Anh Quynh Nguyen

Mrs. Thomas
UWRT 1104
19 March 2020

In my inquiry process on how trauma affects mental health, I have found multiple sources that 
describe multiple perspectives about trauma and positive sides of it. The first source I want to
focus on is a TEDx Talk “What trauma teach me about resilience”. The talk was represented by
Charles Hunt, a Resilience Expert, Adjunct Professor, and speaker. Charles has led programming
at some universities, colleges, Fortune 500 companies, and nonprofits across the country, helping
thousands of students and leaders find their way to a better future through career readiness, life
coaching, and direct hiring opportunities. He is also the founder of The Audacity Firm. The main
purpose of the TEDx talk is to talk about how resilient we are despite the trauma we live in and
through. Charles Hunt explains how he has overcome the trauma and even succeeded (from
tragedy to triumph). He also believes resilience is the key for him and other people to become
successful, despite immense pain and trauma.

The second source I would like to bring up is a talk called “ What trauma teaches me about
happiness” by Lindsey Roy. Lindsey Roy has spent over sixteen years in the corporate
environment, leading teams in innovation, digital development and product merchandising.  She
was named Vice President at Hallmark Cards at just thirty-two years old, one of the youngest
VPs ever in a company with over a 100-year history and in the top 1% of brands worldwide. In
her presentation, she talks about how trauma teaches us about strength and can be our greatest
power to motivate our lives. The speaker also explains how the accident  “cured her phantom
life” and changed her way of thinking forever. She believes that trauma and challenges in our life
not only help us to change our view, our perspective but also teach us about happiness.

Along the same line, “Trauma change resilience”, a talk by Dr. Megan McElheran, also provides
everyone with a different good point of view about trauma, which I mentioned in my inquiry
proposal. Dr. Megan McElheran is a Clinical Psychologist with WGM Psychological Services in
Calgary, AB. Dr. McElheran completed graduate training at the Stanford University clinical
psychology consortium, during which she obtained specialized training in the treatment of PTSD
through the National Center for PTSD in Menlo Park, CA. During her TEDx Talk, Dr. Megan
McElheran argued about how the majority of people face and respond to trauma, which mostly is
pulling the emotions away, and the costs of neglect of human feelings. The source is really
supportive and helpful with my inquiry proposal. It acknowledges people to understand bad
things happen to everyone, especially in this world where trauma is inevitable, but that doesn't
mean we don't stop trying, facing and responding to suffering instead of hiding from it.

Similarly, “Trauma is intervisible. How it shapes us is our choice.” by Sasha Joseph Neulinger
will be the fourth source that I would like to bring up. Sasha Joseph Neulinger is the co-founder
and head of production at Step 1 Films where he produces content for commercial clients
nationally. He is a native of Pennsylvania who moved to Montana to pursue a BFA in Film
Production from Montana State University. Sasha also travels nationally as a public speaker,
advocating for reforms in child advocacy and child abuse prevention. His TEDx talk mainly is
about he Sasha believes that the key to love and embrace ourselves is to face our greatest fear,
unlock and embrace the terrifying pain inside us. He emphasized that we cannot reverse the past,
as well as our trauma, but we can choose to love and embrace your trauma and choose how it
shapes us.

As I mentioned in my inquiry proposal, even though trauma brings heavily damaged injury to
our mental health, still, it can be a powerful force for positive change if you can find a suitable
treatment or solution for yourself. My last source “Good relationships are the key healing
trauma” by Dr. Karen Treisman discusses one of the effective treatments for trauma. Dr. Karen
Tresiman is a clinical psychologist, a trainer and an author, working in London, UK. Karen is
also the Director of Safe Hands and Thinking Minds Training and Consultancy services. She has
worked across the world with groups ranging from adopted children to former soldiers to
survivors of the Rwandan Genocide. In her talk, the speaker talks about how relationships impact
the brain system. She states that relationships either strengthen the brain or they can weaken it.
Dr.Karen emphasized that we need to focus on relationships, instead of our society moving to be
less connected, more dehumanized. We need to think about how we can bring relationships back
into heart, to have those compassionate.

Overall, all of my research sources are connected and related to my inquiry proposal. Each of my
research source above brings different unbiased perspectives about trauma and broaden our
horizons about how trauma can affect our brain and ourselves in positive ways. Together, all of
my sources support each other in order to provide and deepen my paper.