that happened to either their parents or

their grandparents and how that affected them

today, which is very unique and I think

actually will provide a fuller picture of

understanding as social workers when we are

doing, whether that be different sessions

or therapy or serving clients, is understanding

that there could be a layer that isn't

just firsthand experience but from previous

generations and how that impacts them.

So throughout my research, I was specifically

curious about how this trauma impacted

mental and emotional health in comparison to

people without generational trauma and how

that manifested itself. And so across the

different studies, I looked at numerous

studies that were located in different countries

that focus on different aspects or

manifestations of it. But across the board,

intergenerational trauma manifested itself

similarly to people with firsthand trauma. Um,

it could have come up in

anxiety and depression, PTSD,

um, a significant lack of emotional

regulation or ways to process emotion, um,

low self-esteem, self -image, um, as well

as trust issues, how this impacted typically

familial, familial relationships, as

well as potential romantic relationships,

friendships, social dynamics, even in work

settings, um, it impacted outside of the

family or where the trauma was passed

down, which I think is key in understanding

as social workers of the fuller picture.

And yes, throughout those different studies,

I looked at studies that focused on a

more macro level with like war and economic

sanctions and political instability that

affected generational trauma, like survivors

of war, as well as people who had to seek

asylum due to political or economic instability

and how that impacted their families

and their children, as well as themselves.

Looked at different studies that focused on

people with illnesses or experienced a

shocking death and how that impacted not just

the individual, but the descendants to come.

Homelessness is another factor I was curious

about. I actually didn't really realize

that could have is a potentially generational

issue that isn't just like, oh, this person

is in a situation that is difficult, but

what happened before them in their family

dynamic or situation like that actually

spurred on homelessness and how that impacted

relationships as well as mental health of how

mental health that either a mom or a dad

or a grandparent experience and hotraumatic

experiences or even just processing the world.

And so, yeah, these studies kind of focus

on three different coping mechanisms or tools,

ways to address intergenerational trauma.

I'm not going to go deeply into them for

sake of time, but the three most effective

slash where there was really signif

process, to even understand what was going

on internally and externally, as well as

that they saw change and how these individuals

coped, how their mental emotional state

was, as well as impact their relationships,

was one, cognitive behavior therapy

was a very effective tool specific for

individuals, but also for families.

However, that one was

more individual focused.

Another effective strategy and tool, I think,

for us as social workers to be aware of

when helping individuals with generational

trauma is couple and family therapy of

inviting the conversation in for the people

that they directly live with in the familial

line, whether it's they are the source of

this trauma or they are maybe even potentially

receiving some of the generational trauma

in marriage or family or parenting was

a very effective tool. Couple and family

therapy was a very effective tool in understanding

and providing tools and growth for

families afterwards, as well as a significant

factor across all of the studies was that

having strong social supports, whether that

be in the family or in community settings

like church or school or even in the

workplace or neighborhoods was very effective

in treating and coping and actually growing

for individuals who were having physical,

mental, emotional manifestations

from the generational trauma. And having

these strong social supports helped

them heal or propel forward in growth.

However, there were a few gaps in the studies

as I was doing my research. There There

was quite a bit of snowball sampling or

selection bias throughout the different studies

where people would tap on people who knew

people, which ended up keeping a pretty

narrow focus throughout the studies. I noticed

there was quite a few narrowed focus that

limited maybe the full understanding of

what it could be, whether it be they just

focused on moms instead of moms and dads. or

it was just people who spoke English in these

Asian countries instead of having the

fuller picture of the different languages or

religions that could have been represented.

Quite a few self -report questionnaires

that, while are helpful and accurate

and provide an important testimony,

sometimes are not as reliable or valid in

our understanding of these research

studies, potential gaps for either people not

being completely honest or there being

skewed information that doesn't always

provide the full picture that as social

workers we maybe need to understand how to

best treat and care for our clients with

generational trauma, as well as certain

age groups or demographics being studied.

For example, in one of the studies,

there was specifically just mothers

who were fleeing their country

seeking asylum elsewhere and the impact

of PTSD and depression they carried and

how that impacted children under six.

While effective and helpful and important to

look at, curious of what it would look like

for mothers with that experience and how

that impacted their teenagers or their elementary

students or even their children who are

adults afterwards and how that impacts. So a

few gaps that can be rectified or maybe even

action items as social workers to further

understand or fulfill or fill in these gaps

is holding bilingual interviews or interviews

in different languages, same questions, maybe

across different cultures that could be

effective in even understanding not just the

like English is your first language. Okay,

here's how we're doing this, but implementing

a more international lens across the board.

Another potential gap I didn't necessarily

expand on um was that there were short-term

follow-ups so in a lot of these studies it

was three to six months out is is how they

looked at it whereas I think it would be extremely

beneficial to study um you know after

like a year three years or five years out to

see the longevity of this because as social

workers were hoping and believing to set people

up for success to empower for long-term

healing not just um in the moment or three or

six months out and wanting to provide tools

and strategies that families can implement

um down the line so i think that could be

helpful in understanding how cognitive behavior

therapy or couple and family therapy impacts

not just six months out of a traumatic of

an awareness of the traumatic experience or

like starting the conversations but years

down the line as well as expanding the scope

and the sample of pulling from diverse ages,

backgrounds, and family units, not just

single parent or two -parent households, not just

straight families or members of the LGBTQ

community, but wanting to have a

fuller understanding even across

religions, ethnicities, and race.

This is really impactful, and I think this

is really important for social workers to

understand of, I feel like we can get

really focused on the specific first person

trauma of the individual who experienced the

traumatic event, but wondering too, what

also is impacting them that is from

generations of whether their parents experienced

a traumatic event that was coping mechanism

was passed down or even grandparents

systemic issues that are maybe things that

we notice within societies, communities,

families that are due to generational trauma.

So I think that this understanding and

conversation and research will be very

impactful for competent -based practice and

learning how to provide the right resources.

So here are my references, the different

studies I looked at, as well as a few

of the case studies. So thank

you so much for listening.

Yeah.