Paradigm Shift:
Becoming A Trauma-Informed School
October 13th, 22nd & November 7th 2014
Asheville City Schools
Buncombe County Schools
Family Preservation Services of NC, Inc
Planning Committee
Asheville City Schools
Buncombe County Schools
Family Preservation Services of NC, Inc.
Mary Margaret Sullivan
Director of Student Services
David Thompson
Director of Student Services
Carson Ojamaa, LCSW
State Clinical Director
Candrice Thul, PhD
School Psychologist
Darla McCain, MD, MA,
NCSP
School Psychologist
Kirsten Smith, LCSW
Clinical Director
Glenda McDowell
Conflict Resolution Coordinator
Kim Robinson, LCSW
School Social Worker
Kidada Wynn, LPC
School Counselor
Kristin Manning, LPC-A
Mental Health Specialist
Jody Montrie, LPC
School Counselor
Meredith Hammond, LCSW-A
School Social Worker
Michelle Butler, MA Ed
School Counselor
PBIS Coordinator
Sarah Vial, LMFT
Supervisor of School-Based Services
Agenda
8:00
8:30
9:30
10:30
11:30
1:00
1:45
2:30
3:30
Welcome, Housekeeping, Survey Results (30 min)
What is Trauma? (1 hr)
ACEs Too High (1 hr)
Wiring & Firing: Trauma Changes the Brain (1 hr)
Lunch (1.5 hr)
Self-Care: A Matter of Professional Ethics (45 min)
What does it mean to be Trauma-Informed? (45 min)
Looking Forward (1 hr)
Adjourn
Purpose of this Presentation
• Develop a common language.
• Develop a common understanding & knowledge base about what Trauma (what
it is, impact, prevalence).
• This is not about “adding more” – instead, it’s about “modifying how we do what
we already do.”
• Today we will talk about the Trauma-Informed “paradigm” we want to develop
together over time. This is just the beginning (marathon, not a race).
• Audience is primarily counselors, social workers, psychologists and nurses. Idea
is to talk about how to “partner with teachers” to shift the paradigm.
• Acknowledge what we are already doing that matches the Trauma-Informed
paradigm (we have many experts in the room).
School Survey Results
• 42 Responses: 62% School Counselors, 14% School Psychologists, 10% School Social
Workers
• 3 Highest Rated Issues Impacting Academic Functioning:
– 21% Peer Relations
– 19% Trauma
– 12% Disenfranchised Parents
• 3 Highest Issues Impacting School Professional’s Ability to Support Difficult-To-Reach
Students:
– 45% Feeling Overwhelmed with Job Responsibilities in General
– 23% Lack of Resources and Tools to Respond to Certain Behaviors
– 10% Lack of Parental Participation
• Additional Barriers Cited:
– Training & Education; Ratio of Students to Support ; Attendance; Inability to see Program
Implementation Through; Amount of Time Available to Support Students; Lack of Support Staff;
Cultural Understanding; Pulled in Too Many Different Directions/Wear Too Many Hats.
What is Trauma?
Video (12:47)
“ReMoved”
Nathanael Matanick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l
OeQUwdAjE0
Good Stress / Bad Stress
Positive Stress
Tolerable Stress
• A normal & necessary aspect of healthy
development.
• Severe enough to disrupt brain
architecture if unchecked.
• Occurs within the context of stable &
supportive relationships
• Buffered by supportive relationships
that facilitate coping.
• Moderate & short-lived
• Time-limited, so the brain has an
opportunity to recover.
• Causes brief increases in heart rate & mild
elevations in hormone levels.
• Helps a child learn how to navigate the
world & build resiliency.
-Alberta Family Wellness Initiative, AAP, Nadine Burke Harris
• Activates the body’s alert system.
• Examples: death of a loved one, serious
illness, frightening injury, divorce,
natural disaster.
Good Stress / Bad Stress
Toxic Stress
• Exposure to strong, frequent, and prolonged adversity.
• In the absence of the buffering protection of supportive relationships.
• Prolonged activation of the body’s stress-response system (fight or flight) which
cause stress hormones to remain elevated for long periods of time.
• Disruption in brain architecture, hormone systems, and the way DNA is read
and transcribed.
• Creates vulnerability and risk. Leads to lifelong problems in learning, behavior,
mental and physical health.
• Examples: physical or emotional abuse, chronic neglect, severe maternal
depression, parental addiction, family or neighborhood violence, chronic
marginalization of culture, racism, the experience of feeling “different.”
-Alberta Family Wellness Initiative, AAP, Nadine Burke Harris
What is Trauma?
• Intense and overwhelming experiences
• Involving a loss, or threat to physical and/or emotional well-being
• May occur at any time during a life span
• May be a single event, or repeated events over time
• Overwhelms the person’s coping resources which result in deficits in the
ability to self-regulate.
• Person may adopt mal-adaptive ways to cope (fight, flight or freeze)
which may serve to self-protect in the short run, but may pose serious
adaptive problems in the long run.
