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Creating Trauma Safe Schools
Image by Danilo Rizzuti
Trauma in the Teen Years
THIRTEEN TO EIGHTEEN
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Dr. Mike Changaris
Works with children and families who are facing
significant life challenges.
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Table of Contents
1. The story of Jane
2. Teen who have Faced Trauma
3. PTSD Teens and Dysfunctional Behaviors
4. Internalizing Behaviors: The Dissociative Type
5. Poly-Vagal Theory: The way it works…
6. Hypoactivation: In the brain
7. Poly-Vagal Theory: Hyperactivation the way it works…
8. Hyperactivation: Neurobiology
9. Working with the Traumatized Teen
10. Working with the Traumatized Teen
11. The “Attitude” Attachment Behaviors
12. Development of Emotional Regulation
13. Balance of Love and Respect
14. Threat and Arousal in Class Room Management
15. Threat and Arousal in Curriculum
16. Key Points: Trauma in Teen Years
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Trauma in the Teen Years
THIRTEEN TO EIGHTEEN
THE STORY OF JANE
Jane is a bright 15-‐year-‐old girl. As a teacher you are excited that she is
coming to your class. Over the summer Jane was out with her family and
was in a terrible car crash. When Jane comes into your class at first she
is respectful, motivated, and participates in class.
Over the next three months Jane starts being more irritable in class. Her
test scores are low. In class she fidgets a lot and sometimes appears to
be staring off into space at nothing. When doors slam Jane jumps out of
her chair. Once in class, another student raised his voice during an
assignment and Jane yells back and nearly hits the boy. When asked
about why she did that she stated that she did not know. She said, “he
made me mad and he is stupid.”
Jane’s parents call a conference and try to help Jane. Jane becomes
embarrassed about this meeting and starts becoming more withdrawn
at school. As the year progresses she appears to be less able to
concentrate and starts to cut class. As a teacher, you try to reach out to
Jane and she is irritated and says things to push you away and make you
feel foolish for trying.
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Jane’s parents report that she is withdrawn, irritable, yells at her
siblings for the smallest things, and no longer listens at homes. They say
this is a dramatic change for her. Jane starts to spend time with kids
who are getting into trouble. Some one states that they think Jane is
drinking.
Teen who have Faced Trauma
PTSD is a normal response to an abnormal or terrible life event. Teens
who experience PTSD often feel isolated and terrified. Because teens are
working to individuate from adults in their lives they often can suffer in
silence. Teenage impulsivity, youthful inexperience and the tendency to
focus on peers can make it more likely that teens end up in dangerous
situations. Added to these difficulties is that authority figures in a teen’s
life can themselves be the source of the trauma. This pushes the
adolescent toward reaching out to their peer group and not the adults in
there lives. Most peer groups for teens are ill equipped to help them
understand their experience, make good decisions, let alone heal from
the trauma.
One of the phrases heard about teens with PTSD is, “they were never
like this before ______ happened. After _____ they changed.” PTSD is a
fundamental change in the brain and behaviors but there is hope. One
cannot “un-‐experience” trauma. However, it is possible to reduce the
symptoms and find meaning in a difficult situation. Some even report
that they are deeper, stronger and more real after working through
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their trauma. In psychology this is referred to as, “Post-‐Traumatic
Growth.”
Some even take their trauma and change the world. Some use the
experience with PTSD as an inspiration for significant social change.
Teens can advocate for change as a part of their healing process. Many
teens work to help those who have faced the difficulty they faced. Many
have started movements that changed our world today. Even the highly
successful campaign MADD (mothers against drunk driving) had its
roots in a trauma. However, there are many difficulties for a teen to
work through before they reach, “post-‐traumatic growth.”
It is important to know that children and teens with PTSD often feel
isolated, alone and their emotions change rapidly. It is not unusual for
teens to be suicidal after a traumatic event. Teens often look at the adult
world and see all the contradictions. They can feel as if the world does
not make sense. This makes the teen highly vulnerable to some of the
most difficult aspects of PTSD.
