Donald Trump has proven that he does not know what any potential Commander-in-Chief should: that military families also serve.

Until now Donald Trump’s presidential bid has remained relatively immune to the backlash which has followed by his offensive comments and rhetoric. That may be about to change after the GOP’s nominee criticized the family of Humayun Khan, an Army captain killed in Iraq in 2004, who had attacked Trump over his immigration policies. Nancy Sherman writes that what has been missed in the commentary on this week’s events is that military families also serve, by going to war vicariously with their family member, and often suffer from complicated grief syndromes and PTSD. Any Commander-in-Chief should be aware of this; Trump does not seem to be

Stoic Equanimity in the Face of Torture

In what ways, if any, is Stoic equanimity a plausible armor for enduring torture? I believe that we can learn something about stoic equanimity in general by examining this especially hard case. It turns out that a broadly Stoic view still leaves a torture victim vulnerable to being forced to use one’s agency against oneself. In this sense, even the best Stoic armor has its limits

Stoic Consolations

In this paper I explore the Stoic view on attachment to external goods, or what the Stoics call “indifferents.” Attachment is problematic, on the Stoic view, because it exposes us to loss and exacerbates the fragility that comes with needing others and things. The Stoics argue that we can build resilience through a robust reeducation of ordinary emotions and routine practice in psychological risk management techniques. Through a focus on selected writings of Seneca as well as Cicero’s Tusculan Disputations and Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations, I nonetheless ask whether Stoicism leaves any room for grief and distress. I argue that it does, and that consolation comes not from a retreat to some inner citadel, but from the support and sustenance of social connections

Trauma Curriculum Integration in Counselor Education: A Delphi Study

Research has established the need for trauma education and training for safe and effective entry-level practice. However, studies have shown insufficient and inconsistent training in graduate counseling programs. Those studies reflected the opinions and experiences of practitioners and graduate students. To add to the extant literature, we used the Delphi method to gather information from counselor educators who have experience in trauma counseling and education. The Delphi technique is a group communication strategy designed to obtain expert consensus through a series of survey questionnaires, modified and adapted to reflect group opinion. We asked participants for their insight into the most effective way to integrate trauma education into the graduate counseling curriculum. After three survey rounds, 12 trauma and counselor education experts reached consensus on the following: (a) faculty education and training to increase competence and efficacy in teaching trauma-focused material and utilization of trauma-informed teaching practices that enhance learning; (b) counselor educator dispositions that reflect a responsive, trauma-informed, and resilience-oriented framework to facilitate change; (c) development of course content that incorporates trauma-informed principles, trauma-specific knowledge and skills, cultural diversity, and assessment; (d) accreditation standards that support trauma education. The expert panel offered recommendations that the counseling profession can utilize to move forward in making trauma education a priority

Accreditation by Design: Construction of an Instrument to Measure Teacher Candidates’ Perceptions of Preparedness to Meet InTASC Standards

The InTASC Candidate Self-Perception Instrument (ICSPI) is an innovative, high-quality educational measurement tool designed to support the assessment and accreditation efforts of a wide variety of educator preparation programs (EPP). The procedures used for the creation and refining of items for the ICSPI are presented, including empirical estimates of reliability from a trial implementation across three semesters. Evidence of instrument validity is discussed, while observed reliability estimates were found to be above acceptable levels for all subgroups. The ICSPI can be used to evaluate EPPs’ course offerings and requirements, align course outcomes with educational standards, provide data to advise programs of relative strengths and weaknesses, and improve teacher preparation

(Re)developing an online pre-entry course to support student transition into higher education

Students entering higher education must possess the skills to navigate the digital landscape. In 2019 the Bloomsbury Learning Exchange (BLE) created an online ‘Digital Skills Awareness’ Course (DSAC), designed to improve incoming students’ awareness of the digital skills required for them to succeed in their studies. The DSAC was disseminated – via mailing lists, conferences, and word of mouth – to colleagues working at universities across the United Kingdom (UK). Interested individuals could download and integrate the DSAC into their own institutional virtual learning environment (VLE). To date, 58 colleagues have signed up to download a copy of the course for their students. However, it is unknown how many versions of the course have been successfully implemented. Students’ perceptions of the DSAC implemented at one institution (University of Glasgow) have been positive. However, we do not have any understanding of staff members’ experiences of adapting and integrating the course for their students. This ‘On The Horizon’ article reflects on the development of the DSAC, the outcomes to date, and describes next steps to evaluate staff experiences of adopting the course in their context