Professors Team Up, Publish Article Encouraging a Trauma-Informed Approach for Service Providers

Photo Submitted

Lynn Koch, Anthony Vajda and Mark Koch

University of Arkansas professors Mark Koch and Lynn Koch are not related, but their mutual last name sparked a collaboration they hope will help trauma survivors.

"I initially introduced myself to Lynn because we share the same last name — and, coincidentally, my sister's name is Lynne — but mostly, because rehabilitation counseling and occupational therapy share common values and core beliefs," Mark Koch said.

He is new to teaching in the inaugural occupational therapy doctoral program at the U of A, and she has been in the rehabilitation counseling program at the university since 2006.

Over lunch, both Kochs realized they had intersecting interests in trauma-informed approaches to working with clients. Mark Koch shared a paper he had written about trauma-informed care while a graduate student and Lynn Koch suggested they use it as an outline for a scholarly article.

She also invited new faculty member Anthony Vajda, a fellow professor in the Counselor Education and Supervision Program, to participate in the writing effort.

The article, titled "Trauma-Informed Rehabilitation Counseling," was published last week in the Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling with Mark Koch as the primary author. The primary purpose of the article is to encourage rehabilitation counselors and administrators to advance their understanding of trauma-informed care and evaluate their agencies to see how they can improve services to people who have been affected by trauma.

"Because of the widespread prevalence of trauma, it is imperative that rehabilitation counseling follow in the footsteps of other health and human service professions to ensure that trauma-informed practices become standard in service delivery," the article notes.

Additionally, occupational therapists are invited to see how their distinctive perspective can be integrated with trauma-informed care principles.

Anyone providing a health or human service is encouraged to recognize the myriad ways that trauma survivors can be supported at both individual and institutional levels, Mark Koch explained.

"It was really Lynn's collaborative spirit as well as her generosity and mentoring that kick-started our process, and I can't emphasize enough how critical mentorship and collaboration are to our personal and professional growth," he said.

Koch said it's inspiring and essential for others to see tenure and non-tenure track faculty working together to advance knowledge and strengthen community on campus.