The Oberle Institute at Saint Louis University will work with patients and their families to foster resilience and maximal recovery grounded in the Catholic, Jesuit tradition of exceptional education and compassionate care.
Traumatically injured patients face two major issues: the injury itself and the trauma that created the injury. The physical, psychological and social consequences of traumatic injuries all play a major role in how a patient adapts during the recovery process.
As with the physical needs of the patient, if the psychological, social, and emotional needs are not addressed, it’s more likely that quality of life will deteriorate and optimal post-traumatic growth will not be achieved.
Resilience is a crucial component of post-traumatic growth that helps thrive when facing adversity. It is largely responsible for the way individuals adapt to extremely adverse circumstances and gain an understanding of both the trauma and its negative psychological impact.
To ensure trauma patients achieve optimal post-traumatic growth, it is important to nurture resilience and prepare individuals for a confident transition that will empower them to thrive during recovery.
Our Services
The Oberle Institute team are available to patients and their families to offer psychosocial and emotional support during acute trauma care at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital (SSM SLUH). Our goal is to keep the miracle of survival moving and help each patient strengthen the resilience inside themselves as they experience the excellent and compassionate care that makes SSM SLUH and the SLUCare Physician Group so unique.
The Oberle Institute team includes a catastrophically injured patient advocate/peer visitor and providers of several complementary therapies, such as music therapy and dog therapy. We also coordinate with leading trauma and wound care experts from the SLUCare Physician Group and an amazing trauma care staff at SSM SLUH.
Oberle Institute Executive Director, Andrew Oberle, is working with the SSM SLUH trauma team to expand and enhance support for survivors of traumatic injuries across the care continuum. Together, we are partnering with the Trauma Survivors Network (a program of the American Trauma Society) and beginning to build these programs, including a peer visiting program, a trauma survivors support group, a family support program, and an online self-management classes.
The Oberle Institute is partnering with the Saint Louis University psychology department and SLUCare department of Family and Community Medicine to launch a grant-funded program that will provide Narrative Exposure Therapy for survivors of gun violence.