The symptoms of trauma often make individuals feel like life is
meaningless, hopeless and worthless. Most of the time we all live in a
bubble of imagined safety. We drive to work pretending that bad things
will not happen, but they can and often do. Teens with PTSD have this
bubble of safety popped. Because of this they may look at their friends,
teachers and parents and feel, “how can you just go on like things are
normal? Don’t you get it! Life is changed now.” Instead of putting this
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feeling into those words the teen can act out or in some cases simply
drop out.
The anxiety from a trauma can make it difficult for a teen to sit still in
school and it can lead to teens having difficulty managing normal
frustration associated with education. This can lead a teen to just not
coming to school all together or getting into significant trouble with
peers or authority figures.
Teen’s with trauma often experience intense fear, anxiety and worry.
What happens in a traumatic event is the brain is attempting to keep the
individual safe in several ways. One of these is that remembering the
small events that could indicate the danger is present. These could be
sights, sounds, smells, tastes or body gestures. The brain wants to
remember these events because it could save one’s life. The brain to
imprints these memories like a photo or what is called a “flash bulb
memory.” Flash bulb memories come back all at once and feel as if the
event were recurring here and now. They are richer then being in a
theater with surround sound. It is more intense then “smell-‐o-‐vision in
3-‐D.” These memories also are associated with the intense emotions and
bodily sensations that the teen felt during the event.
These memories (traumatic or flash bulb memories) are associate with
the terror, powerlessness and horror the teen felt at the time of the
trauma. These things are associated with the things the individual saw,
touched, smelled or heard during the event. These sights, smells,
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sounds, sensations or tastes can become triggers leading to intense
anxiety, anger, hopelessness or a flashbulb memory. This means that
teens can often be triggered into intense memories and anxiety at
events that seem not to make sense from the outside. It could be a color,
sound, and tone of voice or smell.
Some adults who were the children of Alcoholics report that the smell of
alcohol or body movements that “look intoxicated” can trigger intense
rage. While these memories are deeply burned into the memory there
are ways to help reduce the impact of the fear or anger.
Teens with PTSD often feel intense grief. There are times when a loss is
associated with a trauma. PTSD that is produced by the combination of
loss and danger can lead to increased risk of depression. Because teens
often feel like no one understands them or their point of view they are
highly vulnerable to the feelings of isolation, alones and grief that occur
associated with PTSD. Those working with teens can help them feel
understood and not alone by listening to the teen in an open manor.
Teens with PTSD often feel intense feelings of anger. This is not
surprising. In a traumatic event the individual attempts to protect
themselves using anger or fear. Anger is helpful In situations where one
can protect one’s self anger and it is a natural response. Fear is helpful
in situations where one cannot expect to reasonably protect one’s self
through fighting. Fear motivates us to get away from a threat. It is a
great defensive strategy, unless the teen is getting away from school.
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These feelings of fear or anger are not small emotions they are powerful
survival energy. In a traumatic event the body mobilizes an intense
amount of energy that it can use to defend it self. One of the old stories
often told, which may or may not be true, is of a frail grandmother who
was able to life a car off her grand child. The powerful energy allows her
to mobilize intense power, intense enough to do what looks like an
impossible task.
For teens that survival energy was helpful during the traumatic event.
However, if that anger or fear is occurring in a classroom or with friends
it can be scary to the teen and feel out of control. Some teens attempt to
become “over-‐controlled” so that the anger does not “leek out.” Others
after an outburst will avoid coming to school again because they are
afraid they might act in that way again. Still others lash out verbally or
threaten.
Teens with PTSD often have difficulties with self-‐worth. They can feel as
if people are looking down on them. Teens are often socially awkward.
This can be made worse by symptoms of trauma. Teens who have
trauma have intense feelings of anger, anxiety and worthlessness. All of
these feelings can make socializing difficult. One behavioral neurologist
theorized that the human brain has a, “social engagement system.” This
is the system that comes online when we feel safe. It allows individuals
to recognize social cues and respond socially. We have all noticed that
either ourselves or people we know become awkward when we are
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anxious. This is what happens to teens with trauma. As the teen
becomes anxious, their “social engagement system” shuts down.
