I'm Sharon Bowland and the faculty chair of our exciting new social work department. Wow, there are a lot of new things happening here in Denton, and this blog will give you some updates about new developments in social work at UNT!

Do you know what these three well-known people have in common: Tyler Perry, Simone Biles, and Oprah Winfrey. They are all survivors of child abuse, yet amazingly they have surmounted their adverse experiences and led successful lives. Social workers are often the ones who help people recover from these tragic experiences.

Many women and men are survivors of interpersonal trauma, including child abuse, sexual assault and domestic violence. These are the exact clients who often seek out social work services. They appear variously as homeless persons, teens with involvement in the juvenile justice system, cancer survivors, persons living in public housing or as nursing home residents. We work with them all the time and often don't know it.

A recent longitudinal study (Copeland et al, 2018) confirms earlier research that “adverse childhood experiences” (ACEs) (Felitti et al, 2008) are common in childhood and frequently have long term health and mental health effects. Some survivors of violence experience multiple types of trauma over the life course. I conducted research examining the cumulative effects of violence and religious/spiritual struggles that older women face in recovering from multiple experiences.

One of the things that made we want to take a job in the social work department at UNT was the development of a trauma certificate (four courses) in our BSW program. We are rolling out these online courses to BSW students as well as practitioners in the community beginning in Fall 2019. Dr. Cecilia Thomas has coordinated the development of this certificate.

Several members of our faculty have special interest in trauma-informed services and trauma recovery. A few have expertise in child welfare and child protective services. Dr. Dhrubodhi Mukherjee is working to train practitioners in delivering trauma-informed services. Dr. Karla Horton is collaborating with schools on how to address trauma related to bullying. Professor Brenda Sweeten runs a program on the UNT campus to provide support for foster care youth who are transitioning out of care and seeking a college education. Hadidja Nyiransekuye, another faculty member, focuses on work and research with refugees and immigrants. She has developed a group work model enabling survivors of war to tell their stories. Telling your story and being affirmed and believed is a key ingredient in recovery.

This is indeed an exciting time in the development of our department, and I look forward to the many ways we can serve the Denton community and our region as we strengthen trauma-informed services.