TRAUMA-INFORMED APPROACHES TO TEACHING & LEARNING

Jason Lynch, PhD

Assistant Professor of Higher Education

Appalachian State University

LEARNING GOALS

As a result of actively engaging in today’s training, participants will be able to:

• Argue why college educators should consider the impact of trauma on college student learning.
• Define trauma and the various ways to describe trauma.
• Recall the basic components of the trauma response system.
• Identify trauma response behaviors in themselves and others.
• Critique current learning environments through the lens of trauma-informed learning.
• Explain the 6 tenets of Trauma-Informed Practice (TIP).
• Apply Trauma-Informed Practices within the context of college student learning.

WHAT IS TRAUMA?

WHAT IS TRAUMA?

• Experiences become traumatic when they overwhelm our ability to cope.
• Traumatic experiences come in many forms, ranging from one-time events to experiences that are chronic or even generational.
• Exposure to trauma in childhood is common.
• Risk for exposure to more than one type is high.
• Contextual factors increase one’s risk for trauma.
• Trauma is highly individualized

TYPES OF TRAUMATIC STRESS

Acute: Results from a single stressful or dangerous event.

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Chronic: Results from repeated and prolonged exposure to highly stressful or dangerous events.

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Complex: Results from exposure to multiple traumatic events.

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Historical: Cumulative emotional and psychological wounding from massive group trauma across generations.

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PATTERN OF STRESS ACTIVATION

Stressor

Unpredictable

Extreme

Prolonged

Predictable

Moderate

Controllable

SENSITIZATION

Vulnerability

TOLERANCE

Resilience

Perry & Winfrey, 2021

THE TRAUMA RESPONSE SYSTEM

Creativity | Thinking | Language | Values | Time | Hope

Reward | Memory | Bonding | Emotions

Arousal | Sleep | Appetite | Movement

Temperature | Respiration | Cardiac

Perry & Winfrey, 2021

STRESS RESPONSE

TRAUMA RESPONSE BEHAVIORS

• Fear, Guilt, Anger, & Hopelessness
• Diminished Creativity
• Hypervigilance
• Inability to Embrace Complexity
• Inability to Feel Empathy
• Minimizing
• Avoidance
• Withdraw
• Perfectionism
• Short-temperedness & Irritability

SO WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT IT?

6 TENETS OF TRAUMA INFORMED PRACTICE (TIPS)

SAFETY

Students feel physically AND psychologically safe; the physical setting is safe and interpersonal interactions promote a sense of safety. Understanding safety as defined by those served is a high priority.

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Consideration for Practice:

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• Active Listening (Paraphrasing and Reflecting)
• Validation of experiences and emotion
• Encourage help seeking and feedback

TRUSTWORTHINESS & TRANSPARENCY

Course decisions are conducted with transparency with the goal of building and maintaining TRUST with students.

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Consideration for Practice:

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• Be up front with what you can offer and what you are there for
• Set a rhythm for your classes
• Be consistent in your approach

COLLABORATION & MUTUALITY

Importance is placed on partnering and the leveling of power differences between instructors and students, as well as among organizational staff. This demonstrates that healing happens in relationships and in the meaningful sharing of power and decision-making. The instructor recognizes that everyone has a role to play in a trauma-informed approach. “One does not have to be a therapist to be therapeutic.”

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Consideration for Practice:

• How are you establishing learning partnerships?
• How are you attending to both the cognitive and emotional aspects of the students’ experience?

EMPOWERMENT, VOICE, & CHOICE

Within the course, students’ strengths and experiences are recognized and built upon. The instructor fosters belief in resilience and healing. The course is organized to foster empowerment for students. Students are supported in shared decision-making, choice, and goal setting to determine plans of action. They are also supported in cultivating self-advocacy skills.

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Consideration for Practice:

• Be sure that the student has a voice in the experience
• Offer multiple options for students to engage with you.
• Offer a variety of methods for students to engage with materials and support.

PEER SUPPORT

Peer support and mutual self-help are key vehicles for establishing safety and hope, building trust, enhancing collaboration, and utilizing lived experience.

Consideration for Practice:

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• Community Building
• Share your own stories and lived experiences.

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SOCIOCULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

The instructor actively moves past cultural stereotypes and biases (race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, religion, gender, geography, etc.); incorporates cultural responsiveness; leverages the healing value of traditional cultural connections; incorporates protocols, policies, and processes that are responsive to cultural needs; and recognizes and addresses historical trauma.

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Consideration for Practice:

• How are you identifying and counterbalancing biases you may be bringing into the learning space
• How are you considering the students’ past experiences with “academic” trauma

A FEW FINAL TAKEAWAYS…

TRAUMA INFORMED LEARNING STARTER PACK

THANK YOU!

Jason Lynch, PhD

Appalachian State University

lynchrj@appstate.edu

jasonlynchphd.com

in/jasonlynchphd

ojed.org/jtse

REFERENCES

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed). Washington, D.C.: Author

Bride, B., Robinson, M., Yegidis, B., & Figley, C. (2004). Development and validation of the secondary traumatic stress scale. Research on Social Work Practice. 14(1), 27-35.

Cieslak, R. S., K.; Luszczynska, A.; Taylor, S.; Rogala, A.; Benight, C. (2013). Secondary trauma self-efficacy:  Concept and its measurement. Psychological Assessment. 25(3), 917-928.

Devilly, G., Wright, R. & Varker, T. (2009). Vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, or simply burnout? Effect of trauma therapy on mental health professionals. Australian and New Zeland Journal of Psychiatry. (43), 373-385.

Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. (2014). Categories of trauma. Retrieved from https://www.ok.gov/odmhsas/documents/CategoriesofTrauma%20Transcript.pdf

Figley, C. R. (1999). Compassion fatigue: Toward a new understanding of the costs of caring. In B. H. Stamm (Ed.), Secondary traumatic stress: Self-care issues for clinicians, researchers, and educators (2nd ed., pp. 3-28). Lutherville, MD: Sidran.

Vivian, P. & Hormann, S. (2013). Organizational trauma and healing. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.

Lipskey, L. & Burke, C. (2009). Trauma stewardship: An everyday guide to caring for while caring for others. San Francisco: CA, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Infographic: 6 Guiding Principles To A Trauma Informed Approach. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/cpr/infographics/6_principles_trauma_info.htm

Yellow Horse Brave Heart, M. (2017). Integrating trauma informed and historical trauma informed care in behavioral health interventions with American Indians and Alaska Natives part 2. University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center The Takini Institute. Retrieved from https://www.ihs.gov/sites/telebehavioral/themes/responsive2017/display_objects/documents/slides/traumainformedcare/ticintegratingtwo091817.pdf

Lynch, R.J. (2020). Trauma responses and support systems of U.S. educators during the Covid-19 crisis: Student affairs report. Appalachian State University. Boone, NC. (Unpublished work). 

Stoves, D. (2014). Compelled to act: The negotiation of compassion fatigue among student affairs professionals. Unpublished doctoral dissertation: Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments. (n.d.). Understanding trauma and its impact activity packet. Retrieved from https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/sites/default/files/Trauma_101_Activity_Packet.pdf

https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/aces/index.html#:~:text=1%20in%206%20adults%20experienced,death%20are%20associated%20with%20ACEs.

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https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/October-2020/7-Tools-for-Managing-Traumatic-Stress