Dr. Porges has theorized that this system is chronically dis-‐engaged for
teens with trauma. When teens or adults are stressed their inner ear
tunes to a different channel then the human voice. The ear in stress can
hear low rumbling sounds better then the higher musical sounds of
human speech. When some one is anxious, angry or upset they are less
good at hearing and less good at learning. When the social engagement
system is shut down along with not hearing as well, the teen cannot
read social information and tends to respond inappropriately to social
situations.
Disruptions in the social engagement system can be triggered by the
intense feelings of fear and anger (fight/flight) associated with trauma.
Because of this teens with trauma are often mistrusting of others and
quickly feel in danger in conflicts particularly with authority figures.
Sadly, many teens who have face trauma were hurt by people who were
close to them and should have protected them. This can mean that teens
are highly mistrustful, defensive and protective around those in
authority.
As a teacher it can feel like the teen is pushing you away when all you
wanted to do was help. For care providers for children with PTSD this
can lead to intense feelings of anger, frustration or giving up. Educators
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and parents can often be heard to say, “If they don’t want my help why
should I even try.”
Symptoms of PTSD in the Teen Years:
1. Fear, Worry,
2. Sadness, Feeling alone and apart from others,
3. Anger,
4. Feeling as if people are looking down on them,
5. Low self-‐worth, and
6. Unable to trust others.
Teen who have Face Trauma Often Display Dysfunctional Behaviors
Some of adult behaviors are helpful some of them are not. This is even
more true for teens. Because teens are learning how to act effectively in
the world, they often display behaviors that are dysfunctional. Teens
learn from their mistakes and become more effective as they grow
toward adulthood. Teens with trauma have a difficulty that teens
without trauma. Teens with trauma have difficulty learning from their
behaviors. When stress levels, emotional reactivity and dissociation
(spacing out) happen regularly the thinking and learning mind of the
teen shuts off. With this brain off they are not able to learn from their
mistakes.
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Most of us, when we are do something that gives us a consequence we
don’t like start to change… eventually... Trauma makes it difficult for the
teen to connect consequences with behaviors. One of the key tasks for
teens is to connect up three factors: Actions, Consequences and Will
Power. Teens often struggle connecting actions with consequences but
teens with trauma have much more difficulty. Teens with trauma also
have difficulty connecting actions with will power. Teens with trauma
often feel hopeless, helpless and overwhelmed. This can lead them to
giving up. Added to this teens with trauma often feel they have no
future, no hope and no ability. This can lead teens with trauma to view
consequences as a sign that they are incapable of success.
Some of the factors that can make learning from consequences difficult
for teens with trauma: are challenges with concentration/attention,
anxiety levels, feelings of helplessness or hopelessness, and difficulty
with emotional regulation. Emotion regulation is the ability to help
emotions return to a more normal state after an intense experience.
Teens with PTSD have to have two more things in place to make the
connection between behaviors and outcomes. These are: 1. They have to
have a basic sense of safety and 2. the ability to tolerate distress. The
bad news is that these skills fluctuate in all of us but fluctuate even more
in teens with trauma. This means that all humans have difficulty with
feeling safe at times and all people struggle when things they do not like
happen. Teens with trauma struggle with the ability to feel safe with
other people and at times they struggle to feel safe even in their own
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skin. They also have extreme difficulty tolerating emotional distress.
Life is frustrating. There is no way around it. Small levels of frustration
for teens with trauma can lead to intense feelings of hopelessness, anger
or fear. The good news is that these skills can be taught. Teens can learn
these skills and teens with trauma can re-‐grow the skills.
Other difficulties that teens can face when they have symptoms of
trauma are:
1. Feeling so shut down they do not try
2. Extreme impulsivity
3. Missing the internal signals that they are getting into a
dangerous context.
Teens who are highly shut down may withdraw, give up easily or avoid
any tasks with significant challenges. Teens with PTSD can be highly
impulsive this can lead them being in more dangerous situations and at
risk behaviors.
Life for adults and teens often requires finding a balance between
fulfilling our short-‐term and long-‐term desires. This is one of the
developmental tasks in teen years. A teen may struggle with finding the
balance of long-‐term desires such as getting homework done so they
can have a good job and be successful and short-‐term desires like
enjoying spending time with friends. It one of the developmental tasks
of a teen to be able do boring and difficult tasks in the service of a long-‐
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term goal. Teens have a difficult time making good choices between the
enjoyment of video games and the enjoyment of a clean room.
