A visiting psychology professor from BYU-Idaho met with BYU-Hawaii students on Feb.24, to discuss stress management techniques and effective methods of handling the day-to-day rigors of student life.
Speaking during an academic forum organized by the psychology club on campus, neuropsychologist Dr. Edward W. Kinghorn told students in attendance that "90 percent of us will be involved in some traumatic event" during some point of our lives.
Kinghorn said even stable people are often unprepared for such overwhelming experiences and emphasized the necessity of "educational debriefing" so that individuals undergoing the trauma can realize some of the changes going on with their bodies both psychologically and physically.
Asked by one of the students if the psychologists themselves ever needed to be debriefed, Kinghorn agreed and illustrated with his own personal experience in working with hundreds of 9/11 victims who lost family and friends in the tragedy.
He recounted the time he visited the 9/11 memorial in New York with several of his clients with the determination to remain as the "stoic professional." After personally witnessing the memorial, he said he almost immediately experienced "internal trauma" and all of his emotions poured out.
"I was crying for more than three hours," Kinghorn said. "We have to take care of ourselves too and we can't be stoic."
Asked by another student if it's more appropriate to let an individual show their emotion or help them cease, he responded by saying it depends on the circumstances. He gave the example of a burning building and finding somebody hurled up in the corner crying: "that's a situation when you tell the individual to stop being emotional. Other then that let the emotion out and don't pin it up."
Kinghorn proceeded to explain what happens when each of us when we come to stressful situations and how to manage it.
He related another story of his encounter with a rattlesnake during a hiking trip and described some of the physical and biological changes he went through in that stressful situation.
"First your nervous system acts quickly and your pupils dilate," Kinghorn said. "Your heart beats faster and more blood and oxygen is sent to your muscle which result in the fight or flight response. The stomach develops butterflies and the liver stimulates glucose release. Also the sphincter muscles in the bladder relax and the endocrine glands produce testosterone which can result in some aggressiveness, causing me to either run from the snake or stomp on it."
Kinghorn told the students, "we need to recognize that these things happen to your body every time you go through a stressful situation."
He showed the group some effective breathing techniques to relieve some every day stressful situations.
"Let people know what's happening to them is normal," he added. "Everyone experiences these things to a degree. Educate them on what's happening to their bodies."
"I've learned that its really important to take control of ourselves and our body, we have a lot more control than we think we do," said Amy Boehl, who is presently taking Dr. Kinghorn's stress management class and is the president of the psychology club. "(Dr. Kinghorn) loves what he's doing and it shows with his teaching style. Even though he's only here until the spring he has really taken the time to get involved and get to know his students. He also gets into his lectures and gives fun examples that keep you awake in classes, which is impressive considering the subject matter."
Dr. Kinghorn praised his experience at BYU-Hawaii thus far, explaining, "I have enjoyed it here so much that I don't want to leave."
He is licensed professionally in the states of Idaho and Utah and is full-time faculty at BYU-Idaho in the department of psychology and an adjunct associate research professor at BYU in Provo, Utah. He is currently visiting faculty for BYU-Hawaii for the 2004 winter semester and spring term while Dr. Diane Mahony is on sabbatical writing a book.
Dr. Kinghorn earned his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D in Experimental Psychology (Psychobiology/Neuropsychology) from BYU in Provo, Utah. He and his wife, Lee Anne Ririe have 8 children.