Hayden Hamlett

19 March 2020

UWRT 1104 

Word Count:

Synthesis

For my inquiry research, I focused on the effects that trauma can have on a person

mentally and physically. I was able to find a variety of sources that covered my inquiry question

as well as similar topics which led to new questions to think about. The majority of my sources

were peer-reviewed, scholarly articles which discuss trauma, but I was also able to find credible

videos with well-known speakers that gave me a whole new perspective on my topic. Out of the

eight resources I covered, six of them were peer-reviewed. I’ve learned that it is important to

look at the credibility of any author before relying on that source or revolving your paper around

it. 

The first source I plan to use is The Impact of Prolonged Exposure Therapy on Social

Support and PTSD Symptoms. Kyle Bourassa is the author of this journal. Kyle is a Postdoctoral

Scholar working at Duke University at the Moffitt-Caspi lab. He focuses on different social and

behavioral patterns to see how these might improve cardiovascular physiology among people

with stressful lives.  The purpose of the article is to discuss how veterans and active soldiers are

at a much higher risk for PTSD compared to those who have not served in the military. Over the

years, PTSD assistance and help has progressed due to the increasing number of individuals

suffering with this disease.  In one of the studies done, soldiers with PTSD were picked to

complete a form of exposure therapy over a certain period of time. The purpose of this study was

to observe the impact of treatment on perceived social support as a secondary treatment outcome.
This resulted in exposure therapy increasing perceived social support at the end of the exposure

treatment. The treatment in this article is used to provide evidence and support for the claim

concerning therapy follow ups. The avoidance of therapy or receiving help increases the

posttraumatic stress by preventing the process of the trauma memory, maintaining the symptoms

of PTSD. 

The second source I plan on using for my thesis is Helping Survivors of Trauma

Overcome. The speaker in this TED Talk is David Duncan. Duncan is a well-known counselor

who deals primarily with patients who have faced a traumatic experience.  He holds a masters in

counseling psychotherapy and is licensed as a professional counselor in the state of Missouri.  

He shares his methods that he uses to help those in his community move through the healing

process. This video begins by addressing how trauma can build throughout one’s lifetime. The

trauma you experience as a child or even previously has the ability to interfere with a person’s

life, relationships, and the way a person goes throughout their day. This darkness of life leaves

individuals feeling alienated, alone with their family, distant from everything around them, and

without faith. Duncan asks the question, “what is it that drives these folks” and “what can we

do?”  There are two critical elements in which they decided would be useful. The first element is

retelling the story, recording it, and going back to listen to it. With each telling, the degree of

anxiety begins to diminish and the memories are separated from the terror. The second critical

element is going into the places where the anxiety has shot you down.

For my third source, I will be using The Effects of Different Methods of Emotional

Disclosure: Differentiating Post‐traumatic Growth from Stress Symptoms. The author of this

article is Dr. Olga M. Slavin-Spenny.  Dr. Slavin is a clinical psychologist in Oak Park who has

over 9 years of experience. A clinical psychologist is a mental health care specialist who helps
counsel within the community. Dr. Slavin has a Ph.D. in psychology which allows her to

research and teach their patients something about themselves and deal with mental illnesses,

addiction, loss, etc. Traumatic events can have a lasting effect on an individual's emotional and

physical well-being. This article discusses a solution to the problem at hand. The technique of 

expressive writing concerning stressful events also known as emotional disclosure is a technique

used to overcome traumatic instances. The article also focuses on emotional disclosure which is

often done through talking privately. Disclosure groups and combined controls are compared on

a graph to test the primary hypothesis. Spoken disclosure to the listener feels more natural and

common, rather than speaking into a tape recorder. The research done in this study shows that

the majority of people talk about their emotional experience in a face to face sitting. Studies

consisting of impersonal disclosure do not have any control over the response of the other

person, which results in complicated interpretations of the effects.

The last source I plan on using is a Ted Talk referred to as How childhood trauma affects

health across a lifetime. The speaker in this Ted talk is Nadine Burke Harris. Dr. Harris is a

pediatrician and the first and current surgeon general of California. She is known for successfully

linking adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress with health issues caused by harmful

effects. The video discusses childhood trauma and it has the ability to negatively affect health

across a person’s lifetime. Trauma as a child can affect brain development, the immune system,

hormonal system, and even the way DNA is read and transcribed. A survey went out asking

17,500 adults about their history exposure to adverse childhood experiences. These include:

physical/emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical/emotional neglect, parental mental illness,

substance dependancy, divorce, or domestic violence. In the survey, all of these are known as

ACE’s. These scores were taken and compared to health outcomes. They found that 67% of the
population related in at least one way and 12.6% had 4 or more. For people who have any of

these ACE’s, you are 4 times more likely to face depression and 12 times more likely to commit

suicide. Exposure to early adversity affects the developing brain and bodies of children. 

Among these sources, I was able to find several connections which linked back to the

others. After analyzing and reading through each article, it was clear which articles were focused

on trauma as a whole and which ones merely added a small amount of information regarding the

topic. The inquiry process helped me learn more detailed information about trauma, rather than

just looking up facts and articles on the internet. Overall, the sources are informative and have a

wide range of perspectives, which will help with help in my final thesis.