A Whole Child Approach

Addressing the needs of the whole child (competency, relationships, self regulation and health/well being)  in a trauma sensitive manner  requires  a three pronged approach,  trauma sensitive whole school and classroom practices as well as trauma sensitive individual student supports.

Understanding the whole child helps to build trusting relationships and supports student learning.

A Trauma-Sensitive Lens

• “Helping Traumatized Children Learn, Vol 1”, Cole et al. Massachusetts Advocates for Children, Cambridge, Ma. 

• Neuro-Biology: “Wounds That Won’t Heal”  

• Prevalence:  Ace Study  

• Whole Child “The Evidence Base for How We Learn”   

• Videos  https://traumasensitiveschools.org/videos/  

Strategies to Support Students

• Regulation of Emotion Supports 

  • Maintain a calm voice and demeanor 

  • Be aware of student body language 

  • Teach self awareness-Recognize and gauge emotional state (Visual as well as verbal)  

  • Teach vocabulary for discussing feelings 

  • Teach affect modulation/Calming 

  • Response examples for social situations 

  • Identify trigger situations 

  • Provide a safe space to express emotions 

  • Breaks and calming techniques 

  • AVOID: Trivializing student feelings and Engaging in a power struggle 

• Regulation of Behavior 

  • Develop student’s self awareness 

  • Clear and consistent expectations and consequences 

  • Provide student with strategies and a plan that rewards using strategies 

  • Provide vocabulary for talking about feelings 

  • Offer limited number of choices 

  • Quiet or “Chill” zone for student to calm down 

  • Scheduled breaks-Physical activity (Walks, etc.) 

  • Use school resources to develop student social skills 

  • Debrief incidents as a learning tool 

  • Clean Slate-When the structured/expected response to the student’s behavior is complete, the “Slate is wiped clean” ; like hitting the reset button 

  • AVOID: Raising your voice, engaging in the power struggle; Embarrassing the child in front of the class 

• Student Self Awareness 

  • Recognizing bodily sensations as emotional indicators.   

  • Having an emotional vocabulary. Communicating feelings. 

  • Coping with arousal level. 

  • Teach child to be self aware of the level 

  • Containing it to allow child to focus 

  • Managing it, to avoid hair trigger actions 

  • Managing it, to avoid shut down 

  • Learning to recognize triggers; minimizing them, managing a response to them 

  • Recognizing emotional cues in others. 

  • Making appropriate behavioral choices based on emotional state. 

  • We are aware bulletin board-  Stems to complete such as “I like myself because... 

  • Formal curriculum-Second Step, Social Thinking, Collaborative Problem Solving, Zones of Regulation, Others