Trauma Challenges Fundamental Assumptions:
• “The world is safe”
• “I am a good and worthy person”
• “I have a future / I will grow up”
• “Conflict can be resolved peacefully”
• “I can depend on others”
-Janoff-Bulman
Trauma & Associated Diagnoses
Internalizing
• Separation Anxiety
• Dysthymia or Depression
• Chronic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD)
Externalizing
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD)
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder
(ODD)
• Conduct Disorder
• Suicide Attempts
• Substance Abuse
Activity: Partnering with Teachers to Understand Trauma
Background Information:
Juan lives in substandard housing (holes in the floor and no working front door) with
his 6 siblings and Aunt and Uncle. He is able to speak English but not well. His
parents speak no English and work in jobs off the grid. He lives in constant fear of the
neighbors and of his parents being deported. The student has no ability to advocate
for himself and can not trust anyone.
Teacher says:
“Juan is lazy and has no motivation. He is just coming to school in order to be in the
system to stay in this country. He is not here to graduate. He doesn’t care about
doing well, he won’t participate in class, he doesn’t want to make any friends, and he
has terrible hygiene issues. I don’t know how to reach his parents and I don’t even
think they speak English. He’s not disruptive so that’s good, but I am out of ways to
teach him. He won’t even make eye contact with me. What can I do with him? He is
messing with my numbers…I am so frustrated.”
TIC Tip: Yoga (Chair Poses)
• Easy yoga chair poses can assist people in calming down from a stressful state, or to prevent a stressful
state. Advise people to never push the body to a point that causes pain. The posture benefits are
available to any level of flexibility. Advise attention to breath while doing poses.
• Examples:
– Forward Bend (eases tension in upper back and neck). Let your head and arms hang over your keens.
Relax into this position, hold a few seconds, keep breathing. Slowly rise back to upright position.
– Spinal Twist (increases circulation and flexibility in the spine). Sit facing forward. Place your left hand
on the outside of your right knee. Place your right arm over the back of the chair. Breath in and out as
you twist to the right. Turn your head as well. Push against your right knee. Breathe normally and
hold position. Release slowly and come back to facing forward. Repeat on opposite side.
– Side Stretch (increases flexibility in the spinal column, improves respiration). Sit facing forward with
feet slightly apart, breathe in, and raise your arms out to the sides. Breathe out and bend to the left,
reaching toward the floor with your left hand and your right hand pointing toward the ceiling.
Breathe in come back to starting position. Repeat with your right side.
ACEs Too High
Video (12:51)
“Healing Neen”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUJPJ4eW8kQ
http://healingneen.com/
The ACE Study
• 1995-1997 Adverse Childhood Experiences [ACE] Study
• Center for Disease Control & Prevention [CDC] & Kaiser Permanente
• 17,337 participants
• Standardized Physical Exam
• Surveys on Childhood Maltreatment, Family Dysfunction, Behaviors & Health
Status
• Assessed the relationship between ACEs , Health-Care Use& Causes of Death
• ACEs cause increased inflammation in the blood in adult-hood; long-term
changes in levels of stress hormones such as cortisol.
• ACEs increases likelihood of obesity, stroke, cancer, asthma, diabetes,
hepatitis, depression, heart disease, and death.
Mini-version of The ACE Study Questionnaire
1.
Did a parent or other adult in household
swear, insult, put you down, humiliate you,
make you fear being physically assaulted?
6.
Parents ever separated or divorced?
7.
Was mother or stepmother pushed,
grabbed, slapped, had something thrown at
her? Kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, hit with
something hard?
2.
Push, grab, or throw something at you, hit so
hard you had marks or injuries?
3.
Touch of fondle you in a sexual way; attempt
to have oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse?
8.
Live with a problem drinker or alcoholic, or
one who used street drugs?
4.
Feel no one in family loved your or though
you special? Family didn’t look out for each
other, feel close or support each other?
9.
A household member was depressed or
mentally ill, or attempt suicide?
5.
Didn’t have enough to eat, wear dirty clothes,
had no one to protect you? Parents too drunk
or high to take care of your, or to doctor?
10. A household member went to prison?
-Rob Anda, MD, MS, Co-Principle Investigator
The ACE Pyramid
• “If risk factors for disease,
disability, and early mortality
are NOT randomly
distributed, what influences
precede the adoption or
development of them?”
• 36% reported zero ACEs
• 64% reported at least one ACE
• 22% reported three or more
• As # of ACEs increase, the risk
for major health problems
increases exponentially
Childhood Trauma and the “Achievement Gap”
• The rates of Childhood Trauma vary widely by zip code and school, yet
this crucial, broad, and deep variable is ignored when serving students and
especially when measuring and analyzing student results.
• Childhood trauma may be a significant explanatory variable of the
“achievement gap”, given the skewing of ACEs to urban settings, which
can sometimes skew to children of color.
• Following reformer’s prescriptions is like setting up a new baseball league,
using all new fields with all new uniforms, and brand new equipment,
while 6 to 12 players (25-50% of your team) are all dealing with 4+ serious
injuries: shoulder, hamstring, groin AND knee…and then the heavily
injured team is told to get out on the field and play. Is there any question
what the outcome will be ?