Teens with trauma have much more difficulty with this process then
teens with out trauma. This is in part, because impulsivity can lead the
teen fulfilling their desires immediately with less thought then most
teens for the outcomes for their actions. As we have seen trauma shuts
down the thinking mind. The thinking mind is all that stands between a
teen and impulsively choosing short-‐term happiness.
Another factor effecting this is the feeling of hopelessness. Teens with
PTSD often feel as if they might die young or worry that they might not
make it to adult hood. This can lead them to thinking thoughts like,
“what does it matter if I might die.” This can increase self-‐destructive
behaviors. Teachers can help with this in several ways. First simply
being a safe, consistent, caring person can be vital for a teen and a
lifeline to a teen with trauma. Creating trauma safe curriculum can be
help the teen build the ability to tolerate distress, develop a since of “I
can” and connection the consequence of their behaviors with their
actions. Making the classroom an island of safety can help the teen
learn more effectively and achieve their goals. Third helping teens listen
to their signals of safety and danger can also make it less likely that they
put themselves in dangerous situations.
Teens with trauma often do not read the signals of danger because they
are often feeling in danger. This can lead to them missing vital cues that
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they should keep themselves safe. There are many ways to help teens
learn to monitor and attend to these signals. Reading these signals is
vital for learning as well.
Destructive Behaviors in Teen Years:
1. Increased aggression.
2. Out-‐of-‐place sexual behavior.
3. Self-‐harm. Attempt suicide.
4. Abuse of drugs or alcohol.
5. Dropping out of school, Risk of pregnancy at a young age.
Internalizing Behaviors: The Dissociative Type
Some teens implode and don’t explode. Teens who are the most
overwhelmed sometimes appear quiet, withdrawn and isolated.
Sometimes this is referred as “acting-‐in” vs “acting-‐out.” While acting
out is more dramatic and gets more attention acting in can be just as
difficult and destructive. However, it is difficult to see. Often times teens
can suffer in silence. These children can be ignored because they
appear to be doing well. They are not. They are highly shame sensitive
and need support. They may never ask for it!
Increased Internalizing Behaviors in The Teen Years:
1. With-‐drawing into their own world
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2. Acting and feeling anxious.
3. Being inhibited in normal exploration.
4. Feeling unsafe.
5. Depressed mood and behaviors.
6. Negative Emotions and beliefs.
7. Can appear “over controlled."
Poly-‐Vagal Theory: The way it works…
PTSD changes the way the brain functions. We all have an amount of
stress that is easy for us to tolerate. If an event that is stressful happens
our body and brains have the capacity to rebound and come back to
rest. For big stressors it can take some time to return to rest, for small
ones it can happen so quick we don’t even notice the stress. There are
two major systems that help us do this. These are the rest and digest
a.k.a. the social engagement system. This system is the one that is
engaged when we are relaxed at ease, curious and safe.
The other system is the fight/flight system. This is the system that is
engaged when we need to protect ourselves from danger. We need to
have access to our protective response. For teens with trauma their
protective response can lead to acting out and at times pushing away
the people who are trying to help them. This can be a delicate balance
for teachers.
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What can happen if we get too much stress is that our brains have a shut
off switch. This is like a circuit breaker in the brain. This is what
happens when individuals face traumatic levels of stress. A part of the
rest system turns on that tells the thinking mind to shut down. This
helps an individual survive and the terrible event. Some events are so
stressful our minds attempt to just not be there. However, this system
can get stuck. When the brain throws the shut off switch the person is
still stressed they are just disconnected from the stress. It is like the
teen’s brain is a car with the accelerator pushed to the floor and the
brakes slammed down. The teen looks relaxed on the outside but inside
it feels intense or worse, flat disconnected and isolated. One study of
individuals with PTSD (adults) found that 70% of the sample showed
increased heart rate to stress. Their hearts would pound at high rates.
This makes good sense considering what people think of those with
PTSD.
