API-phany (“Epiphany”): Lifting Each Other Up Through Community

The Office of Victim Assistance has an in-person process/support group for self-identified Asian American female and non-binary CU Boulder students to connect, support, and create space with one another within a predominately white institution. Common themes that may be discussed include, but are not limited to, mental health concerns and stressors related to racial trauma; microaggressions; imposter syndrome and feelings of belonging on the CU campus; growing up bicultural or second-generation and balancing being in two worlds; intergenerational trauma and familial conflicts; drastic increase of anti-Asian hate and violence as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Spring 2023 dates:
    • Monday Feb. 20 - April 24  (no group March 27 or April 10)
    • Time: 12 - 1:30 PM
  • a pre-group meeting with facilitator is required
  • call 303-492-8855 or email Diana.Dang@colraodo.edu if interested
  • if not able to join for the dates listed please call to be added to the waitlist for fall

Trauma Response Presentations*

The Office of Victim Assistance (OVA) staff offer educational programming to all members of the campus community, as well as community partners who do similar and related work. In addition to counseling and advocacy services, OVA offers presentations on all of our topic areas and how to support people who may be impacted by difficult or disruptive life events. OVA topic areas include, but are not limited to: physical assault, hazing, bias motivated incidents, grief and loss, discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment, intimate partner abuse, sexual assault and stalking.

Below are presentations OVA offers. We prefer to provide "What OVA Offers" with a version of "Supporting Survivors." 

  • Review of OVA's advocacy and counseling services
  • How can we support you and how to refer people to OVA
  • Approximate time: 20 minutes
  • Prefer to provide this with the Supporting Survivors presentation

Traumatic experience happen every day and the CU Boulder community is not exempt. After a traumatic experience, usually friends, mentors, family, and sometimes faculty/advisors are the first to be told about these experiences. How one responds matters as it can impact healing, as well as whether the survivors will seek additional support. This session will focus on:

  • The positive impacts of trauma-informed support and how it can help a survivor heal
  • General information on the impact of traumatic events (for more in-depth on this point see other presentation on Neurobiology of Trauma)
  • Skills that address how to respond to someone after they share about a traumatic or life disrupting event
  • A section can be added on trauma informed mandatory reporting for "responsible employees" (those required to reports sexual misconduct, discrimination and protected class harassment)
  • Approximate time: 30-60 minutes, depending on whether practice scenarios and mandatory reporting are included. 45 minutes at minimum is preferable.

  • Information on what people may experience physically, emotionally and cognitively in the aftermath of a traumatic event
  • How the brain and body respond to traumatic experiences, neurobiology of traumatic events
  • Healing and recovery stage
  • Presentation geared towards people already involved in a helping role or for a class discussing trauma
  • Approximate time: 75 minutes

  • Learn about vicarious trauma, compassion satisfaction vs. fatigue, and self-care.
  • Explore barriers to self-care and attend to our needs in a new ways. (re-framing self-care)
  • Presentation geared toward students, staff, and faculty who work in fields/roles that can have vicarious trauma (hearing about other people's traumatic experiences)
  • Approximate time: 60 minutes

This presentations provides psychoeducation on intimate partner abuse (IPA), with an emphasis on increasing awareness and understanding of domestic violence, exploring its psychological impact, and empowering both survivors and secondary victims (those who support people with abusive partners) with knowledge of their rights, options, and resources. This presentation will cover:

  • Understanding IPA (definitions, different forms of abuse, the impact it can cause)
  • Healthy, unhealthy, and abusive behaviors in a relationship
  • Defining healthy boundaries
  • How to help a friend: safety planning, support, and the healing process
  • Approximate time: 60-75 minutes

This presentation provides an introduction into how repeated discriminatory experiences can produce a traumatic response. Participants will learn how oppression can impact people’s stress responses and neurobiological development. Additionally, this presentation also addresses ways that we can hold ourselves and others accountable when we enable oppression, regardless of intent. The presentation will focus on:

  • The overlap between oppression and trauma.
  • Providing an introductory understanding of how chronic oppression can impact people’s stress responses and neurobiological development.
  • The differences between the intent of our actions and the impact of oppression.
  • Identifying means of being accountable for our (mis)actions and making repairs.
  • Learning how OVA can support those impacted by oppression.
  • Approximate time: 60 minutes.

