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Trauma-Informed Approaches in Teaching

Rebecca Anderson, LCSW

Kirk Anderson, PhD

Objectives

• Why trauma-informed approaches are important

• What trauma is and how it impacts learning

• Practical ways to incorporate trauma-informed teaching principles

• The importance of addressing and preventing secondary trauma

Participants will learn…

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Why Trauma-Informed Approaches?• Trauma is prevalent

• 66-85% of youth report lifetime trauma exposure by the time they reach college (Read et al., 2011; Smyth et al., 2008)

• As many as 50% of college students have exposure to a potentially traumatic event in the first year of college (Galatzer-Levy et al., 2012).

• Trauma responses interfere with learning, trust, and relationships (ISTSS, 2016)

• Trauma is an equity issue (Boyraz et al., 2013; Carter et al., 2011; Milner et al., 2019)

• Educational institutions present risk of retraumatization

• Oppressed and marginalized groups are at greater risk of trauma

• People who work with college students are at risk of secondary trauma/compassion fatigue (Lynch & Glass, 2019)

• Trauma-informed approaches are shown to improve outcomes for both those who provide and receive trauma-informed services (Hales et al. 2017; Hales et al., 2019; Murray, 2020)

• Current events related to the pandemic and police violence increase trauma exposure

What is trauma and how does it impact learning?

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What is Trauma?

Trauma

Which overwhelms a

person’s ability to cope (effect)

Experienced as extremely

threatening

Event, series of events, or

circumstances

Event + Experience + Effect

≠ diagnosis of PTSD—person can have trauma without meeting criteria for PTSD

Event

Source: NASMHPD, 2018

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Experience and Effect

• Person• Developmental stage• Coping skills• Past experiences• Cultural beliefs and/or spirituality• Expectations of event, setting, or people involved

• Environment • Access to informal and formal supports• Non-judgmental, supportive responses from others• Systems

• Event• Chronicity & severity• Random vs. preventable• Accidental vs. intentional• Interpersonal vs. natural• Sense of agency vs. helplessness• Proximity (physical or relational)

Exacerbating or Mediating Factors

Effect

Source: NASMHPD, 2018

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What is trauma-informed teaching?

What is a Trauma-Informed Approach?

What it is• A principle-based way of being• A lens through which you can view

your work and students• A set of values that can guide your

course development, teaching, and interactions

What it isn’t• A mental health intervention to

address PTSD• Evaluating your students for trauma• “Coddling” or a reduction in rigor

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Trauma-Informed Value

Ways to Incorporate in Classroom

Safety • Predictability and routine• Classroom community agreements/standards• Minimize changes, offer advance warning as able• Allow students to choose their own seating/turn off cameras• Begin class with a transition or pause (e.g. moment of mindfulness)

Trustworthiness/Transparency

• Have clear expectations and communication• Make the implicit explicit (i.e., explain the “Hidden Curriculum”)• Be reliable• Don’t expect trust• Model vulnerability by saying “I don’t know” and “I’m also worried about…”• Acknowledge power differences between you and students

Choice • Offer options wherever possible (e.g. assignment prompts, specific research topic)• Include options to make up missed classes and assignments

Collaboration/Mutuality

• Emphasize shared ownership (“our classroom”)• Co-create classroom standards• Reduce didactic teaching where able• Problem-solve collaboratively• When you say “I don’t know,” make a shared effort out of finding the information• Elicit and act upon student feedback (e.g. mid-semester evals)

Empowerment • Highlight strengths and promote a growth mindset• Project optimism and unconditional positive regard for person (does not mean you

have to endorse behaviors)• Share power, where able (e.g. student presentations to teach material, etc.)

How do I address secondary trauma and compassion fatigue?

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Secondary Trauma and Compassion Fatigue

• Difficulty talking about feelings

• Feeling easily irritated, frustrated, or angry

• Jumpiness

• Changes in appetite, sleep, mood

• Feeling trapped, hopeless, or helpless (especially re: students’ situations)

• Intrusive thoughts or dreams related to traumatic events

• Reduced sense of satisfaction or accomplishment

• Blame towards others

• Fatigue

• Feeling numb or detached

• Difficulty concentrating

“There is a cost to caring” –Charles Figley

The Four Quadrants of Self-Care

(Middleton, 2015)

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Support Options at GettysburgFor you:

• CARE Team report

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

• Consultation with colleagues, department chair, dean, provost, HR

Support Options at GettysburgFor your student:

• CARE Team report

• Referral to Health & Counseling: Professional Staff OR Peer Supporters

• Referral to Academic Advising for Academic Support and Disability Services

• Online resources via Counseling Services, includes education, support, and referral information

• Title IX Coordinator, Amanda Blaugher

• Encourage them to utilize their support networks—friends, parents, trusted others

• Local resources and providers

• Remote providers

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Counseling Association.

Boyraz, G., Horne, S. G., Owens, A. C., & Armstrong, A. P. (2013). Academic achievement and college persistence of African American

students with trauma exposure. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 60(4), 582–592.

Carter, R. T., Reynolds, A. L., & Zarate, M. A. (2011). Race-related stress, racial identity status attitudes, and emotional reactions of black

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(2731) Seton Hall UNiversity Dissertations and Theses (ETDs). https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2731

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