Free Trauma Training for Educators

Kris Downing 11/30/151:47 PM

This is a free training resource designed to give anyone who works with children important trauma-focused information about how student learning and behavior is impacted by trauma and how educators and support staff can help students develop a greater sense of safety at school and begin to build new emotional regulation skills.

This 43 minute video comes with a discussion guide and handouts, to share in faculty meetings and professional development days, and provide opportunities for teachers and administrators to begin important dialogue about making their school more trauma sensitive.

Most importantly, the video provides science-based information on how chronic trauma impacts a child's nervous system, and helps educators to depersonalize the child's fear response and give a basis for the need to build safe relationships, no matter how difficult or disruptive the child (and oftentimes unsympathetic).

As educators, we have to learn to not see the student's trauma response as defiance, disrespect, or intentional manipulation, but rather a protective response that requires safety in order to settle and help the child return to their "thinking" brain.

Here is the link to the video and guide developed by Communities In Schools:

http://www.ciscentraltexas.org...rces/traumatraining/

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Comments (8)

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Joan NortonMember

Thank you Kris! I was looking only at the comments and didn't examine the post!

12/7/1511:23 AM

Kris DowningMember

Hi Joan, the link to the video and facilitator's discussion guide is at the end of the blog post above.

The link is: www.ciscentraltexas.org/resources/traumatraining/

12/7/1511:02 AM

Joan NortonMember

Hello - I'm following this thread with great interest. Can someone please direct me to the video that is being mentioned in the comments below?

12/7/1510:02 AM

Kris DowningMember

Hi Krys, We had the same experience in trying to find funds. I had been doing many live trauma trainings, but didn't feel like I could reach enough people and my job did not allow me to do training full time. So we wanted to create a video - free and short enough to offer in faculty meetings and professional development days, because schools don't have a lot of money for non-academic resources. I had selected an award winning producer/director/writer and written a $50,000 grant proposal, but could not find the right funder to support it. We did have some interest from local foundations, but their priority initiatives didn't line up with the project. So, since our agency already had the Storyline Program to create this type of video- I decided to write and produce it on my own. If I were you, I'd look into local foundations that prioritize trauma informed care and educational training, abuse prevention, etc. Good luck, and I hope that the video can be a helpful tool for you to share.

12/4/156:28 AM

Krys CooperMember

Thank you for this resource! My challenge has been getting agencies (specifically the School District of Philadelphia) to FUND this type of initiative. As a school-based clinician, I have presented many live trainings about the impact of trauma on learning for both teachers and students, but have not been successful in finding a funding source to help cover costs. Thoughts/leads? Thanks!!

12/4/154:50 AM

Kris DowningMember

Thank you, Mem, for your comments. We have also shared the video (or training from the video) with school social workers, after school program staff, teacher's aides, behavior specialists, mentors and tutors, and agency counseling staff who come into schools to provide special groups such as bully prevention and safe and healthy relationships for students with a history of relational abuse, parent liaisons, and children's partnership / wrap around coordinators. In addition, several groups, such as NAMI Texas, local domestic violence prevention centers, and substance abuse recovery programs for teens have also taken the video to share with their own constituents. We hope it is used with foster parents, adoptive parents, biological parents who may be in recovery, anyone involved in supporting these traumatized young people to thrive. So I agree, there are many audiences, as you say, that could benefit from the information. Since our agency is school based, we have a strong interest in training those teachers who oftentimes spend more time with these young people than anyone else in their lives outside of their caretakers. But it is available and encouraged to be shared out with any audience. I so appreciate your endorsement!

12/2/157:17 AM

Mem LangMember

Can't help thinking about the possibility of training such as this, for all professional providers: general practitioners, nurses, paediatricians, social workers, psychologists, etc. etc. - Each one aimed at the particular needs and understanding of that particular profession.

Could carry the message more expediently: in an easy to use format, therefore more may accept taking up the challenge of presenting to their colleagues. Therefore spreading the message exponentially!

12/1/156:45 PM

Mem LangMember

An excellent resource for educators. Thank you so much for sharing this Kris! It covers so much territory in the area of trauma of children for staff to become more aware of what's happening for some of their students.. A great way of introducing complex trauma, ACEs in fact pretty much everything in an easily comprehensible way.

11/30/152:33 PM

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