Unit 1 – Video materials
Reading builds the foundation, but hearing different voices explain the same ideas — in their own words, with their own emphasis — tends to make material land in a way text alone doesn’t always manage. That’s the thinking behind this section: not a single lecture, but a deliberately varied set of perspectives on the same core territory, each adding something the others don’t.
The three videos here bring together a mix of voices on trauma and trauma-informed care — a leading researcher, a licensed therapist, and a physician-led clinical webinar. The first, from Dr. Bessel van der Kolk — author of “The Body Keeps the Score,” already on this course’s reading list — offers a clear, accessible account of what trauma actually is, drawn from his origins working with Vietnam veterans in the late 1970s and decades of research since. The second, from licensed therapist Emma McAdam, walks through the ACEs Study in real depth — the research that first demonstrated, at scale, just how much childhood adversity shapes health and functioning across an entire lifetime. The third is a physician-led clinical webinar, presented by two pediatric specialists, translating this same research into what trauma-informed care actually looks like in a real clinical setting — including a direct, practical account of the “what’s wrong with you” versus “what happened to you” reframe at the heart of this course.
As with the rest of this course, this is real material about real psychological experience — give yourself space to sit with it if anything lands close to home.
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This second set goes a step further than the Topic videos — less about establishing what trauma and trauma-informed care are, more about seeing the theory actually applied: inside real clinics, with real patients, and against the specific principles covered in your Core Reading.
The first, from psychiatrist Dr. Tracey Marks, explains the neuroscience behind why trauma isn't something you can simply "get over" — the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex changes that make trauma responses so persistent, alongside a genuinely hopeful look at neuroplasticity and treatment. The second takes you inside a real primary care clinic serving patients living with HIV, showing trauma-informed principles applied in a medical setting most people wouldn't immediately associate with this work — including honest reflection from both clinicians and patients on what changed once the approach shifted. The third gives the clearest, most systematic walkthrough of the six core principles you'll find in this unit's video material, paired throughout with real patient testimony.
A brief content note on the second video: it includes a short, non-graphic mention of a patient's death at the hands of her partner, given only as context for why the clinic changed its approach. As with the rest of this course, give yourself space to sit with any of this if it lands close to home.
