CONCORD, NH — The New Hampshire Department of Education is partnering with The Regulated Classroom to assist educators throughout the state in preparing their students for learning and equipping educators with resources to reduce stress and dysregulation in the classroom. “This new collaboration is aimed to support teachers who may be experiencing disruptions in their school environments, who today, are struggling with dysregulated students that have had inconsistent and disrupted...

HERE this NOW NERD OUT Mondays has been an ongoing Facebook Live event series hosted by HTN founder, Emily Read Daniels. The series offers our audience a sampling of our incredible presenters and a flavor for our upcoming 3rd Annual Trauma Responsive Schools Conference - Polyvagal in Schools: Establishing Felt Safety for the Return to In-Person Learning. Thus far, we have welcomed incredible guests like Dr. Stephen Porges, Dr. Mona Delahooke, Ingrid Cockhren, and most recently, James...

HERE this NOW founder, Emily Read Daniels was thrilled when Jane Stevens agreed to have PACES Connection endorse and sponsor HTN's 3rd Annual Trauma-Responsive Schools Conference. The conference will address the application of The Polyvagal Theory (science behind how we process trauma in our bodies) in schools for the safe return to in-person learning. The virtual conference, June 1-4, 2021, will host teachers, school administrators, and school specialists from across the U.S. and...

SEL. Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). My lil’ ole school counselor heart should be beaming with joy. SEL is FINALLY receiving the limelight it has long deserved in education. Most everyone everywhere is proclaiming the importance of SEL! So why do I want to smack myself upside the head (Homer Simpson style – D’OH) most every time I read about, hear about, or see an SEL effort in a school. Because we keep getting it WRONG! So before I start in with all the ways in which we are screwing it up,...

It’s little contested 2020 has been a sh*# show for most every American. It has personally knocked me down countless times. There are so many aspects of this pandemic and 2020 that have challenged my resilience as an individual, a mother, a small-business owner, and a female leader in my field. Despite what people assume, resilience-lacking 2020 hasn’t been a personal failing. Resilience is not a choice. Resilience is not an attitude or a mindset. Resilience is a physiological phenomenon. I...

HERE this NOW (HTN) is elated to announce the development of it's first podcast show, CONVOS during COVID . This is part of an ongoing conversation series that was developed last spring as a result of the pandemic, the collapsing economy, and the racial injustice crisis. Since then, we have enjoyed several guests such as the author of The Polyvagal Theory, Dr. Steve Porges; Anti-Racist Schools Activist Joe Truss; pediatric psychologist, Dr. Mona Delahooke; author Dr. Gholdy Muhammad;...

These times have been ROUGH for our schools, but we've noticed it's especially challenging for our female school leaders. They are crispy and fried with burnout and struggling to muster the energy to face each new day. For this reason, WE created something to help RIGHT NOW! HERE this NOW is proud to announce its COVID Crisis Leadership Development Program that is designed for female school leaders (though we welcome equity-minded men and those that identify as gender non-conforming) that...

Regulation Before Education: The Roots and Fruits of a Trauma-Informed School July 29-31st | 12:00 - 3:00pm EDT These times are unsettling in many ways. But the disruptions have widened opportunities for different ways of being, thinking and doing in education. The trauma-informed schools movement has never been more relevant. Schools committed to cultivating trauma-informed change can successfully buffer the adverse effects of the pandemic, economic collapse, and persistent racial...

Pre-pandemic, educators said we were facing challenges not experienced by older generations. This pandemic makes that notion truer than ever. This pandemic is a rapidly emerging collective stress that is reshaping the structure and fabric of experience in most every facet of life, but especially in education. It pushes us to adapt creatively and to think outside our typical “box.” And yet, in every crisis opportunity lurks. Three nationally recognized trauma-informed consultants have...

Thanks to Lara Kain of ACES Connection, I discovered the brilliant Joe Truss of Culturally Responsive Leadership . Joe is a principal, a blogger, a father, and soon to be my second guest in a new free conversation series I am hosting - Trauma-Informed CONVOS during COVID. Joe authored a provocative, hilarious, raw blog that went viral on social media less than three weeks ago. If you haven't read it, it's a must: A School Principal's Pondering During a Pandemic. Join us for what will be a...

