A personal, after-class interview with your favorite professors
Dr. Juliet Campbell-Farrell began teaching at Cairn in 2000. With two master’s degrees and a PhD in social work and social research, Dr. Campbell-Farrell utilizes her extensive knowledge to teach social work, psychology, and counseling courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. As a Christian and an educator, she enjoys the ability to openly integrate her worldview and her profession when interacting with Cairn students.
Based on your expertise of counseling and social work, what are the most pressing issues facing people in those fields today?
I think presently it’s the issue of trauma. Now there’s greater emphasis on looking at trauma and the effect it has on how people flourish. And I’m glad that is so. We’re able to recognize kinds of trauma that would not have been labeled trauma in the past.
Do you think there has been a rise in trauma in recent years, or are we
simply more aware of it?
We have become more aware and more intentional in addressing trauma because we are seeing its long-term effects. I’ve also found refugees are experiencing significant trauma. Undocumented immigrants coming into this country, they also experience trauma. Trauma-focused therapy and things like that I think are very, very essential. But I also think it’s important to look at ways in which policies could be put in place to decrease people’s exposure to trauma.
You believe we should get ahead of the trauma with trauma-informed policy? If there’s a policy that is creating a condition where individuals are more traumatized, we should not just say, “They can get therapy later on.” We want to find structural changes and implement them so that this policy can change. The people that we read about, the people we see on television in different countries with many different belief systems, were also created by God. It wasn’t somebody else who created them. As Christians, we really need to think of the global community and the ways we can impact that community in a positive way.
You have a global focus and, as many know, you grew up in Jamaica. How will this influence the trip you’re leading to Jamaica in May?
Going to Jamaica for me is going to work with individuals who are serving a people group, and we’re coming alongside them to serve. We’re going to do something immediate. But what students will actually take from this experience will live with them as they move into different areas of service, whether it’s local or overseas. I’m really all for it. I love when people have the opportunity to understand and serve other people groups and other cultures.