JOHNSON CITY (June 22, 2021) – Over the past year, leaders of the East Tennessee State University Ballad Health Strong BRAIN Institute have worked to develop its infrastructure, deliver training and education opportunities, and expand research activities with a goal of promoting a trauma-informed citizenry and workforce throughout the region.
The Strong BRAIN (Building Resilience through ACEs-Informed Networking) Institute was established in 2020 by Ballad Health and ETSU to promote awareness of and research on ACEs, or adverse childhood experiences, which can have a profound effect on individuals’ mental and physical health throughout life.
The Strong BRAIN Institute is led by founding director Dr. Wallace E. Dixon Jr., professor and chair of the Department of Psychology in ETSU’s College of Arts and Sciences, and two full-time staff members in research have been brought on board in recent months.
Dr. Rochelle Hentges, research assistant professor, focuses on child outcomes within the context of early adversity, particularly within the family. She examines some of the risk and resilience factors that either promote greater risk or act as a buffer in adverse environments. She is also interested in the developmental processes and mechanisms that account for why early adversity affects child development, as well as the intergenerational transmission of maternal mental health and maternal ACEs to child mental health and well-being.
Hentges came to ETSU from the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary, where she completed a postdoctoral fellowship. She was previously a postdoctoral associate in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh after completing her Ph.D. in developmental psychology at the University of Rochester. Hentges has received numerous awards for her research, and has been published in such journals as Child Development, Development and Psychopathology, the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, the British Journal of Educational Psychology and more. She also has a book chapter on “Developmental perspectives on parenting” to be published in the forthcoming “Oxford Handbook on Evolutionary Psychology and Parenting.”
Benjamin Schoenberg, research services coordinator, is a public health professional with 10 years of experience in health counseling, direct service, program evaluation, care coordination, project management, analysis and more. He was previously a program coordinator and vocational instructor with Aspire Youth and Family working with the juvenile justice system in Western North Carolina. He also worked as a health and disease prevention specialist with the Robert Wood Johnson Outpatient Wellness Centers in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. He holds a master of public health degree from the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health and Mountain Area Health Education Center.
A slate of experts has been formed to serve as contributors to the Strong BRAIN Institute. These include faculty members from all of ETSU’s academic colleges – College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business and Technology, Clemmer College, College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences, Quillen College of Medicine, College of Nursing, Gatton College of Pharmacy and College of Public Health – along with independent consultants and human resources professionals. In addition to taking part in strategic planning for the institute, these individuals are participating on teams that focus on curriculum development and looking at ways to lead ETSU in becoming a trauma-informed institution.
Dixon and other members of the institute have already begun providing education on trauma awareness and resilience throughout the community. They have given presentations to numerous regional governmental bodies and civic groups and have conducted virtual “town halls” for both the ETSU community and the public focused on resilience issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to the Strong BRAIN Institute contributors, a community advisory council has been formed with representation from a variety of sectors, such as municipal government, K-12 education, higher education, business, legal/judicial, legislative, faith-based, health care and others. Members of the institute are working to develop new trauma-informed training modules specific to these sectors.
Dixon says that one of the biggest things the Strong BRAIN Institute has worked on over the past year is an interdisciplinary grant project led by Dr. Diana Morelen of the Department of Psychology to develop trauma-informed training for the entire Gatton College of Pharmacy. With the support of Dr. Debbie Byrd, dean of the college, Strong BRAIN Institute staff have been working with administrators, faculty, staff and students.
“We want to do the science – not just the training – and we’re trying to assess whether it matters that we did the training,” Dixon said. “Does anything change? Do they feel better? We’ll be doing assessments throughout the summer, and perhaps the feedback we get from the College of Pharmacy may give us some insight on trauma-informing the entire university.”
Dixon said that while the Department of Counseling and Human Services in the Clemmer College at ETSU has a minor in trauma and resilience, he would like to develop a curriculum that would apply and appeal to students in a variety of majors.
“We would like to develop opportunities in the general education curriculum that students in every major might be interested in taking,” Dixon said. “Students may think, ‘Why would I want to learn about trauma? That sounds terrible.’ So we’ve got to think of how to package the program to appeal to majors that are well outside of traditional trauma-interested disciplines like psychology, counseling or social work. What’s going to make a math major be interested in it? How do we attract a physics or an engineering major?”
In addition, staff of the Strong BRAIN Institute are examining provisions of the recent American Rescue Plan Act to see if the legislation provides any federal funding opportunities for which the institute would be qualified to apply, and physical space renovations are underway to house staff and provide room for activities.
Dixon identified space near the Department of Psychology within Rogers-Stout Hall for this purpose. The renovation itself is being done using trauma-informed principles, including the creation of bright spaces, paint colors found in nature, and themed wall coverings that promote calmness and relaxation.
“Introduction to ACEs, Using Trauma-Informed Approaches, and Fostering Resilience,” an online professional development course appropriate for individuals in a variety of fields, is currently available through the ETSU Ballad Health Strong BRAIN Institute and the Office of Continuing Medical Education at ETSU’s Quillen College of Medicine.
This course, which may be taken at any time, will provide an overview of ACEs and share how trauma- and resilience-informed approaches can promote better health and well-being in individuals, workplaces and the larger community. It is a foundational course and is prerequisite to future training offerings in such areas as K-12 and higher education, policing, health care, and more. To learn more or register, visit https://bit.ly/3vwagCM.
To learn more about the ETSU Ballad Health Strong BRAIN Institute, visit etsu.edu/institute/strong-brain/.