Trauma Recovery Education at Eastern

Trauma Recovery Education at Eastern (TREE) is a team of CAPS staff and community members committed to providing information and support to Eastern students, faculty and staff who must cope with a variety of unexpected, traumatic, or highly stressful situations. Such situations may include, but are not limited to: witnessing a traumatic scene such as an accident or the administering of extreme life saving techniques; coping with a missing person situation; being affected by death due to accident, illness, natural causes, homicide, suicide, drug overdose; being affected by a hate crime; experience of terrorism or threat to one's life; or experiencing other traumatic events outside the realm of normal human experience.

TREE functions to help people return to their pre-crisis state of equilibrium. The goals of restoration and enhancement of normal coping abilities, problem-solving capacities, and use of social support networks in the lives of trauma victims serve to facilitate a sense of empowerment. The "normalization" of people's stress reactions is emphasized. Facilitating the return of some order following the experience of loss of control and meaning is often an immediate effect of recovery education. The goal is to maximize the opportunity for growth, while minimizing negative or destructive outcomes, such as an ongoing stress reaction.

Activities of the team vary from triage, de-escalation, and consultation services to such activities as holding informational meetings and opportunities to process experiences (when appropriate). Although the Trauma Recovery Education at Eastern team does not engage in providing direct counseling and psychotherapy services, team members routinely provide information regarding mental health support resources available at CAPS and within the community. In specific cases of persons judged to be at elevated risk, referrals for follow-up interviews/screenings are made.

Trauma Recovery Education at Eastern may be engaged through contacting Counseling and Psychological Services at 509-359-2366.