HERE this NOW was shocked and stunned when the Corona pandemic hit. But with a few weeks of thawing, this network of trauma-informed consultants is awakening to the new day and ready to talk about it with others. Please join Emily Daniels, founder of HERE this NOW, for the first conversation in a new series of discussions called CONVOS during COVID. Daniels' first guest will be Dr. Stephen Porges, creator of The Polyvagal Theory. Daniels and Porges will discuss the effects of prolonged...

Do you feel like the “traditional ways” of helping traumatized children just aren’t working? You’re not alone and you no longer need to be frustrated. Recent discoveries in brain science has opened doors to new understanding and therefore, new approaches to helping traumatized children. HERE this NOW is thrilled to offer a 2-day affordable training workshop to introduce Dr. Bruce Perry's approach to assessing and treating trauma. An Introduction to NMT (Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics)...

Cultivate Change Leadership Skills for a “Trauma-Informed” Approach January 16-17th, 2020 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM EDT Please join us for this two-day deep-dive workshop. Most people working in schools and social services are saying things just got harder. Mental health issues, disruptive behaviors, and addiction are adding stressful new challenges for families and institutions already feeling overwhelmed. We try to address these issues one-by-one - by “referring out” - hoping a doctor or mental...

This post is the first chapter of a book. The names HAVE NOT been changed, as each individual profoundly impacted the author's growth and development. She wants their identities to remain intact. I did not realize that my first years in public education would profoundly shape my trauma-informed journey and what I would do nearly twenty years later. But I clearly remember the late fall of 2001. I was completing my second year in a master’s program for school counseling at the University of...

Having been an educator much of my life and attended a lot of school, there is something powerful in my somatic memory about this time of year. It’s a swirling dervish of anticipation, hope... fear, trepidation. It all collides tightly in my belly. I recall the many years of being up early on the first day of school, staring at my toast and jam as nausea rolled through me like short waves - cresting and breaking. I remember standing at the bus stop with my hair parted strictly down the...

Have you been hearing all the buzz about Dr. Mona Delahooke's new book, Beyond Behaviors ? In my opinion, it’s the best new book of 2019. Dr. Delahooke is a practicing pediatric clinical psychologist of thirty years. She is gaining critical acclaim and grassroots support for challenging the prevalent and pervasive behaviorist bias in schools. As a result, she is an emerging authority in the growing revolution to re-interpret children's misbehavior. She highlights much of the books' content...

HERE this NOW is proud to bring its Trauma-Responsive Schools Conference to California, October 23 – 25, 2019, at the stunning Temecula Creek Inn in Temecula, CA (2 hours north of San Diego; 3-hours south of Los Angeles). This is not a typical conference. Participants will be actively engaged in an immersive experience, rendering more growth - personal and professional. Five diversely skilled and experienced pioneers of trauma-informed schools change are coming together for first time, to...

My typically happy, well-adjusted 11-year old daughter was having a melt downs of all melt downs. She was crying hysterically. I could hear her wailing downstairs as she was upstairs. I could feel my heart rate rising as her distress increased. I called up to my husband; “What is going on with Hannah?” Granted, the night before was a late Halloween night fueled by massive amounts of sugar. That right there renders a dire state in the body – little sleep, ample sugar. My gut twisted as I...

HERE this NOW is thrilled to announce its first annual Trauma-Responsive Schools Conference. The event will take place May 9th-May 11th at The Woodbound Inn in Rindge, NH. The event locale was selected for its central location in New England (2-hours from Boston, 3-hours from Portland, 4-hours from Albany). This conference experience will be unlike other conference formats. Registration is limited to 40 participants to maximize psychological safety, depth of learning, and individualized...

“I don’t know if I can do this anymore, Kris. I am just so discouraged.” I sit with my dear friend on a sticky summer night trying to get my gut right. “Gut wrench” is an apt description. It’s invaded my body and overwhelmed my mind. I can’t think straight, see straight, see a way out. The darkness pervading her porch has met my inner ache and it’s threatening to overwhelm my composure. I am choking back a watershed of tears as I open my mouth to speak. I am trying to conjure the words to...

This fall, Lara Kain and I will co-present a 3 night / 4 day retreat-style training - The Trauma-Informed School 2.0 - in the Monadnock Region of New Hampshire. The format and content of this training promises to be unlike most. We purposely embedded in the training format experiences that reflect the principles of trauma-informed care (i.e. exercises and activities that cultivate psychological safety, connection among participants, and emotional regulation). Participants will learn much of...

