Trauma-Informed Support Within School-Connect

Trauma-informed care is good practice for all students—not just those who have experienced significant trauma or adversity. All students benefit from a caring, supportive trauma-sensitive learning environment. But for students who have experienced trauma or live with ongoing toxic stress, trauma-informed care is imperative for learning and healing.

To create a learning environment that is calm, predictable, supportive, empathetic, and safe, it is essential to understand the neurological impacts of trauma and toxic stress. The hyper-vigilance that often accompanies PTSD symptoms can make crowded, loud, or unpredictable environments especially triggering.

CLICK for S-C Guide to Trauma Informed Supports to read more

School-Connect Lessons Through a Trauma-Informed Lens

Trauma-informed strategies are built into most of the format and lesson content of School-Connect 4.0 and EQ @ Home or School. The S-C skills embedded in the lessons most essential and transferrable to trauma-informed care are:

Lesson 1.4: Understanding Your Brain—Keep in mind that when students are emotionally charged (anger, stress, fear, anxiety), they are not thinking clearly. Their limbic system (the brain’s emotional center) has hijacked their prefrontal cortex (the brain’s rational center). They need time to cool down and regulate before being ready to problem-solve, apologize, or take responsibility.
Lesson 1.7: Checking In with Ourselves and Others—Continue to use class check-in times to build relationships and help students connect with you, each other, and their emotions. Check the “Get Connected” lesson boosters for ongoing check-in options.
Lesson 2.4: Using Active Listening—Use “EARS Active Listening” to patiently listen, reflect on students’ feelings, and paraphrase what you hear.
Lesson 2.6: Communicating with the Adults—The N.I.C.E.R (Notice, Initiate, Connect, EARS active listen, and Re-connect) steps are good reminders for adults as we look for opportunities to connect with students.

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Lesson 4.1: Preparing for Group Projects—Realize any group (including classrooms) goes through stages of forming, storming, norming, and performing. Getting past the storming stage can be difficult if you don’t spend time on group norms for treating each other kindly early in the forming stage. This process can be especially stressful for students who have experience trauma and/or upheaval.
Lesson 5.2: Working Toward Empathy—Try to put yourself in your student's shoes and mind. Why are they acting out or withdrawing? What unmet needs are they trying to satisfy?
Lesson 5.3: Checking for Blind Spots—Even with the best intentions to empathize with students, research shows we are unconsciously more likely to empathize with people or experiences with which we are more familiar. If students have a different perspective than your own, it will take more purposeful effort to put yourself in their shoes.
Lesson 6.3: Monitoring and Managing Emotions—Try to help students manage strong emotions. Guide them to #1 Time out (time alone until they have cooled down), and then “talk it out,” “walk it out,” or do whichever stress management strategy works best for them.
Lesson 6.1: Developing Positive Relationships—Look for ongoing opportunities to make “deposits” in your relationships with students (e.g., taking an interest in their interests, listening, supporting) and beware of relationship withdrawals (e.g., negative comments, sarcasm).
Lesson 6.4: De-escalating Conflict—Help students recognize when they are in the “yellow zone” (starting to feel irritated or anxious) before they escalate to the “red zone” (emotionally fired up and not thinking clearly).
Lesson 6.5: Using Problem-solving Strategies—When conflicts arise (either between students and/or between you and a student), use the SOLVE problem-solving steps. If a student is acting out or disengaged or especially out of character that day, use these steps together to talk to them one-on-one. Start by looking for indicators if the student is too emotionally charged to think clearly (e.g., high levels of anxiety or anger) before proceeding through SOLVE.
Module 8: Skill-building for Mental Health & Well-being—This eight lesson series address the underpinnings of cognitive-behavioral interventions. Students learn more about recognizing how their underlying thoughts influence their emotions and behavior, and then practice strategies for Coping with Stress/Anxiety, managing sadness/depression, integrating self-care into their lives, and seeking reliable mental health resources.

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Trauma-Informed Support
PDF, 5 pages