Interestingly the other 30% did not have a normal heart rate. Their
heart rate actually dropped. This is what happens when the person’s
brain and mind goes into freeze. Their stress levels drop, their mind
shuts down, their body gets tight or extremely relaxed (looks collapsed).
This is the biology of what is happening in those children who are
imploding on the inside. This is call hypoactivation or under activation.
This state effects other areas of the brain and can be seen in an FMRI
scan of the brain.
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Hypoactivation: In the brain
For those who implode instead of explode (a.k.a. hypoarousal) they can
feel “dead inside” their facial expression looks flat. They can appear to
look like they are warring a mask. One of the key parts of emotions are
physical cues from the body. These physical cues like heart rate, tight
stomach, tingly feelings build the “felt-‐experience” of emotions. Another
part of emotions is the thoughts that interoperate the feelings. For those
who implode at a brain level their minds disconnect the feelings from
the body that signal stress and emotions. The areas that help regulate
emotions are overactive so that even the small amount of sensations
getting up from the body are squelched leaving the individual feeling
disconnected, emotionally flat, and dissociated.
Ruth Lanius Found in an fMRI Study…
1. Down regulation of physical sensations from the insula cortex.
The insular cortex brings up signals from the body about hunger,
emotions, tiredness and safety. These signals are very important
in helping us stay safe. If someone cannot read their emotional
cues they can put themselves in dangerous situations where they
are more likely to have another traumatic experience.
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2. Hyperactivation activation in the anterior cigulet cortex (ACC).
This is an area that regulates emotions. The ACC can help calm
emotions down and is the communicator between our thinking
mind and our feeling body.
3. Hyperactivation in the medial prefrontal cortex mPFC. This is the
area that is the highest most complex area of emotion regulation.
This area is highly engaged. So that even though teens might have
fear activated in by the fear center of the brain it is shut down
intensely by the emotion regulation system.
Externalizing Behaviors: The Hyperarousal Type
Increased Externalizing Behaviors (e.g. acting out). Intense feelings of
anxiety and easily triggered anger can lead to many difficult behaviors.
Teens can react defiantly. They are often defiant and can go from
relaxed to terror or rage quickly. Teens in general are impulsive and act
out their feelings. Teens with externalizing behaviors can be more
impulsive, have difficulty concentrating and drop out more frequently
then other children. These teens can ruin their relationships with
authority figures and at times have difficulty tolerating friendship. Their
ability to regulate their emotions is low. Due to this they display more
emotions often eliciting more negative emotions from teachers, parents
and friends.
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Externalizing Behaviors for Teens:
1. Disruptive behavior: e.g. talking back in class, blurting out
answers, interrupting others, highly defensive when given
feedback.
2. Hyperactivity: e.g. fighting, moving in seat, wanting to get out of
the class, always sharpening pencils etc.
3. Aggressive behaviors: e.g. yelling, fighting with teens, verbal
threats, throwing things, braking things.
4. Delinquency: e.g. steeling, lying, bullying.
5. Impulsivity: e.g. very little time between thought and action,
highly influenced by emotional states, putting pleasure in the
moment very high above long-‐term pleasure.
6. Teens with PTSD are often referred to as having conduct
problems
7. Can display what “antisocial behaviors” – When an individual is in
high “fight/flight” states their brains disengage their empathy and
social engagement system. This can lead to behaviors that appear
to not have basic respect for others. Teens with PTSD also at times
have experienced extraordinarily difficult and violent events.
Sometimes traumatic re-‐enactment can lead to highly destructive
behavior. Re-‐enactment is an attempt by the teen to gain mastery
over the difficult situation.
8. Appear under-‐controlled: Teens with PTSD often appear like they
just don’t event try to control their feelings and impulses. This can
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be highly frustrating or teachers, parents and friends. These
behaviors can negatively impact the teen’s relationships.
