Teaching Interests
At the undergraduate level, I have taught FSHS 301 "The Helping Relationship." At the graduate level, I have taught FSHS 870 "Principles of Marriage and Family Therapy," FSHS 877 "Individual and Family Assessment in Marriage and Family Therapy," FSHS 885 "Marriage and Family Therapy Practicum," and FSHS 910 "Trauma and the Family."
Research Interests
Post-traumatic stress disorder; the effects of traumatic stress on couple and family systems; couples therapy.
My research has focused on understanding the effects of trauma on individual, couple, and family systems. My multidisciplinary research includes working with colleagues and students within the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) Unit and School of Family Studies and Human Services (FSHS) and across K-State, other universities, and countries, as with the TRECK Team research. The primary theme of my research is in understanding how difficult life experiences or previous trauma may impact the long-term functioning of individuals, couples, families, and communities.
In my research, I consider trauma and traumatic stress from a systems theory approach. Although victims of traumatic events often are individuals, the long-term and chronic problems related to post-traumatic stress symptoms often affect the partners/spouses, children, and others who have a relationship with the primary trauma survivor. The theory of secondary traumatic stress has received clinical support but limited direct empirical support. My program of research has focused on identifying the impact of previous traumatic experiences on current individual, couple, family, and community functioning from a secondary traumatic stress theoretical perspective. It became clear from my clinical work and this research that the majority of people exposed to traumatic events may not suffer from chronic trauma-related symptoms or problems; however, the primary research and clinical literature focuses on individuals with severe impairments due to trauma. My contribution to the field occurs through bridging family systems (marriage and family therapy, MFT) with traumatology through research on the systemic effects of trauma and post-traumatic stress in couples, families, and communities. The TRECK Research Project with Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom soldiers and their partners and the FSHS Military Family Programs have been exciting projects because they have allowed us to learn how very recent war-related trauma impacts both soldiers and their spouses/partners and they demonstrate the continuous development of the TRECK research program. They also provide cutting-edge quantitative and qualitative data to be available for graduate and undergraduate student research projects, which increases my opportunities to mentor and educate students in research.
