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TRAUMA AND HEALING
TRAUMA AND HEALING
In order to engage in the dialogue that is needed for our community, we need to create safe spaces and have open hearts.
“The most successful of the nations of the world are those who do not fall into the lure of secession but who, through thick and thin, forge unity in diversity.”
– Yemi Osinbajo
STAFF TRAUMA and SELF CARE
Screener for workplace stress
(find out your score)
The value in self-care: Why is it important
When students are traumatized, teachers are too
Childhood Trauma and School Environment
Childhood Trauma and School Environment
There is a tremendous amount of research and information on childhood trauma and healing through school systems.
How Schools Can Help with Healing
The Impact of Trauma on Learning and Behavior
10 Things about Trauma Every Teacher Should Know
How Trauma Impacts Kids in School
Book Corner
Book Corner
Name the Thing in the Place
by Dr. Chelisse Headley, is a guide to creating an anti-racist school community. In the current climate, school leaders are tasked with creating a plan to address race in school. This guide provides one method for confronting racial issues in a way that provides students with a platform to voice the problems within their communities. The guide includes rationale, a plan and scripted questions. Accompanying each page is a space for the reader to reflect on their school’s situation and to consider how this method can be applied within their community. The journey will be difficult and uncomfortable at first, but the resulting solidarity and understanding will make it all worth it. Copies found on Amazon.
What's your Score?
What's your Score?
The CDC-Kaiser ACE Study looked at the prevalence and consequences of childhood trauma. ACE stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences.
Curious about your ACE Score: Take the test here.
PART OF UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA is understanding protective factors. Some of these factors include feeling loved and cared for by parents, the community and school. As a school district we have an opportunity to impact students who have experienced trauma. Although it exists, creating a sense of belonging within our buildings can provide students and families with the support to help cope with these risk factors. Resilience Score.
TRAUMA
TRAUMA
A STAFF MEMBER'S PERSPECTIVE
The American Psychological Association defines a traumatic event as one that threatens injury, death, or the physical integrity of self or others and also causes horror, terror, or helplessness at the time it occurs. Traumatic events include sexual abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence, community and school violence, medical trauma, motor vehicle accidents, acts of terrorism, war experiences, natural and human-made disasters, suicides, and other traumatic losses.
Throughout the day-to-day things that a school counselor encounters, we get the opportunity to interact with students that have dealt with many levels of traumatic events. It is our hope to gain an understanding of where they are emotionally at the present moment. I get to meet with students who are receiving treatment and are aware that they have experienced trauma, but I also work with students that are unaware that
they are experiencing events that affect them negatively every day.
I took it upon myself to ask two very different students, if they knew what trauma was and I received two different responses. One student informed me that they were aware of trauma and that their psychiatrist has diagnosed them with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and went on to inform me of what their triggers are and how it affects them. I then asked another student, if they knew what trauma was and the student informed me that they’ve never experienced trauma, so they really couldn’t tell me much about it. They went on to tell me “trauma is when someone is raped”. What shocked me the most, was that the student who didn’t truly know about trauma is currently being impacted by many aspects of trauma in their everyday life.
The student that stated that they have never experienced trauma, currently has a father that is incarcerated, lives in a shelter with their siblings and takes on the caretaker role, because they do not feel that her mother can take on the role herself.
The reason that I wanted to share this story is because I realized that at this point in our student’s life, specifically middle school students, trauma impacts them differently and that not all students are alike. During the adolescent phase, although some of them may know that they have experienced trauma and are managing it well, some may not be fully aware that they have/are experiencing a trauma. An environment that we may not consider normal, may be considered normal to them at this point in their life. If this is the case, it is important that we as their support team, provide them with a listening ear and allow ourselves to understand where they are emotionally and how we can assist and utilize the resources that we have.
Shanee Sookbirsingh
Your Story Matters...
Your Story Matters...
Contributors: Scott Breidinger, Sarah Casciole, Scott Casterline, Richard Cummings, Preethy Jayant,
Gemella McNally, Elizabeth Moore-Brill, Kristina Perry, Shannee Sookbirsingh, Charlene Symia
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