Poly-‐Vagal Theory: The way it works…
Teens with the Externalizing pattern of behaviors are about the 70%
those with PTSD. These are the individuals who have higher fight/flight
activation after a stressor. In other words these are the kids who are
constantly anxious, hyper and frustrated. These teens when stressed
react quickly and intensely to the stressor. What is happening in the
autonomic nervous system (the body’s stress and rest system) for these
teens is, their fight/flight system engages and the rest and digest system
disengages. In other words they get angry or anxious and their brains
natural calming mechanism disengages. This leads to intense feelings of
anger or fear. For those with PTSD the rest system has more trouble re-‐
engaging. These teens can feel anxious, overwhelmed, and like stress is
never ending. Teens with trauma tend to feel like they are driving a car
with the gas peddle to the floor through a pedestrian filled street. For
these teens it is like when they push the gas peddle down at all it goes to
the floor (e.g. get stressed or angry) and it gets stuck. They then try the
brake and it does not work. The teen then is dodging traffic (friends,
teachers, parent, learning) at 60 mph with no way to slow down. What
educators can do is help a teen whose gas pedal is stuck to get it
unstuck. There are many ways help trigger the rest/social engagement
system. These will be discussed below. These changes also impact the
teen’s brain.
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Hyperactivation
Neurobiology
For the externalizing teen when they have a mild stressor or a trauma
trigger they are flooded with intense emotional feelings from their body.
These feelings typically are soothed by key parts of our brains. For the
teen with PTSD they are flooded with these feelings and at the same
time the brain system that is supposed to help the sensations calm
down shuts down. This leaves the teen in an intense state that can feel
tortuous with no ability to help it calm down.
Ruth Lanius Found in an fMRI Study…
1. Over activation in the insula. (in other words bringing extreme
amounts of information from the body’s emotional signals)
2. Under-‐activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) (area
needed to regulate the body sensations brought up from the
insula). This leads to lots of feeling with poor ability to calm the
feeling down.
3. Under-‐activation medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) (area needed to
regulate the body sensations brought up from the insula). This
leads to poor emotion regulation. Also, it leads to lower self-‐
awareness and a higher tendency to not see how the teen impacts
others.
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Working with the Traumatized Teen
Trauma can be a shattering life-‐event. Teens already are prone to
feeling disconnected from society, adults and peers. Traumatic events
can lead to increased feelings of isolation. This combination can be very
detrimental to a teen. Traumatic events are often caused by people who
are trusted by the teenager. That rupture in trust can make it more
difficult to the teen to move out of isolation and back into a trusting
relationship with authority figures.
Fluctuating moods, intense emotions, externalizing behaviors, lack of
trust and avoidance behaviors can lead a teenager to act in ways that
damages important relationships. Working with an adolescent who has
experienced trauma requires building trust, tolerating acting out (with
firmly challenging poor behaviors) while supporting the teen to make
safe choices and their life.
Adults working with traumatized teenagers need to be very aware of
the subtle attachment behaviors that can alert the teen at the adult they
are with his safe. It is also important for adults to know that subtle facial
expressions, body positions, behaviors, tones of voice, and interaction
styles can trigger a fight/flight response. In other words seemingly
simple actions can lead to intense feelings for the teen.
If a teenager has a fight flight response it’s important to assess if there
were triggers in the way a care provider was talking, behaving, or
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displaying emotion. Trauma triggers are “classically conditioned.” This
means they’re often not logical, connected to things that we would
expect, and in response to the trigger is highly disproportionate to the
event.
The disproportionate nature of the traumatic response to the event can
be highly frustrating and confusing to the adult care providers working
with the traumatized teenager. Because the adult responses to a child’s
externalizing behavior can also trigger the fight flight further, it
imperative for care providers to be able to tolerate, regulate, and
redirect highly emotional behavior in a centered, firm and direct manor.
Remember emotions are contagious! And the emotions of trauma are
extremely intense. Therefore it’s important to learn some skills at
regulating your own responses to intense emotions too. See the ebook
on tools to regulate emotions.
The “Attitude”
The “Attitude” creates safety and lays the groundwork for effective
teaching.
1. Calm: Stay calm ware the poker face and remain warm.
2. Firm: Stick to the rules while remaining kind and supportive.
3. Accepting: Accept the child fully not the actions.
4. Empathic: Your empathy helps the child grow empathy for others
5. Playful and Curious: Enjoyment is key for a child or teen with
trauma. Curiosity is the Hallmark of safety.
