Nichols, Lucy

Ben Burke is a PhD student in Human Development and Family Studies at Auburn University and has a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. Ben is one of the longest serving team members on the Military REACH team, and he primarily works on TRIP reports, research reports, and social media posts. A few of Ben’s most notable contributions are 1. Writing over 45 TRIP reports 2. Co-authoring 4/5 research reports 3. Lead author of “A review and application of posttraumatic growth for enhancing the well-being of military service members and their families” 4. Four editorials featured in monthly newsletters a. The importance of credibility in research design, implementation, and evaluation b. Speaking science-ese: Why clear communication is so vital to academic writing c. Sorting through the pile: The helpfulness of theory in research d. The importance of understanding trauma Ben’s colleagues described him as kind and compassionate, humorous, a thoughtful scholar, an encouraging teacher and mentor, and a genuine nerd - always ready to discuss movies or video games. Ben adds incredible value to our team, and we are thankful for the work he does to make research practical and useful to our target audiences. Below Ben discusses his interest in research, his future plans, and video games! 1. Why are you pursuing a PhD in Human Development and Family Studies and what is your end goal/dream job? I am pursuing a degree in HDFS because people are endlessly interesting and I believe that HDFS provides an excellent way to study individuals and families while accounting for important contexts (relationships, environments). My end goal is to work in a university as a teacher and researcher. Teaching is one of my great passions and research allows me the opportunity to continue learning and exploring fascinating topics that can be of help to others. 2. So, you like gaming. What is your favorite part of gaming culture and how does that coincide with your background as a family scholar? How do you bring the two together? What I love most about gaming and gaming culture is a hard thing to narrow down, because there are myriad things I adore about both. I'll focus in on the parts that are related to my work as a scholar studying family and relationships. Gaming is a medium that brings people together, despite the popular narrative that gaming is for the socially stunted. Spending any amount of time in an online multiplayer game or a game streaming website demonstrates how communities are constantly formed and fostered around gaming. I've heard countless stories of friendships that were initiated and maintained through playing games or how parents used games as a way to connect with their children. Additionally, gaming is often used to raise money for charity. Last year, I got to witness gaming communities raise millions of dollars for St. Jude's Children’s Research Hospital, which was an incredibly beautiful experience. Ultimately, when we talk about gaming and gamers, we're talking about people, and this medium can be an incredible tool for beneficial relational connections. 3. What drew you to Military REACH? I was drawn to Military REACH because of Dr. Lucier-Greer. Mallory is a fantastic person and scholar who is doing important research. I have learned a great deal about military families and I believe in the work we do because I believe the end goal of research should be to benefit others. REACH's goal is to put beneficial knowledge into the hands of families, helping professionals, and policy makers and that goal is inherently worthy of pursuit. 4. What has been your favorite project to be a part of while working with Military REACH? My favorite project to work on with Military REACH was the research report on posttraumatic growth. I learned so much about the nature of trauma and the resilience and growth that humans can display in the context of stressful circumstances. It was a privilege to be a part of such an enlightening and encouraging project.

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https://militaryreach.auburn.edu/fnbenburkefinal.jsp

Burke, Benjamin

Recently, I helped write a report for the Department of Defense on a phenomenon called Posttraumatic Growth (i.e., when people experience positive personal growth after experiencing a trauma). This project was a fascinating learning experience. Reading about the ways people can learn to triumph over adversity or grow in their perspectives and relationships was beautiful. However, before we could adequately discuss what it meant to grow from trauma, we needed to define trauma. I think this is an important experience to comprehend because misunderstandings could be harmful and hinder scientific or supportive efforts. In this editorial, I want to describe some different pitfalls that people can fall into when defining trauma and offer a framework that has helped me better understand the phenomenon. One pitfall is being flippant about the experience. We may use the word too casually, which could hurt or anger those who have gone through real trauma and are struggling with the aftermath. Another trap could be discrediting other people’s experiences, because they don’t match our definition of what qualifies. This is dangerous because people could have the signs and symptoms of trauma but feel invalidated and refuse to pursue needed supports out of shame. A final trap could be failing to recognize our own experiences of trauma. We may invalidate ourselves because we assume that a trauma has to be something “obvious,” like witnessing a natural disaster or going into combat. However, some estimates suggest that as many as 90% of individuals experience a trauma at some point in their lives (Kilpatrick et al., 2013)! Therefore, the definition likely goes beyond tornados and combat zones. These pitfalls, and others, beg the question: How do we appropriately define “trauma”? Though there is some disagreement among scholars, Calhoun and Tedeschi’s (2014) model of trauma has been helpful for me. They suggest that a trauma is any event that results in meaningful disruption in a person’s beliefs about life and the world, creates emotions that are challenging to deal with, and compromises their ability to manage those emotions. First, the event must be severe enough to challenge the person’s beliefs about life. All people have certain beliefs and assumptions about the world including things like relative goodness and predictability – trauma will challenge those beliefs, making it seem like the world is dangerous and out of control. Second, this challenge creates difficult emotions (stress, fear) as we struggle to adjust our beliefs about the world after trauma. Finally, these emotions can be so overwhelming, and our thoughts so disjointed, that the normal ways we’ve coped with challenges aren’t effective. This definition of trauma shifts the focus from the event itself to the effects that follow the event and provides helpful guidelines for understanding the experience. You may be asking yourself why it matters that we have an appropriate view of trauma? Research is not meant to stay within the walls of the laboratory and academia; it is meant to help us better understand life so we can better help those around us. Adopting this view of trauma has helped me grow as a researcher and as a person. I am more mindful about the language I use concerning trauma and better recognize the pitfalls surrounding the topic. I feel that I can better understand and relate to the people around me who have gone through profoundly difficult experiences and feel more empathy for them. It is my hope that this editorial, and Military REACH’s report on posttraumatic growth, will help you see trauma in a different way and be better equipped to understand yourself and others through challenges that will likely happen at some point across the lifespan.

Family Story

https://militaryreach.auburn.edu/ffUnderstandingTrauma.jsp