Mental and Behavioral Health

5. Trauma

We often talk about students who are "at risk" but Dr. Hendershott emphasizes that many students are beyond at risk; they are already wounded--with 60% of students, pre-COVID 19, dealing with trauma (Courage to Risk, 2021).  

Trauma is defined as "a response to an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being (SAMHSA, 2014).   

Examples of trauma students may have--or are experiencing--include abuse, neglect, witnessing violence, poverty, loss, etc.  Poverty and loss of parents does not necessarily mean a student is wounded, but it may because of the long term duress caused by severe stress.  Researchers have also identified historical trauma -- a constellation of characteristics associated with massive cumulative group trauma across generations (such as Native- and African-Americans).

Trauma can affect a person’s physical and emotional health.  Students who experience high levels of trauma may have physiological changes in brain development that can cause difficulties in memory, emotional regulation, and problem solving skills (Medical News Today).  

The primary impact of exposure to trauma is “emotional dysregulation” (Van der Kolk, 2009).  

In the field of trauma, experts say that challenging behaviors must be seen as communication (even if it is misguided and ineffective communication until a wise person begins to understand it).  

Some indicators that a child might be experiencing trauma are characteristics of fight or flight, e.g., anger, aggression, withdrawal, disconnected,  and/or depression (Hendershott).  Below is a chart of behaviors that may manifest as a result of trauma (credit: Bill Brown, Courage to Risk, 2021).

A highly traumatized student is often flooded with the hormone cortisol and centered in limbic/amygdala-guided responses.  When in this survival mode, the student will be hypervigilant to danger and even mistake normal cues as dangerous. They may also manifest false beliefs (i.e., "I'm no good; I'm dumb") which leads to emotional upheaval and dysfunctional behavior (Hendershott).  Heather Forbes (credit: Bill Brown, CDE) notes that traumatized individuals often project their pain, and other negative emotions, onto you, for example, they say "you're stupid" when they mean "I feel stupid."  They often argue because agitation is the state they are most familiar with and lack motivation because they are already overwhelmed just surviving.  They feel themselves so far from a compliment, that they will argue against it (unless you say you like something from your perspective, such as "I like your shirt").  They are always interpreting the world through the lens of fear.

Since the emotional center of our brain doesn't tell time, a current event can trigger trauma from a past event hurling a student back to that time when the trauma first happened (Heather Forbes).  As educators, it is helpful to know what traumatized students' triggers are (build relationships!), and if you suspect there has been a triggering event, don't ask why they did something, but instead keep your distance and ask "What's going on, or how can I help?" (Dr. Hendershott).  Creating calm and a sense of safety is the first step to reaching a triggered student.

Trauma Informed Practices

It takes relationship building to begin to make a difference in traumatized students' lives.  In fact, supportive relationships before, during, or after trauma help mitigate the risks associated with trauma.  As Herschell Hargrave (2010) says, "Trauma is like no other experience.  We cannot talk children out of it, or discipline them into appropriate behaviors.  Consequences never change a person on the inside." 

What does NOT work (often our go-to strategies because we are operating from our frontal cortex, but the traumatized student is in the survival brain):

•Time-out

It is always hard when conflict arises, but if you can stop and think, "How can I make this student feel safe," you can take a step toward building a relationship and making a difference for a traumatized student.  It is only connection that will make a difference.

Effective trauma informed practices align well with social emotional learning (SEL) and Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS) creating a continuum of interventions and positive classroom environments (Bill Brown, Courage to Risk, 2021).  Your school/district MTSS framework should be helpful in understanding and planning for traumatized students.  

Prioritize relationships and students' sense of

• physical and emotional safety
• trust
• choice and control (empowerment--the opposite of the powerless which was foundational to the trauma)
• resiliency

We act according to what we believe and feel.  Helping students change their beliefs and feelings--their mindsets--will be a slow process--resetting the limbic system isn't easy or quick, but changing their fearful and defensive thinking through successful new experiences will help change their lives.  Keep in mind that they might not even know what contentment, happiness, and joy looks like and might not have ever experienced what it feels like.

If you can take a system's perspective (and that can be a classroom, school, or district) you can help:

1. create a safe, predictable, positive environment
2. build the capacity of students, staff, and families
3. support all students using child-centered strategies that are matched to needs.
4. partner with families and the community
5. invest in practices that promote community and dignity of all
6. develop instructional discipline policies that emphasizes restoration over punishment (adapted from Samsa by Bill Brown)

If your building has a lot of need, your school might consider using Cognitive Behavior Intervention for Trauma in Schools, but there is a cost.

Ross Greene has helped us understand that all students want to do well, and we should start with "they would if they could."  We should seek to understand what skill sets are missing and how to teach these skills.  It is helpful to shift your mindset from what is wrong with this student to "what has happened to this student."  Try to enter the students' reality--not even showing sympathy or contradicting a student's negative statement about themselves before understanding their perspective; ask questions first (Heather Forbes).

Some schools have found that teaching empathy and replacing suspensions with community service or restorative justice has reduced infractions and drop-out rates.  It is not, however, just students who need to develop empathy; with the staggering statistics of how many traumatized students we now have, and how important relationships are to changing their futures, we as educators need to find ways to increase and develop our own empathy to ensure we are creating respectful, safe, learning environments.

For more resources (optional), see our Google folder links under trauma.