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Attachment Behaviors
Creating Social Bonds: Social bonds increase the impact of the
educational relationship.
STEPS:
1. Create Safety (eye contact – upper face working). Our upper face
including our eyes give strong signals of safety to the child’s fight flight
system. How you approach a child can lead to increase chance of success
in a triggering situation.
2. Approach Proximity (physical/ emotional closeness). Teens with
PTSD can be easily triggered. Allow the teen to notice that you are there
before trying to create emotional contact.
3. Establish Contact (emotional contact). Once you have laid the
foundation establish emotional contact by engaging in a topic. Use the
tools below to increases success.
Self-‐Empowerment: Uses positive emotions to build on existing
strengths.
Your body talks: Your whole presence communicates safety.
High Vocal Prosody: Reduces stress through increased social
engagement via changing tuning of inner ear.
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Eye Contact: Reduces stress response 1. Make sure type of eye contact
with in cultural norms, 2. Follow patient’s lead (trauma).
Heart Face Connection: Core social engagement system. Seen in contact
between mother and child. Can be evoked through face to face caring
contact.
Environment Matters: Small amounts of physical beauty impacts stress.
Development of Emotional Regulation
Overview: The rupture repair cycle is one of the key tools that grow
emotional regulation. It also grows the emotional regulation centers in
the brain. If there are small ruptures in the relationship that are
followed by repairs, the relationship gets stronger. If there are difficult
emotions followed by positive emotions and social engagement the
ability to regulate the emotions get stronger.
Tools that develop emotional regulation:
Validation – Validation is giving some one the experience of being
understood. Listening to some one and appreciating their emotions as
real is one of the key tools for validation. Validation is not agreeing!
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Decoding – This is a three step process. It is vital to help teens understand
their inner world. It is a key way we feel connected to one another. It is
vital to learning how to manage our emotions.
1. The first step is noticing the other’s reaction.
2. The second is making a guess about what the reaction is and
naming it in a non-‐shaming “descriptive” manor to the teen.
3. The third gives the teen a chance to agree or disagree with your
interpretation. You ask if you go the guess about what was going
on with the teen right.
Modeling acceptance – Difficult things happen to all of us. At times it is
important to be able to model the ability to accept situations.
Resourcing – Helping the teen find a positive coping skill, personal
strength or identify something that makes them feel good.
Balance of Love and Respect
For all of us we need to balance of love and respect. For teens it is very
important. Their life stage is asking them to be independent. This means
they will push against authority figures. They need to learn both from
authority that this is simply time to respect the adults and that adults
care. One of the most important lesson for teens to understand is that
love and caring are why adults give discipline. For this to be the case
discipline must happen in a context of respect and support. This can be
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difficult for the teen with PTSD. Many times those adults in their life
who should have been safe were not. Many times they have felt that
discipline has come out of anger and aggression rather then to support
them. This can lead them to expect that discipline is unfair and is
irrelevant to them.
Threat and Arousal in
Class Room Management
When a child becomes too angry the front brain shuts down. Their
limbic system (mammal and lizard brain) kicks in. The child or teen
does not see the person but sees people as a threat. Teens are more
susceptible to this then adults. When adults see a face that is angry they
use their front brain to interoperate the emotions. When teens attempt
to do this they use the amygdale (fight-‐flight center). This means they
have a higher tendency to over react.
There is a fast acting circuit in the brain that communicates threat.
There is a slow acting circuit that appraises threat but uses the front
brain. There is a way to speak to the fast acting circuit that makes it feel
safe. Learning these tools can make you extremely effective at defusing
difficult situations.
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Threat and Arousal in Curriculum
Threat shuts down the front brain. Lowers Ach a neural chemical
associated with learning and concentration. Hyperaroused teens also
often have significant numbers of negative thoughts that distract them
from focusing. Curriculum can trigger threat too as, the teen expects or
fears failure. Learning is difficult. In order to be able to learn one must
be able to tolerate the negative feelings and thoughts one has during the
learning process.
Movies manage our threat arousal cycle very well. They scare us and
then make it ok. They use the “rupture repair cycle.” This is important
for children with PTSD as well as helping all kids learn.