ACEs Too High
• Alcoholism
• Risk for intimate partner violence
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary
Disease (COPD)
• Multiple sexual partners
• Depression
• Fetal Death
• Health-related quality of life
• Illicit drug use
• Heart Disease
• Liver Disease
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
• Smoking
• Suicide Attempts
• Unintended Pregnancies
• Early Initiation of Smoking
• Early Initiation of Sexual Activity
• Adolescent Pregnancy
Relationships w/ Caring Adults r the Best ACE Buffers
• Even in an unsafe home or community, where stress is frequent and
unpredictable, a caring adult is the best shield against the effects of toxic stress.
• The quality of a caregiver’s interaction with a child is the KEY building block for
healthy emotional, social and physical development.
• Best ways to promote healthy development: frequent & intermittent positive
interactions (talking, laughing, reading, listening to music, playing one-on-one).
• 5:1 (for every negative, a person needs to hear 5 positives). Connect & Redirect!
• Cultural Mistakes about Trauma: assuming everyone who has experienced
violence needs professional help; focusing on the most extreme instances of
violence as most damaging; assuming violence is unusual, an aberration, or
perpetrated by individuals; assuming that people always (or never) want to tell
their stories and that if people want help they will ask for it.
• -Bruce Perry (Child Trauma Academy); John Gottmam; & Adolescent Health Working Group 2013
Activity: Partnering with Teachers in Understanding ACEs
Table Discussion Questions:
1. What about the ACE Questionnaire stands out to you?
2. What is missing from the ACE Questionnaire?
3. Does the ACE Study have an impact on how you would explain trauma
to others?
TIC Tip: Behavior Wheel
• The behavior wheel should be used when a person is in a state of calm.
• Draw a big circle in the middle of the paper. Draw 6 smaller circles around the
larger circle with one line connecting the center circle to each small circle.
• In the center circle, write down a behavior (e.g. arguing with a teacher,
avoiding playing with friends, etc).
• In the outer circles, ask the person to identify all the reasons or needs behind
the behavior (e.g. I want to be heard; I don’t want to be bullied).
Wiring & Firing:
Impact of Trauma on the Brain
Video (10:46)
Brain Power:
Neurons to Networks
Tiffany Shlain & The Moxie Institute
Films
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLpedwiGUU
Upstairs Brain
Downstairs Brain
Cognition (Abstract & Reflective)
Cognition (Concrete)
Affiliation
Attachment & Reward
Sexual Behavior
Emotional Reactivity
Motor Regulation
Arousal
Appetite/Satiety
Sleep
Blood Pressure
Heart Rate
Body Temperature
-Dr. Bruce Perry (Child Trauma Academy)
Flip the Lid (Hand Model of the Brain)
Make a Fist with your thumb tucked inside your fingers. This is a
model of your brain.
Thumb = Midbrain (Stem & Limbic) = Emotional Brain. This is
where emotions and memories are processed. This is where the
fight, flight & freeze is triggered.
Fingers = Cerebral Cortex = Rational Brain. Houses our ability to
think and reason.
Fingernails = Prefrontal Cortex = Problem-Solving
When something triggers us, we are prone to “Flip our Lid” which
means the Prefrontal Cortex (Fingernails) have a very poor
connection with the Midbrain (Thumb), and we’re not able to access
the logical, problem-solving part of our brain. Our emotions are
overriding our ability to think clearly.
-Dr. Dan Siegal
Fight, Flight, or Freeze?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Uncharacteristic crying
Poor grades
Threats
Confusion
Neediness
Truancy
Breaking rules
Drinking alcohol, doing drugs.
Shutting down
Unable to articulate thoughts/feelings
Clinging
Far-fetched explanations or excuses
Distracted
Abrupt change in friendships
Physical aggression
Isolating
Brain Healing Happens Through Relationships
• Neuroplasticity = The brain is PLASTIC (we can retrain the wiring and firing of the brain).
• We work with folks with disorganized brains. In typical child development, the upstairs brain
matures over time, and kids become better at regulating impulsivity and solving problems.
• If a child is exposed to toxic stress or trauma, the upstairs of the brain is pruned, while the
downstairs of the brain is strengthened. This means a child cannot easily self-regulate.
• The primary and most powerful mechanism to get content to the cortex (upstairs of brain) is
through RELATIONSHIP.
• Patterned, repetitive experiences rewire the brain. RHYTHM is the key to regulation of the
stress‐response system and this begins in the womb.
• Relationships are rhythmic by nature (engage, disengage, engage, disengage). This is why
positive human interactions, with various people, in tiny doses, repeatedly over time, and by
choice of the person, cause the rewiring of the brain – increasing the brain’s ability to better
manage the stress response.
• Cultural Mistakes about Trauma: assuming one person’s story is “typical” for a group of
people; inadvertently highlighting stories of people that fit cultural stereotypes; relying only on
DSM diagnosis or lists of trauma “symptoms”
Activity: Partnering with Teachers in understanding the Brain
1. Take turns practicing explaining the brain by using the hand model.
2. Make a list of “discussion points” you would use when explaining the
impact of trauma on the brain.
