Research
As a professor, my research explores how mindfulness, trauma, and systems of oppression shape individual and collective wellbeing—especially among youth and frontline practitioners. I use participatory methods to examine how people build resilience, make meaning, and foster healing in community. A central thread in my work is supporting collaborative decision-making that attends to power, identity, and belonging—skills I bring into my coaching and therapy practice to help individuals deepen presence, clarify values, and navigate their lives with greater integrity and care.
Recent Publications
“Being Someone Who Can Buffer the Pains of Life”: Street Outreach Worker Perspectives on Supporting Youths’ Healing from Community Violence
Elsaesser, C., Vasquez Reyes, M., Fairchild, E. et al. “Being Someone Who Can Buffer the Pains of Life”: Street Outreach Worker Perspectives on Supporting Youths’ Healing from Community Violence. Clin Soc Work J (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-024-00958-7
“We can honor more authentic expression in ourselves and others”: A collaborative autoethnography exploring vulnerability in youth participatory action research
Elsaesser, C., Kennedy, H., Chávez, N. R., & Courts, C. L. D. (2025). “We can honor more authentic expression in ourselves and others”: A collaborative autoethnography exploring vulnerability in youth participatory action research. Action Research, 0(0). https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.uconn.edu/10.1177/14767503251338039
Podcast episode and blog post on this article
“My resistance melts away”: The role of mindfulness in supporting participatory researchers' efforts to share power with youth co-researchers
Iacono, G., Elsaesser, C., & Dominique Courts, C. L. (2024). “My resistance melts away”: The role of mindfulness in supporting participatory researchers’ efforts to share power with youth co-researchers. American Journal of Community Psychology, 74(3–4), 236–248. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.12760
My research has inspired my services:
Adolescent & Emerging-Adult Well-Being
Compassionate, developmentally attuned support for teens and young adults navigating anxiety, identity shifts, school stress, and the fast-changing digital world.
Mindfulness-Based Resilience & Stress Reduction
Practical contemplative skills (breath, movement, trauma-sensitive meditation) taught by a dual-certified mindfulness teacher to calm the body, widen awareness, and cultivate steady presence.
Burnout & Secondary Trauma in Helping Professionals
Restorative support for clinicians, teachers, outreach workers, and activists who carry others’ pain—integrating trauma-informed mindfulness and community-engaged practice principles.
Trauma & Community-Violence Recovery
Body-based, trauma-informed care for people impacted by chronic stress, poly-victimization, or neighborhood violence—blending evidence-based treatments with practices that build nervous-system resilience.
Identity, Equity & Critical Consciousness
Anti-oppressive, feminist-informed space to explore race, gender, sexuality, spirituality, and culture—honoring lived experience and fostering empowered action.
Social Media Conflict & Digital Safety
Guidance for youth and families facing online aggression, cyber-bullying, or threats that spill offline, rooted in Dr. Elsaesser’s CDC-funded research on how social media fuels violence and how young people avoid it.
Youth-Adult Partnership & Empowerment
Coaching for caregivers, educators, and youth-serving professionals to build authentic, power-sharing relationships with young people through participatory and relational approaches.