by Leah Waltrip (3rd Year Graduate Student) Code-switching, or switching between two languages, is a common pattern of communication among bilingual and multilingual individuals. For a long time, researchers viewed code-switching as a sign of language challenges. However, recent research has shown that code-switching indicates stronger mastery of grammatical and vocabulary knowledge in multiple languages.Continue reading “Two Languages, One Trauma: Exploring an Untapped Research Space”
Category Archives: Research
Survivor-Center Care Matters: New Preliminary Findings
by Amber Fredrick New research from our Traumatic Stress Studies Group aimed to answer questions about the real-world impact of survivor-centered care, championed by victim-service providers. For instance, is survivor-centered care was linked to important survivor outcomes – from empowerment and PTSD symptoms to people’s intention to seek help in the future? To answer suchContinue reading “Survivor-Center Care Matters: New Preliminary Findings”
Asthma and Intimate Partner Abuse: Getting the Word out about New Research Findings
When I talk with people about our shared interests in ending violence against women, I often point to healthcare. After all, lots of people are passionate about healthcare — from costs to access and lots in between. Those same people may not think of violence against women as their issue. Yet, one way to addressContinue reading “Asthma and Intimate Partner Abuse: Getting the Word out about New Research Findings”
From Downtown Denver to You: Returning Our Research to the Community
The first week of August brought thousands of psychologists to downtown Denver for the American Psychology Association (APA) annual convention. Across poster sessions, three current TSS Group Team Members Amber Fredrick, Courtney McCrimmon, and Leah Waltrip shared some of our work with colleagues. And now we’re excited to share those posters and that work withContinue reading “From Downtown Denver to You: Returning Our Research to the Community”
Your Brain on Relationships: The Story Behind A New Study
by Rebecca Suzuki, TSS Group Team Member In one interview after another, women shared stories of injuries to their heads and necks during intimate partner violence (IPV) – injuries that likely disrupted the normal function of the brain. Across interviews, a pattern emerged: survivors often described multiple lifetime injuries that met screening criteria for aContinue reading “Your Brain on Relationships: The Story Behind A New Study”
Survivor-Centered Care: New Research on the Horizon
by Amber Fredrick, TSS Group Member, 2nd Year Graduate Student In my time as an advocate, I have spent many long nights in emergency rooms and early mornings in court rooms working with survivors to get the care they need. In navigating these complicated systems that often leave survivors feeling confused, overwhelmed, and frustrated, IContinue reading “Survivor-Centered Care: New Research on the Horizon”
Sharing Research, Discovering Momentum
by Courtney McCrimmon, 4th Year Graduate Student From Bench to Bedside and Beyond: Advancing Translational Science in Traumatic Stress Studies — that was the theme for the 40th Annual International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS) Meeting in Boston, MA this past September. The ISTSS Annual Meeting offers a forum for researchers to share evidence-basedContinue reading “Sharing Research, Discovering Momentum”
Looking for Change in All the Wrong Places
A lifetime or so ago, I sat around a conference table with folks from the Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center (RMvlc) and several community- and system-based agencies who worked with crime victims and survivors in Denver. The group was interested in responding to a solicitation from the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) to makeContinue reading “Looking for Change in All the Wrong Places”
Trauma, Violence, and Reproductive Rights: A Special Issue
In June 2022, the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade. As a trauma researcher who studies intimate abuse, the implications echoed loudly. I recall thinking (and blogging about for Psychology Today) at the time that researchers have a term for forcing people to stay pregnant: reproductive coercion. In recent years, research on reproductiveContinue reading “Trauma, Violence, and Reproductive Rights: A Special Issue”
PTSD Awareness
June 27 is PTSD Awareness Day. In a world where traumas are all too common — from natural disasters to combat and mass shootings as well as sexual assault and intimate partner violence — here are a few things to know about PTSD. What Is PTSD? PTSD is short for posttraumatic stress disorder, a diagnosis that appears in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical ManualContinue reading “PTSD Awareness”
Trauma Research Notes 