3. Table discussion questions:
a) If a child is dysregulated, is he or she able to respond well to directions? Why?
b) How could a student (who is dysregulated) self-regulate with minimal teacher
prompt?
TIC Tip: Brain Gym
• “Hyperarousal” is when a person is in fight or flight mode, showing emotional reactivity or
hypervigilance.
• “Hypoarousal” is when a person goes into a frozen or numbing state or dissociates.
• Brain gym exercises can assist a person in reaching the optimal arousal zone (somewhere between hyper
and hypo).
• Use a SUDs scale (or a thermometer) to rate level of distress before and after the exercises.
• There are numerous websites with simple brain gym exercises! Here are few examples:
– Right hand shakes the thumb of the left hand
– Rub back of the head behind the eyes
– Make a figure 8 pattern with the right thumb and left thumb, follow with eyes.
Self-Care:
A Matter of Professional Ethics
Video (4:24)
Paradigm Shift
Jenneylou
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlR
K1vqcuvg
“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive
element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that
creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the
weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to
make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of
torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or
humor, hurt or heal. In all, situations, it is my response that
decides whether a crisis will be escalated or deescalated
and a child humanized or dehumanized.”
-Haim Ginott (1922–1973, teacher and child psychologist)
-The Heart of Learning & Teaching
Our Ethical Obligations
We who care for others must make sure we get the care we need. We do this by:
• Acknowledging the effects of compassion fatigue in ourselves and others, and
that quality learning and teaching is dependent on acting on that
acknowledgment.
• Making sure that we do not “go it alone” but instead seek out and create
arrangements by which we have regular and open input from other
professionals.
• Recognizing and acting on the ethical duty to provide ourselves with regular
self-care.
-The Heart of Learning and Teaching
Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL)
• A free self-score measure at www.proqol.org
• When you help students, you have direct contact with their lives. Your
compassion for students can affect you in positive and negative ways.
• Knowing your scores of Compassion Satisfaction vs Compassion Fatigue are
important for Self-Awareness and developing your Self-Care Plan.
• Questionnaire provides person scores for:
Compassion Satisfaction
Burnout
Secondary Traumatic Stress
Self-Care Plans & Strategies
• Self-Care is a collection of activities and strategies to prevent or alleviate
Compassion Fatigue (Burnout &/or Secondary Traumatic Stress).
• Pick what works for you from thousands of resources available. Must adapt to
your own situation and preferences.
• Use the ProQOL to establish your baseline, and then re-score every 3 months.
• Checklist and Journal/Diary Strategy (Heart of Learning & Teaching)
– Physical Fitness, Nutrition & Hydration, Sleep & Rest, Assertiveness Skills,
Centering & Solitude, Creative Activities, Fun & Enjoyment, Support Provided,
Support Received, Set and Monitored Goals
• CAPPD Cards (Multiplying Connections)
• Self-Care Starter Kit (University at Buffalo School of Social Work)
Example of a Self-Care Monitoring Journal
Self-Care Goal
-The Heart of Learning & Teaching
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thur
Fri
Sat
Sun
Mean
Grade
Eat nutritional meals &
drink water
3
3
4
2
3
4
4
3.71
A
Be assertive with
students and colleagues
about my boundaries
0
1
0
1
2
0
1
.71
D-
Get a good night’s sleep
3
3
2
2
2
3
4
2.71
C+
Do something fun
1
1
1
1
3
4
4
2.28
C
Time with (include
phone calls/e-mails)
friends and family
3
3
4
3
4
4
3
3.43
B+
Self-Care Starter Kit
-University of Buffalo School of Social Work
• The feeling of depletion leads to dysfunction and the
worker becomes increasingly ‘inoperative.’
• Steps to Self-Care
• Exercise 3 days a week (increases happiness &
productivity)
• Read (boosts creativity and activates sensory areas of the
brain)
• Laugh 300 times per day (strengthens immune system,
boosts energy, diminishes pain)
• Eat Well (Omega 3s improve learning and memory)
• Meditate (reduces anxiety & other medical symptoms)
• Greenspace (maintains healthy cortisol levels)
• Time Off (better sleep, decreased stress, better mood)
• Sleep (restores cognitive functions)
CAPPD Cards
• www.multiplyingconnections.org
• $.75 per card
• Size and feel of a credit card
• For everyone (school staff,
providers, parents, kids)
• See website for intervention
guide that accompanies this
• Reminds us to “stay CAPPD”
• Backside of card includes a
space for person to write 5
activities to choose when
feeling overwhelmed to avoid
unsafe behavior.
Activity: Self-Care Practices
Round Robin:
1. Name 1 thing you do to take care of yourself.
2. Name 1 thing school professionals could do during the school day for selfcare.
TIC Tip: Power of Poetry (Dimante Poems)
Line 1 & 7
Line 2 & 6
Line 3 & 5
Line 4
Name the opposites
Describe the opposite subjects
List action words about each opposite
First half lists nouns related to first subject, the second
half lists nouns related to the second.