Have you ever had the experience of becoming the living embodiment of an illustrated children’s book character? Yeah, that’s happened to me. I am Froggy. The Froggy that goes to school Froggy. In the children’s story, Froggy feels anxious about his first day of school. His healthy and natural nervousness (the body’s stress response system is activated by novelty) manifests in his dream. In his dream, he misses the bus and shows up to class in his underwear. I am feeling “Froggy.” Two...

Understanding trauma and its impact on the developing brain and body is one thing. Reshaping public serving systems to mitigate the impact of trauma is quite another. Many trauma-informed change agents find themselves overwhelmed with the daunting task of infusing trauma-informed knowledge into every facet (policy, procedures, practice, culture) of their public serving system. In this “one of a kind” two-day offering, participants will begin to view trauma-informed change through the lens of...

Place matters. It was spring break of 1993 – my senior year of high school – and I was driving back from Virginia Beach with three close friends. We passed signs for the University of Delaware. I asked if we could take a quick detour to see the campus. The one request literally changed the course of my life – forever. University of Delaware in Spring It was late in April and I had been accepted to UD but never set foot in the town of Newark, DE. Little did I know it would be the campus of my...

When educators learn about the devastating impact of ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences), childhood trauma, and toxic stress on a child’s developing body, brain, and behavior, they often remark, “Well...what do I do now?” The Regulated Classroom answers that question. In this three-day intensive camp experience, educators will deepen self-awareness and capacity for self-regulation through a new approach to trauma-informed teaching. The Regulated Classroom: Bottom-Up Trauma-Informed Teaching...

Are you implementing TIC (trauma-informed care) change efforts and finding they aren't resulting in the large scale or organizational change you seek? You are not alone! Creating a “trauma-informed system” requires significant cultural change. The journey to shifting culture begins with acknowledging that the current functioning in public service (i.e. education, health care, mental health, etc.) compounds survival responses rather than mitigates them. This is reflected in the attitudes,...

Accomplishing systems change is anything but simple or linear. It's emergent, defies predictability, requires strategic thinking and adaptive leadership. In this workshop, participants will learn about systems theory, systems phenomena, key considerations in initiating change in a system, adaptive challenges, adaptive leadership, social network theory and social network design. Participants will review the “Self-Healing Communities” framework that revolutionized a county in Washington State.

Sometimes I think I have PTSD from failed change efforts. I am not kidding. I have developed symptoms from living through nearly twenty years of failed education reform efforts. When I reflect on the many change efforts I participated in, I shudder. I try to block it out. I avoid discussing it. There is an "activating" body memory (SE™ talk) for me that is associated with prescriptive change efforts. When I encounter a stimulus or trigger, like someone talking about a new protocol intended...

ORIGINAL POST 1/20/18 Right after the New Year, Jocelyn Goldblatt, Cissy White, and I discussed Jocelyn's capstone project for her Master's Thesis. The screening and panel discussion of the documentary Resilience was her brain child and the cornerstone of her project. But it would also doubly duty as the launch event for the new ACES Connection chapter in Keene, NH (Monadnock Thrives). During the discussion, I boldly announced that we would be lucky to get 30 people in the audience. And I...

I am freaking out! My heart is racing, my chest is thumping, my belly is buzzing. Last night I check my list of attendees for my upcoming workshop. It jumped from sixteen to eighteen registrants. I freaked! I was literally scrambling around my kitchen screeching, “18,” “AHH!…18.” “I can’t fit eighteen.” My 10-month old puppy and 10-year old daughter are chasing behind me in frenzied excitement. My daughter is yelling, “mom this is good, your business is growing.” And my husband is sitting in...

"There is no blueprint for rolling out trauma-informed practices; however, Emily's use of a systems approach to educate those of us working to create our own blueprints is exactly what's needed. The way in which Emily conducts her workshops promotes collaboration of ideas no matter your educational background or current title. You leave feeling inspired and empowered to move this revolution forward!" - Dawn Daum, HERE this NOW workshop participant, co-manager of ACES Connection Building...

When educators learn about the devastating impact of ACES and toxic stress on a child's developing body, brain, and behavior, they often remark, "well, now what?" In this interactive workshop, participants learn to create a classroom that generates psychological safety and invites emotional and behavioral regulation via the nervous system. Co-presented with a seasoned educator, participants take a deep dive into a regulated learning environment; and they learn by doing. Participants will...