Module 5.4 Developmental and Other Strategies for Healing

The topics of trauma and mental health can be distressing. If you experience any trauma symptoms yourself as you review and/or discuss this material, please feel free to take time away from this topic and/or to seek support from a trusted individual.

Strategies that Support Healing through Safety, Relationships and Regulation

Safety

Students who have experienced trauma feel a loss of safety, control, and a sense of disempowerment. Teachers can help by:

• Creating environments that are physically and emotionally safe
• Developing routines and posting schedules
• Ensuring predictability with flexibility
• Having consistent opening and closing activities for class meetings
• Giving voice and choice—providing a sense of control and agency
• Planning in transitions between activities that include movement, a quick check-in, a brain-break, etc.
• Front loading potentially triggering activities
• Providing clear communication about expectations
• Checking for understanding
• Offering non-verbal ways to express (art, emojis)
• Noticing when a student is in distress or has been triggered
• Following Guidance for Counselors and Teachers During Covid-19 and Other Crises

Relationships

We know that relationships are a key buffering factor to heal from the effects of trauma and adversity. Students (and adults) need to feel a sense of belongingness and significance to learn. Keep connectedness at the center of teaching by:

• Providing multiple opportunities for peer-to-peer interaction and connection
• Creating community agreements, norms, or a Classroom Charter
• Establishing relational rituals and routines, such as class meetings or community circles
• Creating online hubs or community hours
• Storytelling
• Providing opportunities for students to showcase their strengths and be creative

Regulation

Students who have experienced trauma (and all students right now) may be dysregulated. Co-regulation is sometimes easier than self-regulation. Meet students’ needs for regulation by:

• Teaching, modeling and practicing emotion regulation and stress reduction strategies
• Practicing strategies to decrease stress hormones and prevent health problems, such as those provided by the CA Surgeon General’s Playbook: Stress Relief for Caregivers and Kids
• Utilizing resources to support emotion regulation, stress reduction, health and well-being, such as:
  • Mindfulness activities
  • Movement and body breaks
  • Coming back to your senses
  • Talking about feelings
  • Doing a progressive relaxation or body scan
  • Mindful Breathing
  • Teaching students about their brains and the stress response
  • Going for a walk, run, bike ride, etc.
  • Doing something creative—an art project, playing an instrument
  • Listening to music
  • Journaling
  • Reading a book
  • Storytelling

Educators can cultivate safety, relationship, and regulation through emotional coaching. Expressing empathy, validating students’ feelings, respecting feelings without criticism and judgment, and helping students label the emotions they are feeling are supportive responses when a student is in distress or triggered.

Strategies that Support Healing by Developmental Levels

Consider the eight psychosocial developmental stages of children as defined by Erik Erikson, as well as how to recognize signs of stress and trauma. Review the suggested healing strategies and responses relevant to the age group with whom you work.

Preschool Students

• Provide opportunities for independence. Allow children to make choices about food, clothing, and toys.
• Reassure that trying your best is what’s most important. When a child is frustrated and ready to give up, counter negative self-talk (“I can’t do that”) with “…yet.”
• Reinforce when you see the child persevering, trying something again—maybe in a different way.
  • “Mistakes are an opportunity to learn.”
  • “I saw you tried a new way to solve that.”
  • “I see you’ve been practicing, and it’s paying off.”
• Be supportive, not punitive.
  • “I know you’re trying…is there anything I can do to help you?”
  • “I see you giving it a go, and I know it’s hard.”
• Offer opportunities for children to play together in safe, kind, fun ways

Elementary Students

• Encourage children to take initiative (e.g., planning activities) and explore capabilities (e.g., taking on new tasks and facing challenges).
• Support problem-solving in ways that empower vs. being overly directive.
  • What do you want to have happen?
  • What would your best self do in this situation?
  • Would you like any ideas?
• Help the child consider pros and cons in order to make responsible and ethical choices.
• Encourage physical and imaginative play.
• Reinforce using mistakes as an opportunity to reflect, learn, and grow—a natural part of life.

Secondary Students

• Provide encouragement to explore personal identity.
• Be open and non-judgmental when an adolescent shares confusion about decisions, personal style, and relationships.
• Offer suggestions in an invitational way with several choices, showing confidence in their decision-making ability.
  • I wonder if any of these ideas might work for you?
  • Sounds like you’re trying to decide _____. What are some factors you’re considering?\
  • What might happen if you did ____?

Additional Strategies to Support Healing

Consider responses and practices you currently use as well as additional supports to try. Here are a few other strategies to support healing, foster resilience, AND prevent meltdowns and “check-outs”:

• Use the 2×10 strategy which is simply spending two minutes per day for 10 days in a row talking with a child about anything they would like.
• Foster a growth mindset by focusing on effort vs. product.
• Provide clear, positive messages to reinforce, remind, and redirect.
• Balance accountability and sensitivity.
• Avoid approaches that trigger feelings of powerlessness, fear, and shame.
• Use logical consequences that are positive, related, respectful, reasonable, and helpful, and involve choices and private opportunities to save face.
• Give space and time for students to reflect on their feelings, behavior, and actions as well as a “calm corner” or “peace corner” to cool down.
  Finally, challenge yourself to imagine a situation from the student’s perspective, which helps us access our own empathy and compassion.

In this short video, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris shares how SEL, restorative practices, and mindfulness can help calm the body down by working with the child’s biology.

3 Trauma Informed Practices Backed by Science

Next, Fall-Hamilton Elementary School demonstrates effective ways to build positive relationships with students.

Check-in and Check-Out: Providing Daily Support for Students

When teachers explicitly recognize and respond to their own emotions in class, students learn to engage in these processes themselves.

Teaching Self-Regulation Through Modeling

Reflection

• What are your key takeaways regarding the needs of your students related to safety, relationships, and regulation? What are specific takeaways related to the psychosocial developmental stage of your students?
• What responses and practices do you currently use for healing?
• What additional strategies for healing did you discover?

5.4 Take It Deeper: Strategies for Healing

Let’s apply what we’ve learned about creating healing-centered environments. Here is a downloadable reflection page to help you.

The topics of trauma and mental health can be distressing. If you experience any trauma symptoms yourself as you review and/or discuss this material, please feel free to take time away from this topic and/or to seek support from a trusted individual.

Before facilitating groups, spend time in individual exploration in order to experience and embody the learning. And if you haven’t yet explored our introduction to SEL in California, make sure you explore those resources.