Hopeless
Isolated, Afraid
Rejecting, Hurting, Neglect
Abuse, Trauma, Awareness, Healing
Befriending, Supporting, Relating
Confidence, Possibility
Hope
What does it mean to be
Trauma-Informed?
National Council’s 7 Domains
1. Early Screening & Comprehensive Assessment of
Trauma
2. Consumer Driven Care
3. Trauma-Informed, Educated and Responsive Workforce
4. Evidenced-Based or Evidence-Informed Practices
5. Safe and Secure Environments
6. Community Outreach and Partnership Building
7. Ongoing Performance Improvement and Evaluation
Teaching & Discipline Principles of “Compassionate Schools”
1. Always empower. Never disempower.
2. Provide unconditional positive regard.
3. Maintain high expectations.
4. Check assumptions. Observe. Question.
5. Be a relationship coach.
6. Provide guided opportunities for
helpful participation.
National Child Traumatic Stress Network:
Facts for Educators
• One out of every 4 children attending school has been exposed to a traumatic
event that can affect learning and/or behavior.
• Trauma Can Impact School Performance (GPA, truancy, suspension, reading
levels)
• Trauma Can Impair Learning (attention, memory, cognition, focus, problemsolving)
• Traumatized Children May Experience Physical & Emotional Distress
(headaches, stomachaches, emotion dysregulation, intense reactions to triggers,
impulsive behavior, outbursts, etc)
Physical Environment
What Hurts?
Congested, noisy& loud
Too hot or too cold, stuffy
Harsh lighting (fluorescents)
Confusing or punitive signage
Uncomfortable or ratty furniture
Cold & non-inviting colors &
paintings or posters on the wall
Other examples?
What Helps?
Comfortable, calming & offers
privacy
Soft light and air flow
Furniture is clean & comfortable
Makes everyone feel welcome
Posters & pictures are pleasant &
convey a hopeful & positive
message
Other examples?
Policies & Procedures
What Hurts?
Rules that always seem to be
broken, are inconsistent from
teacher to teacher, or
inconsistent consequences.
Discipline every child the same
way.
Engage in power struggles
Focusing on the needs of the
whole verses the individual.
Restrain, Suspend, Expel
Having too many hoops to
jump through before support
can be provided.
Language and cultural barriers.
What Helps?
Sensible and fair rules that are clearly explained and
consistent across teachers (focusing more on what one
CAN do verses CAN’T do) and consistent for all students.
Understand trauma-induced behavior; emphasize
routines & rules; help child reflect on reason for
problematic behavior
Engage child while reinforcing message that school is a
non-violent place
Intervene before behavior spirals out of control using
positive behavioral supports and behavioral intervention
plans.
Provide materials and communicate using the person’s
language.
Continuously seek feedback (from students and teachers)
about one’s experience.
Relationships & Interactions
What Hurts?
Humiliating
Harsh
Impersonal
Disrespectful
Critical
Demanding
Judgmental
What Helps?
Kindness
Patience
Reassurance
Calm
Acceptance
Listening
Frequent use of words like
PLEASE & THANK YOU
Attitudes & Beliefs
What Hurts?
Wondering “what is wrong with
him/her?”
Regarding the person’s difficulties as
symptoms of a mental health,
substance use, or medical problem.
Believing there is “intent” to be
“bad” behind problem behaviors.
What Helps?
Wondering “what has he or she
been through?”
Recognizing that symptoms may
be a persons way of coping with
a trauma or an adaptation.
Understanding that behaviors
are “elicited.”
Punishment vs. Restorative Practices
“People are happier, more cooperative and productive, and more likely to make positive
changes when those in positions of authority do things WITH them, rather than TO them.”
What Hurts?
Enforcing obedience.
Asserting power and control.
A consequence that teaches nothing,
or cannot be directly tied to the
offense.
Removing (exiting) youth.
Not investing time and energy into
youth who misbehave.
-Adolescent Health Working Group 2013
What Helps?
Intentionally teach, change, or
shape behavior.
Logical consequences that are
clearly connected to behavior.
Consequences given with empathy
and respectful tone.
Consequences are reasonable in
relation to the behavior.
Investing time to help youth
identify other ways to cope.
TIC Tip: TIC Consequences
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Take into account trauma triggers & past traumatic experiences.
Attempt to retain youth in the classroom, in spite of problematic behavior.
Consider the function of problematic behavior.
Help youth identify more effective strategies for getting needs met.
Shape youth’s behavior by assisting them to recognize the impact of their
actions on themselves and their community.
Build youth’s capacity to manage strong emotions.
Build youth’s confidence in what they are able to accomplish.
Invest energy, creativity and resources up front to support long-term
results.
Take the long view and understand that behavior change is slow and
incremental.
Activity: Partnering with Teachers about Restorative Practices
1. Why does it seem like some youth are asking to be suspended or expelled by
repeatedly breaking the rules even when they know the consequences?
2. If we don’t punish/expel youth when they break the rules, aren’t we enabling
them?