Build learning around the four zones:
1. Safety Zone (easy work)
2. Stretch zone (slightly difficult work)
3. Growth Zone (difficult work)
4. Danger Zone (Overwhelm no learning possible)
If there has been too much stretch for too long it can be overwhelming
there needs to balance and a movement to material that is comfortable
for teen. If work is too easy the teen will disengage.
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Threat and Arousal
in Student Behaviors
Recognizing threat is important.
1. Physical signs of fight/flight arousal: Fidgeting, tense jaw, tight
shoulders or fists, flush or pale skin, pupils dilated, sweating,
breathing changes, defensive postures.
2. Vocal signs of fight/flight arousal: Lack of musicality (vocal
prosody), short clipped sentences, angry tone or silence.
Key Points: Trauma in Teen Years
1. Teens with trauma often: Display: Increased aggression, hyper
sexuality, self-‐harm/suicide, drug and alcohol addiction, drop
out of school, pregnancy.
2. Feel: Fear, worry, sadness, feeling alone/isolated, anger, feeling
judged, low self-‐worth, and mistrustful of others.
3. Externalizing: Impulsivity, These Children are often referred to
as having conduct problems, Display antisocial behaviors,
Disruptive behavior, Hyperactivity, Aggressive behaviors,
Delinquency.
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4. Hyperactivation: The hyperactivated individual floods with
information from the body and has less capacity to regulate the
intense sensation.
5. Internalizing: Some teens implode and don’t explode.
Withdrawing into their own world; Acting and feeling anxious;
Being inhibited in normal exploration; Feeling unsafe;
Depressed mood and behaviors. Negative Emotions and beliefs.
Can appear “over controlled.” These teens are highly shame
sensitive and they may never ask for help.
6. Hypoactivation: For the hypoarousal type, only a small amount
of interceptive cues get into the limbic cortex and are quickly
squelched by cortical structures, leaving the individual feeling
disconnected, emotionally flat, and dissociated.
7. The work can be frustrating. Before you confront regulate
yourself. Put on your own oxygen mask first.
8. Trauma triggers are classically conditioned. This means they’re
often not logical. The disproportionate nature of the traumatic
response to the event trigger in response can be highly
frustrating and confusing.
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9. Building trust, tolerated acting out but supporting the teen to
make safe choices and their life.
10. Adults working with traumatized teenagers need to be very
aware of the subtle attachment behaviors that can alert the
teen at the adult they are with his safe.
11. The “Attitude”: creates safety and lays the ground work for
effective teaching. Five parts: Calm, Firm, Accepting, Empathic,
Playful and Curious.
12. Building Emotion Regulation: Rupture repair cycle (Good, Tuff,
Good – Sandwich).
13. Five skills to build Emotion Regulation: Validation, Decoding,
Modeling Acceptance, Resourcing, “The Attitude.”
14. Threat in Curriculum: Learning can trigger threat itself.
Learning is difficult. Threat shuts down the front brain making
learning even more difficult.
15. Choose your zone (Safety, Stretch, Growth and Danger) and
watch the physical signs of “stress.”
16. Threat in Classroom Management When a child becomes too
angry the front brain shuts down.
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17. Their limbic system (mammal and lizard brain) kicks in. The
child or teen does not see the person but sees people as a
threat.
18. There is a way to speak the language of the limbic system to
help a teen move from threat to safety.
19. Creating Social Bonds: Social bonds increase the impact of the
educational relationship. Five behaviors: Your body talks, High
Vocal Prosody, Eye Contact, (make sure type of eye contact
with in cultural norms), Heart Face Connection,
20. Environment Matters. School attachment predicts educational
success. You are the key to school attachment!
21. Remember to balance love and respect both are needed to help
teens with trauma.
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A word of caution!
Learning anything new takes work! Some people may try to implement these
skills once, feel frustrated that they did not work and give up. As you
practice you get stronger!
On another note: as always contact your therapist or seek out a therapist who
can work with you if you find this material triggering!
Well, that about covers it for the Ebook “Trauma Safe Schools Series:
Overview.” I hope you enjoyed it.
We always love to hear people’s thoughts about how this has helped you in
your life. Please feel free to send us questions, feed back and thoughts!
