Social Work seniors to hold ‘The Truth in Trauma and Trauma Informed Practices’ conference Wednesday

The Social Work senior class is hosting author and keynote speaker Barbra Rubel for their free annual conference on Nov. 2.
“The Truth in Trauma and Trauma Informed Practices” is a free conference held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Student Center. There will be a free lunch for the first 150 attendees.
This conference will be available as a free live stream if you are not able to attend in person.
The senior class of the social work program that have organized the conference includes Cooper McLaughlin of Wall, South Dakota, Serentiy Sterkel of Alliance, Abbygail Schaffer of Greeley, Colorado, and Mercedes Sloan of Tonopah, Arizona.
“Every individual, no matter the age, has either experienced or knows somebody who has experienced trauma. We felt the conference topic was crucial because almost everyone can relate to and take something away from it. Our ultimate goal is to help individuals learn to cope with trauma in a healthy way,” Sterkel said in a CSC Relations press release Oct. 18.
The keynote speaker, Barbra Rubel, is an award-winning author on traumatic losses, burnout, and many more topics. She is the author of several books including: “But I Didn’t Say Goodbye: Helping Families After a Suicide”, “Loss, Grief, and Bereavement: Helping Individuals Cope”, and “COVID-19 Loss, Grief, and Bereavement.”
Joining Rubel in giving presentations will be Chadron Volunteer Fire Department Chief Branden Martens and CSC faculty member Elizabeth Kraatz.
Martens graduated from CSC in 2011, and he joined the Fire Department in 2012. He became assistant chief in 2016 and then chief in 2020. Martens is a licensed Emergency Medical Technician as well as having credentials in structure firefighting.
Kraatz is an assistant professor of Education, Phycological Science, Counseling and Social Work. She will be speaking about trauma-informed sex education.
“This topic is important because there is often a focus on who should be teaching sex education or what the curriculum should contain, and the impact of sex education on kids with sexual trauma is often forgotten” Kraatz said.
A panel will be held at the end of the conference. This panel will include Rubel, Kraatz, Martens, Grant Sasse, an associate professor and chair of the Counseling Psychology and Social Work, Department, and Chadron Police Department Lieutenant Gabe Walz.