-Adolescent Health Working Group 2013
Video (5:28)
A Football Game Gives Hope
-bravesgo
Gainesville State School and
Grapevine Faith
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52
AOPQvCTv4&NR=1
Looking Forward
What are some strategies that you can use as a group (of social workers,
counselors, school psychologists, and school nurses) to promote this paradigm
shift within your school?
What are some immediate things you can do as an individual?
School TIC Tips,
Interventions & Resources
TIC Tip
Preventing Re-Traumatization in Schools
1. Train adults to offer supportive relationships.
2. Train adults to provide safety.
3. Train adults to encourage autonomy.
4. Train adults to promote self-regulation.
5. Create a resource bank for adults.
6. Help them to understand that trauma-causing events often re-occur, so prepare!
7. Help them to recognize that events don’t have to be extreme to be traumatic.
8. Train them to offer support across time.
9. Teach them to appreciate the human capacity for RESILIENCE….
-Graves & Boul, 2012
TIC Tip
Monday Mornings, Daily Schedules, Class Meetings
1. Over the weekend, many students are immersed in traumatic events and
unhealthy relationships. Schedules are chaotic, sleep unpredictable, food
choices limited, relationships insecure, emotional and physical harm is
present.
2. Providing structure and predictability on Monday morning is key. Take the
time to outline the day. Post a schedule on the board.
3. Hold a brief class meeting: seat kids in a circle; review rules and agreements
about safety; invite kids to share about their weekend (by choice, don’t call
on anyone); teachers model appropriate ways to connect .
4. Before getting into the lesson, make sure this time is routinely held to
address the needs for safety, connection, and assurance of well-being.
-The Heart of Learning and Teaching
TIC Tip
Building a Nonacademic Relationship with Students
1. One of the most effective ways to help a traumatized child learn.
2. When a child feels appreciated and care for by a teacher, a sense of safety
grows, and child becomes more open to learning.
3. Examples:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Demonstrate warmth and express joy in accomplishments.
Give the student special jobs that will increase feelings of competence
Spend occasional lunch time with the student
Become a central “safe figure” and be the “go-to” consult when a crisis occurs
Support participation in extracurricular activities (research shows activities such
as theater, yoga, and martial arts are important tools to help kids self-regulate).
-Helping Traumatized Children Learn
TIC Tip
Fancy Fridays
1. For early elementary-aged students. Teacher and select group have
lunch. Room set up like a restaurant (table cloth, napkins, silverware).
2. Teachers model appropriate behavior and conversation.
3. Kids rotate. No exclusions.
-The Heart of Learning and Teaching
TIC Tip
Photo Scrapbooks
1. Have classroom photos taken of teachers and individual students
working together over time.
2. These can be dated and stored in a scrapbook.
3. Later, teachers can use this book to help students review the history of
their relationship with the teacher and others.
4. Teachers can help students notice how they were able to reconnect
despite disagreements and misunderstandings.
-The Heart of Teaching and Learning
TIC Tip
Transition & Safety Plans
Once feeling safe in one activity, a transition to something new involves risk. The change
becomes the trigger.
– Routinely play a recording of a 4 minute piano sonata between activities
– As the music comes on, announce that we are getting ready to move from Math Land to
Reading Land.
– Ask that sometime between now and when the music stops, to please take out reading
books.
A written safety plan enables teachers and students to avoid or remove stimuli that lead to
inappropriate behavior.
– Identify with the student what it looks like when he or she appears to be triggered.
– Ask the student what would be helpful to him or her when triggered.
– Select 2-3 things the student can do when triggered (use a special pass to visit the counselor,
go to the calm zone, take a walk)
-The Heart of Teaching and Learning
TIC Tip
Calm Zones & Peace Corners
1. A place where a student can voluntarily move to when they feel
themselves getting out of control.
2. Separate from any “time out” areas.
3. Students can choose to go without penalty.
4. Available to any student.
5. Big pillows, headphones, calming posters and colors, pop up tent,
canopy hanging from ceiling, cognitive games.
-The Heart of Learning and Teaching
TIC Tip
Use Analogies to Describe Emotions and Triggers
1. Metaphor and analogy are strong tools to teach any language.
2. When talking to students about triggers, teachers can draw analogies to alarm systems.
3. Have you ever lived somewhere where the smoke alarm goes off too easily? Like with a
piece of toast? There was only a little bit of smoke, but the alarm went off anyway.
4. Then there are false alarms. There was no smoke, but the alarm system went off anyway.
5. The alarm system in our brains sometimes goes off too easily. We see, hear, or feel
something that reminds us of bad things that used to happen. We get ready to run or fight.
Our body makes fuel we don’t need. This would be helpful if there was a real danger, but
what if there isn’t one?
6. If we know what sets the alarms off, we can help ourselves learn not to gear up to run or
fight.
-The Heart of Teaching and Learning
TIC Tip
Identifying & Dealing w/ Triggers
1. What was the function of the student’s behavior? Defiance? Or coping with a
perceived danger?
2. Acknowledge and respect boundaries. You don’t need to know all the
details.
