Brief Mental Health Recap

March 2024

District Initiative

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Overview

Riverside University Health System-Public Health 2022

Trauma

Riverside University Health System-Public Health 2022

Toxic Stress

Riverside University Health System-Public Health 2022

ACEs Affect Many Areas of a Student’s Life

Behavior Control

• Difficulty understanding cause/effect relationships
• Act impulsively
• May invite discipline from adults
• May react by freezing or withdrawing
• May try to assume control

Academics/Thinking Skills

• Problems with language and communication skills
• Learning processing and retrieving information
• Organizing and sequencing
• Difficulty attending to tasks in busy environments

ACEs Affect Many Areas of a Student’s Life

Self Concept

• May experience inadequacy, shame, and self doubt
• Avoid activities that they feel are challenging
• May be pessimistic about abilities
• May also be perfectionist and attempt to “over-perform”

How to help?

Submit an RFA:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJP4o8byXpRC5S6skcerrDiOIx6lqrE0Aq-Wxx59WQB7vV7Q/viewform

Teach SEL!

• Relationship Skills
• Conflict Resolution
• Crushes
• Self-Management
• Anxiety - Coping Skills
• Growth Mindset
• Positive Self Talk

Trauma-Informed Mindset

How we see the problematic behavior critically important

• Having a trauma-informed mindset means:
• Considering how we change what we are doing to support the student
• Understanding that behaviors are a reaction to growing up exposed to traumatic childhood experiences
• Recognizing that behaviors help make the student feel safer and may be a reaction to feeling unsafe

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Actions

Manage your affect

• Voice volume, tone, speech rate, word-choice, facial expressions
• Students with ACEs are particularly sensitive to non-verbal communication
• Strive for pleasant and calm tone
• Friendly facial expressions

Help students regulate

• Work to help students self regulate
• BEFORE you attempt to reason or problem solve

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Trauma Informed Responses

4 step engagement model:

• Acknowledgement- “I see that you’re crying.”
• Validation: “I can imagine you must be feel sad. I would feel sad too.”
• Acceptance: “Feeling sad when a peer is rude to you is a normal response.”
• Empowerment: “What do you think we can do to fix this?” “What do you need to feel better?”

Link to DSUSD Social Emotional Wellness - Educator Wellness Resources:

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https://sites.google.com/desertsands.us/social-emotional-wellness/mental-health-staff-resources

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How do you self-care?

Questions?

Thank

You!