Other types of presentations by OVA:

  • OVA is part of the Supporting Student Resiliency Series for faculty and staff as well as the WellCU: Student Health and Wellness Certificate. Dates change every semester. Please visit the link for up-to-date info.
  • There are times when groups of people may be impacted by the loss of a member of the CU community or by a large disaster like mass violence or natural disasters. 
    • These circumstances may be difficult for some and not for others, and we all have various ways of navigating grief and loss. 
    • If anyone affiliated with the University would like to have a time for people to gather and hear about campus and community resources as well as self-care, OVA staff, in partnership with either Counseling and Psychiatric Services (CAPS) and or Faculty Staff and Assistance (FSAP), can facilitate or be present for these group resourcing sessions. 
      • These sessions are not to debrief the loss and are also not group counseling sessions. The goal is to discuss the various responses and impacts of loss and or traumatic events, learn about resources, and talk about self-care.
      • Other staff and faculty may also lead this types of check in sessions post loss or disaster, learn more here: www.colorado.edu/ova/guidance-supporting-groups-after-traumatic-event

*Presentations can occasionally be tailored to meet the needs of specific audiences. We can attend a class, staff meetings, student group meetings, community events or any format that meets needs. 

We can also be available for tabling events and we do not only have some good swag, we also have a Disc Drop game to win prizes and learn more about OVA.

Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) Programs:

The Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) is committed to preventing and eliminating discrimination and harassment based on race, color, national origin, pregnancy, sex, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, political affiliation, or political philosophy at the University of Colorado Boulder. The OIEC is responsible for three policies at the University of Colorado Boulder: Sexual Misconduct, Protected Class Discrimination and Harassment, and Conflict of Interest in Amorous Relationships. While OIEC is a seperate office from OVA, we like to share what they offer around education as sometimes we can partner with them on presentations.

Below are a few educational programs the OIEC offers. For a full list, visit here. To schedule one of these specific OIEC sessions please contact oiectraining@colorado.edu or call OIEC's main number at 303-492-2127.

  • All incoming students to CU-Boulder complete an online version of this training. Staff and faculty are required to do a similar version of this when they start and again every three years.
  • This workshop covers the university policy on discrimination, harassment and sexual misconduct. Students, staff or faculty learn about the range of behaviors included, discuss scenarios, practice skills for addressing behaviors, and learn about reporting options.
  • Suitable for any group size, as beside the online offering, this can be requested for in person sessions.
  • Length 1.5 hours

  • All incoming students receive this training during Fall Welcome and can be offered to other groups, meetings and or departments.
  • This is an education and skill-building program to train people in bystander intervention. Explore factors that promote or prevent helping behavior and practice skills for intervening effectively.
  • In partnership with other programs, OIEC can offer subsequent trainings for effectively intervening in a variety of situations. Booster sessions include:
    • Bystander skills in the classroom (discrimination and harassment)
    • Bystander skills for sexual assault prevention (intimate partner abuse included)
    • Bystander skills for graduate students (inside and outside of the classroom)
  • Suitable for any group size.
  • Length: 1 – 1.5 hours

  • In this interactive, discussion-based session, participants learn and discuss what gender violence includes, prevalence, characteristics of perpetrators, and risk factors associated with the college environment. Students discuss challenges that they face and different situations they may encounter.
  • Who: Suitable for smaller groups (up to 40 students); adaptable for large groups.
  • Length: 1 hour – 1.5 hours

For more information or to request a program from OIEC, contact oiectraining@colorado.edu or call OIEC's main number at 303-492-2127.