3. Triggers can be external, internal or a combo. The student response is
reflexive not reflective.
4. Provide choices: remove the stimulus, help the student remove the stimulus,
help the student respond to the stimulus differently.
5. These strategies are useful for all students.
-The Heart of Learning and Teaching
TIC Tip
Minimize Triggers When Setting Limits
1. Name the rationale for the limit (“Throwing pens can hurt people”).
2. Link the consequence to the behavior, not the person (“I care about you. I
don’t think you wanted to hurt anyone. But throwing is not ok.”)
3. Name the boundaries of the limit (“You have a 5 minute time out, or, I’m
going to hold your pen until after lunch.”)
4. Move on. The limit has been set. Consequence given. (“After your time out,
you may look at your book or clean your desk).
5. Make adaptions. If the child has been punished in the past by being
isolated, have the student sit in a nearby chair. Don’t take them to another
room.
-The Heart of Learning and Teaching
TIC Tip
Mandalas
A mandala can be used to distract
oneself away from an emotional state
through focusing attention. If a student
appears to be dysregulated, offering a
mandala and some markers or crayons
could assist him or her in self-regulation.
Google “mandala” for numerous
websites with free mandala downloads.
TIC Tip
Breathing & Guided Imagery Exercises
Breathing exercises seem simple, but can be one of the most beneficial ways to
meditate. Use these exercises to assist the person in de-escalating, or to prevent
escalation. Use the following script to guide someone through mindful breathing:
“Sit quietly, close your eyes and turn your attention to your breathing. Become
aware of each exhale and each inhale. Notice how the air feels as it enters your
nostrils, fills your lungs, and leaves again. Fill your lungs slowly bottom to top,
inhaling as though every cell in your body is breathing. Inhale until you feel you can
inhale no more. Then exhale slowly.
If your attention wanders, bring it back gently to your breath. If what draws your
attention is insistent, store it in a memory box and promise yourself you’ll think
about it later. Gently return your attention to your breath. Imagine as you inhale
that your breath travels directly to any areas of discomfort. Imagine the breath
coming in is a particular color, and watch it travel throughout your body as you
inhale, and watch it leave your body as you exhale.
TIC Tip
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
1. Use a feelings thermometer before and after to see if there are changes.
2. Progressive Muscle Relaxation helps us learn to relax our body.
3. Physical relaxation can result in emotional calm.
4. Place feet flat on the floor, arms and legs not crossed, close eyes (if safe)
5. Isolate one muscle group at a time, count from 1-10. Feet, Feet and Legs, Hands, Hands
and Arms, Abdomen, Chest, Neck and Shoulders, Face.
6. When finished, have students relax for a few seconds. Encourage those with shut eyes
to open them after a count of ten.
-The Heart of Teaching and Learning
TIC Tip
Calming Mind & Body (Games for Young Children)
1.
Stuffed Animal Breathing: Children lie on floor with a small stuffed animal on their or his
stomach. Teach the student to get the animal to rise and fall with each breath.
2.
Robot/Rag Doll: Children walk stiffly like a robot, then melt like a rag doll.
3.
Spaghetti: Children move arms or legs like uncooked spaghetti, then like cooked spaghetti.
4.
Bridges: Children raise and lower arms as in the game London Bridges breathing in as arms go up,
and out as arms go down.
5.
Giraffe/Turtle: Children pretend to be giraffes reaching for leaves on the highest branch of a tree,
then pretend they are turtles pulling their arms, legs and heads into their shells.
6.
Caterpillar/Butterfly: Children move like a caterpillar still in the cocoon, then spread their wings to
fly.
7.
Doorway stretch: Then push with both arms against a doorframe. Hold for a count of ten. Then
release. Notice the difference between how muscles feel during pushing and releasing.
-The Heart of Teaching and Learning
TIC Tip
Teaching Affect Modulation
1. We can think of feelings triggered by stimuli as if they could be controlled by a volume
switch.
2. When triggered, sound comes on. If the music is to loud, we will want to turn it down. We
control the volume by moving the switch.
3. Help kids understand that the switch can be clicked up and down.
4. Help kids build an understanding of degrees of feelings. Draw a volume control knob with
numbers 1-10.
-The Heart of Teaching and Learning
TIC Tip
Body Scan Exercise
• This exercise can be used during a state of calm, or when someone has become
escalated. If both are completed, the results can be compared and contrasted.
• Provide a handout with an outline of the human body. Older children can use a
pencil to circle areas of the body, and then write descriptions of the sensations
experienced. The emotional state (happy, angry, sad, etc) will result in changes
in body sensations. Younger children can use crayons or markers, using
particular colors to show where certain sensations are felt in the body.
TIC Tip
“Just Worrying Skill”
• Explain the difference between “worrying” and “problem-solving.” Worrying involves
repetitive circular thinking which is associated with anxiety and produces no practical
solutions.
• This technique simply involves a person labelling worry as “just worrying” and then
bringing their attention back to the breath, or to change the subject of their thinking.
• Ask the person to visualize their thoughts as clouds in the sky. Ask the person to notice
the “just worrying” clouds, and watch them float into the mind, across the horizon and
then out of the mind.
