Lindsay Goossens, B.S. Ed

SMARTS, Students Motivated by the Arts

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Introduction to Trauma Informed Care:

Meeting student artists where they are

and creating safe classrooms

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It’s been a traumatic year.

OBJECTIVES

1. Understand ACES and their impact on children’s lifelong health and how protective factors promote resiliency

2. Deconstruct assumptions or judgments I have about students misbehavior understanding there are no “bad kids”

3. Understand my role in being aware of trauma and responding to students with trauma while being sensitive not to retraumatize

Vincent J. Felitti, MD

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• Chief of Kaiser Permanente’s Department of Preventative Medicine
• San Diego, CA

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https://acestoohigh.com/2012/10/03/the-adverse-childhood-experiences-study-the-largest-most-important-public-health-study-you-never-heard-of-began-in-an-obesity-clinic/

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Robert Anda, MD, MS��Medical Epidemiologist��Centers for Disease Control

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• Kaiser Permanente
• 17,421 surveyed

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https://acestoohigh.com/2012/10/03/the-adverse-childhood-experiences-study-the-largest-most-important-public-health-study-you-never-heard-of-began-in-an-obesity-clinic/

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Behaviors are learned responses �to meet needs.

Bad Kids Do Not Exist�Bad Behavior = Good Kid Trying to Survive�Survive = help self or others in family

ACEs:��ADVERSE �CHILDHOOD�EXPERIENCES

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pg 12

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/02/387007941/take-the-ace-quiz-and-learn-what-it-does-and-doesnt-mean

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Factors to consider:

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Three E’s of Trauma

• Event
• Experience
• Effects

How long, how often

-what happened next?

Big T, little T, compound trauma

IN THE ORIGINAL ACE STUDY, 64% OF OVER 17,000 PEOPLE SURVEYED EXPERIENCED

1+ ACE, ACCORDING TO THE CDC.

https://damonashworthpsychology.com/2017/09/14/the-10-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-adverse-childhood-experiences-study/

THE IMPACT OF ACEs

https://www.samhsa.gov/capt/practicing-effective-prevention/prevention-behavioral-health/adverse-childhood-experiences

https://blog.cognifit.com/adverse-childhood-experiences/

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6+ ACES 20 years shorter life span

If you can’t receive medical attention �for your traumatic experiences, �you will self-medicate in others ways.

The Longterm Effects of Toxic Stress

• Derailed development of higher order skills in prefrontal cortex – planning, decision making, poor memory, poor concentration, lower reading level, zoning out, high absence rate
• Disrupt homeostasis or ability to regulate emotions, hyper alert or hypervigilant
• Create reactiveness to triggers or perceived threats/dangers, overactive amygdala
• Impulsive, anger outbursts, withdrawal or perfectionism, unhealthy attachments
• Low self-esteem, lack of trust, increased fears of safety or security

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The brain is plastic and can be rewired.�Healing happens in relationships.

What is wrong with you?�What happened to you?

Resiliency Definition �(ResiliencyOhio.org)

• Resiliency is an inner capacity that when nurtured, facilitated, and supported by others– empowers children, youth, and families to successfully meet life’s challenges with a sense of self-determination, mastery, hope, and well-being.
• Biologically, resiliency happens when we can switch our neurotransmitters to respond differently to certain stimuli than the way they have been trained to.

Nurtured

Facilitated

Supported

Family, Faith, & Friends

Services, Supports, & Accommodations

Community Education, Opportunities Resources, & Safety

Resiliency: Bounce Back!

Personal story + Splat Ball Activity

• Think about “bouncing back” in terms of a growth mindset
• Affirm and emphasize every instance of growth or progress

We all have a desire to be good �and to be known as “good.”�We all have a need to be loved �and to be worth loving.

ACES

Biology

Protective Factors

pg 14

WHICH PROTECTIVE FACTORS �DID YOU HAVE �AS AN ADOLESCENT? HOW HAVE THESE CHANGED IN ADULTHOOD?���WHICH PROTECTIVE FACTORS �DOES YOUR ORGANIZATION OFFER YOUR COMMUNITY?

pg 13

You can’t give away something �you haven’t been given.

Individual

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Trauma affects how our brains develop, training us to react to “danger.” This fear response delays our ability to reason. Toxic environments keeps us in a mentality of "survival mode." A trigger is something in our environment that initiates a learned response to past trauma.

The effect of trauma on an individual �can be conceptualized as a normal response �to an abnormal situation.

AWARENESS: STEP ONE TO RESILIENCE

• Trigger - (especially of something read, seen, or heard) distress, typically as a result of arousing feelings or memories associated with a particular traumatic experience.
• Knowing our own ACES and how they continue to affect us in the present will help us prevent passing our ACES onto others, or responding to our triggers in a way that hurts others or our relationships or “retraumatize.”
• Knowing about ACES helps us offer grace to others when we don't hold their experiences – what they couldn't control – against them

How do we reroute the brain’s response

to stress or triggers?�(Teach before the storm)

Regulation Activities

• Butterfly tapping
• Gratitude yawning, alternating head turns
• Deep breathing and rocking
• Grounding 5 senses
• Safe Visualization/Meditation
• Mindfulness should make you more present with reality, it should not distort reality

Planning Trauma Informed Classroom Environments

• Talking does not help a student who is dysregulated because they lose access to prefrontal cortex
• Allow students to save face if they are misbehaving, one-on-one conversations away from group
• No name-calling, no shaming, watch tone of voice
• Yelling is for emergencies only
• Give students attention if they need attention
• Give transparent instructions, practice instructions for quiet time or “artist time”
• Develop a Peace Corner in your classroom
• Children learn to be resilient and heal through playing. They sort through their experiences when they play privately or with others. Allow times for open-ended, unstructured play in your classroom.

