Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

Lakeside

First Presenter’s Email Address

kvanhorn@lakesidelink.com

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Kathy Van Horn is a licensed psychologist, certified teacher and certified school counselor. She has been working in the field of education for over 40 years. She currently is Executive Vice President of Lakeside Educational Network and works part time as a professor in Eastern University’s graduate counseling department. Kathy has been trained by the Child Trauma Academy in the Neurosequential Model of both Therapeutics and Education. For the past five years, Kathy has been consulting and training school personnel both nationally and internationally through Lakeside’s NeuroLogic® Initiative. She has presented in regional, state, national and international conferences. Kathy has recently published a curriculum, Realizing Brain Potential that teaches trauma-informed principles to middle and high school students.

Location

Session Six Breakouts

Strand #1

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Strand #2

Head: Academic Achievement & Leadership

Relevance

This presentation applies to Head, Heart, Hands, and Health- but Head and Heart stand out the most because teaching this information to our students helps close the achievement gap fostering equity in learning, and it helps improve social and emotional skills when students can regulate their brains from the bottom up. When students know this information it can have a significant impact on school culture.

Brief Program Description

All students are impacted by stress and can improve learning through understanding the brain and brain regulation. For students who have experienced trauma this information is critical to their success. This presentation will provide guidelines, ideas, and strategies for teaching students key trauma-informed principles including strategies for physical, emotional, and cortical regulation. These principles and strategies can be taught to students individually or through group and classroom settings. Practical ideas and examples will be given along with feedback and lessons learned from the students we have taught.

Summary

All students are impacted by stress and can improve learning through understanding the brain and brain regulation. For students who have experienced trauma, however, this information will be critical to their success. For these reasons, it is important to empower all students with information and understanding about trauma along with concepts and interventions for brain regulation and healing. When information about the impact of trauma is shared with students without first establishing a solid foundation for hope and change, it can do more harm than good. In this presentation, you will learn guidelines and strategies for teaching students key trauma-informed principles including physical, emotional and social, and cortical regulation strategies as well as an understanding of the stress response.

These principles and strategies can be taught to students individually or through group or classroom settings. Feedback and lessons learned from students will be included.

During this presentation, I use stories, pictures, and videos to keep the audience engaged. A PowerPoint is used and made available to help the audience follow along. I use a parallel process to teach the audience as I would want them to teach the students, with hands-on examples that they can experience as I speak. I also use thought-provoking questions and discussions with a neighbor or small group to get the audience to process the material.

Evidence

Cox, A, Perry, B.D., and Frederico, M. (2021) Resourcing the System and Enhancing Relationships: Pathways to Positive Outcomes for Children Impacted by Abuse and Neglect. Child Welfare, Vol. 98, No. 6

Perry, B.D. and Szalavitz, M. (2017). The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist’s Notebook. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Harris, N.B. (2018). The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Van de Kolk, B.A. (2014) The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

Learning Objective 1

Participants will be able to identify the importance of and strategies for establishing a foundation of hope and an understanding of brain regulation

Learning Objective 2

Participants will be able to recognize key areas and opportunities for teaching students about trauma-informed principles within their setting.

Learning Objective 3

Participants will be able to conceptualize a plan for teaching students about trauma, stress, and brain regulation.

Keyword Descriptors

Brain, Trauma, Regulation, Empowering students, Teaching students, Curriculum

Presentation Year

2022

Start Date

3-8-2022 1:00 PM

End Date

3-8-2022 2:15 PM

Download

Share

COinS
 
Mar 8th, 1:00 PM Mar 8th, 2:15 PM

Teaching Students about Trauma, Stress, and Brain Regulation

Session Six Breakouts

All students are impacted by stress and can improve learning through understanding the brain and brain regulation. For students who have experienced trauma this information is critical to their success. This presentation will provide guidelines, ideas, and strategies for teaching students key trauma-informed principles including strategies for physical, emotional, and cortical regulation. These principles and strategies can be taught to students individually or through group and classroom settings. Practical ideas and examples will be given along with feedback and lessons learned from the students we have taught.