• This technique involves no criticism or internal struggle, just simple non-judgmental
labelling. Therefore, it is important that the person does not change the label from “just
worrying” to “don’t worry.”
• The same technique can be used for “just doubting,” “just criticizing,” etc.
TIC Tip
Behavior Wheel
• The behavior wheel should be used when a person is in a state of calm.
• Draw a big circle in the middle of the paper. Draw 6 smaller circles around the
larger circle with one line connecting the center circle to each small circle.
• In the center circle, write down a behavior (e.g. arguing with a teacher,
avoiding playing with friends, etc).
• In the outer circles, ask the person to identify all the reasons or needs behind
the behavior (e.g. I want to be heard; I don’t want to be bullied).
TIC Tip
Cognitive Triangles
• This exercise should be used when a person is in a state of calm.
• Draw one big triangle. Divide into 3 smaller triangles.
• In the top triangle, right down a typical thought (e.g. I hate science class; I’m going to fail).
• In the next triangle, right down the emotion experienced when having that thought (e.g.
anger, fear).
• In the last triangle, right down the behavior associated with the thought and emotion (e.g.
won’t participate in class, will fail the test).
• Then, turn the thought triangle into a positive thought (e.g. Science class is tough, but I do
get to be with my friends at school and my teacher is ok; All I can do is try my best on the
test). Then continue the same exercise to write down the associated emotion and behavior.
TIC Tip
The Incredible 5 Point Scale
• Students rate stress on a 1-5 point scale using pictures, and/or words
• As an introduction, students can cut out pictures from a magazine to put on
their scale.
• The child can then use these pictures to help them articulate feeling words and
techniques for “I can try.”
• This can be laminated and put in the student’s desk or a folder.
• This scale can be used for more than stress, feelings, participation, etc.
• A LARGE stress meter placed somewhere in the classroom can be sued for a
variety of lessons and is a good reminder for students.
-The Incredible 5 Point Scale (Buron and Curtis)
TIC Tip
Giraffe Talk (Non-Violent Assertiveness Training)
When I observe………………………….(non judgmental, use ‘I’ statements)
I feel................…..(no blaming, just name the feelings stirred up within you)
Because I imagine…….(what I think the other person may think or believe)
I want (or would you be willing to)…....(request a concrete, specific action)
-The Heart of Learning & Teaching
TIC Tip
Power of Poetry (Cinquains)
Line 1 One-word title
Line 2 Two-word description of topic
Line 3 Three words expressing action
Line 4 Four words showing feeling for a topic
Line 5 One-word synonym, restating the essence of topic
Trauma,
Debilitating Pain
Erupting from Within
Powerless, Frustrated, Self-Defeating,
Hopeless
Entrapment
TIC Tip
Power of Poetry (Dimante Poems)
Line 1 & 7
Line 2 & 6
Line 3 & 5
Line 4
Name the opposites
Describe the opposite subjects
List action words about each opposite
First half lists nouns related to first subject, the second
half lists nouns related to the second.
Hopeless
Isolated, Afraid
Rejecting, Hurting, Neglect
Abuse, Trauma, Awareness, Healing
Befriending, Supporting, Relating
Confidence, Possibility
Hope
Acknowledgments & Resources
“Removed” by Nathanael Matanick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOeQUwdAjE0
“Healing Neen” by Tonier Cain http://healingneen.com/
“Brain Power: Neurons to Networks” Tiffany Shlain & Moxie Institute Films
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLp-edwiGUU
“Paradigm Shift” by Jenneylou
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlRK1vqcuvg
Acknowledgments & Resources
ACEs Too High: http://acestoohigh.com/
The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study: http://acestudy.org/home
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
http://www.cdc.gov/ace/index.htm
Acknowledgments & Resources
Dr. Bruce Perry and the Child Trauma Academy: http://childtrauma.org/
Dr. Daniel Siegel Presents Hand Model of the Brain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD-lfP1FBFkProQOL
Alberta Family Wellness Initiative http://www.albertafamilywellness.org/
Nadine Burke Harris http://www.nadineburkeharris.com/
Acknowledgments & Resources
Trauma & Resilience: An Adolescent Provider Toolkit from the Adolescent
Health Working Group
http://www.ahwg.net/uploads/3/2/5/9/3259766/traumaresbookletweb.pdf
University of Buffalo School of Social Work’s Self-Care Starter Kit.
http://socialwork.buffalo.edu/resources/self-care-starter-kit/how-toflourish-in-social-work.html
Professional Quality of Life Scale. www. www.proqol.org
Multiplying Connections http://multiplyingconnections.org/becometrauma-informed/cappd-cards
Acknowledgments & Resources
National Child Traumatic Stress Network – Learning Center:
http://learn.nctsn.org/
The National Council for Behavioral Health:
https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/
Compassionate Schools:
http://www.k12.wa.us/CompassionateSchools/Resources.aspx
The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University:
http://developingchild.harvard.edu/
Preventing Re-Traumatization in Schools (Graves & Boul, 2012)