People don’t care what you know �until they know that you care.

Every instance of misbehavior �is an opportunity for learning.

Family / Other Relationships

BE A BUCKET FILLER, NOT A DIPPER!

CHANGE YOUR WORDS!

INSTINCT RESPONSES

• That kid misbehaves because he is a bad kid.
• What's wrong with you?

• There are no bad kids, though bad things have affected all of us.
• What happened to you?

TRAUMA-AWARE RESPONSES

TAKE A NEW PERSPECTIVE, HAVE EMPATHY!

SCENARIO #1

• A boy is witnessed hitting a fellow classmate.
• The teacher corrects the boy by saying, “Don’t hit him.”
• The boy responds, “I didn’t hit him.”
• Teacher: “Yes, you did. I saw you. Don’t tell lies.”
• Boy reacts with a tantrum. “I’m not a liar!”

• A tired office worker answers the phone after a long work day.
• The client on the line has called for the third time to ask the same question.
• The office worker is short. “I gave you the information already. Figure it out.”
• The office worker hangs up the phone in disgust and mutters, “Learn how to write!”

SCENARIO #2

What insight does Trauma-Informed Care give us?

Avoid assumptions, ask questions, listen, �and give everyone the benefit of the doubt.

Community

SAMHSA’s Six Key Principles of a Trauma-Informed Approach

• Safety
• Trustworthiness and Transparency
• Peer Support
• Collaboration and Mutuality
• Empowerment, Voice, and Choice
• Cultural, Historical, and Gender Issues

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Application to SMARTS

Your Role:�What you are NOT

• You are not a doctor
• You are not a social worker
• You are not a mental health counselor or psychiatrist
• You are not their parent
• You are not the administrator of the school or program
• You should never diagnose a child
• Your differences in upbringing might not make you the right person to give this child advice

Your Role:�What you ARE

• You are an artist, you are their teacher
• You are there to teach them how to be an artist
• As you are teaching them, they may overshare or divulge private information in their artwork
• Your job is to help them work through their creative material constructively
• Your job is to acknowledge what is hard and empathize as a human, not dismiss, not ignore, not placate

“Wow, that’s really hard. I am so sorry to hear that is happening. Have you talked to someone about this before? What would help you be able to learn today?”

• Your job is to redirect them to help them be productive through their ACES as an artist would

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Your Role:�What you ARE Continued

• Your job is to be ready to make accommodations as students can or cannot do something per their triggers
• Students may not want to touch each other in an circle up activity – have a rope to hold as a substitute to holding hands
• Your job is to frame hard conversations for the class so that private content or conflicts in the classroom are handled safely, with deep concern, but responsibly to keep the class on track
• Your job is to get help in your classroom immediately if a situation is escalating
• Your job is to report back to SMARTS Staff anything that is told to you that causes you to believe a child is not safe
• Watch for signs of compassion fatigue in yourself, or your own triggers, and ask for help if you need it!

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You don’t have to know the whole story �to help. ��The student doesn’t have to share the whole story �to heal.

pg 15

Artists are exactly the right people �to teach children resiliency skills.

The Four R’s�Realize, Recognize, Respond, Resist

First ask:   “What happened to you?” 

Then:  Support a survivor with 4 statements.

• I believe you. 
• Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me.
•  I am sorry that happened to you. 
• I support you whatever you choose to do. 

How do we respond to common traumas as a topic?

What kinds of new traumas might students have post-pandemic?

WAYS TO PROMOTE RESILIENCE �with others

• Share stories about adversity you faced, what you learned from it, and how you overcame it.
• Make a point to focus on and share what you are grateful for everyday.  Gratitude is powerful agent of change in the brain!
• Avoid shaming and naming language;  Avoid "shoulding" others
• Practice self-care together – have ways to "get out" emotions and talk about feelings in safe ways without belittling or accusing.
• Encourage your child/student to be a "bucket filler" for others, including siblings
• Offer choices, permit independence and individuality, avoid favoritism
• Encourage mistakes; failure is an opportunity for your child to learn and grow and for you to teach and love your child through the hurt.

TIC Posters

https://www.echotraining.org/

https://www.echotraining.org/infographics/

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pg 17-18

Review

Review

1. Understand ACES and their impact on children’s lifelong health and how protective factors promote resiliency

2. Deconstruct assumptions or judgments I have about students misbehavior understanding there are no “bad kids”

3. Understand my role in being aware of trauma and responding to students with trauma and sensitive not to retraumatize

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• ACE – Adverse Childhood Experience
• The more ACES, the more likely the individual will have negative health consequences
• The more protective factors, the more likely the individual will exhibit resiliency
• Children may exhibit negative behaviors because they have learned them to survive
• Toxic stress negatively affects the brain’s ability to learn and to develop skills in the prefrontal cortex

YOUR ROLE:

• 1. Be aware of why a child acts they way they do and to believe in your heart that all children are good when you witness the behavior
• 2. Encourage them with a growth mindset, try to meet their needs within reason
• 3. Set up a physically and emotionally safe classroom environment, allow students to save face when disciplining, and have a plan for students who are dysregulated

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THANK YOU