Teaching with strengths in trauma-affected students: A new approach to healing and growth in the classroom.

Teaching with strengths in trauma-affected students: A new approach to healing and growth in the classroom. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2015 Jan;85(1):3-9 Authors: Brunzell T, Waters L, Stokes H Abstract The National Child Traumatic Stress Network in the United States reports that up to 40% of students have experienced, or been witness to, traumatic stressors in their short lifetimes. These include home destabilization, violence, neglect, sexual abuse, substance abuse, death, and other adverse childhood experiences. The effects of trauma on a child severely compound the ability to self-regulate and sustain healthy relationships. In the classroom, the effects of trauma may manifest as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, oppositional defiance disorder, reactive attachment, disinhibited social engagement, and/or acute stress disorders. In this article, the authors contend that the classroom can be positioned as a powerful place of intervention for posttraumatic healing both in the context of special education and in mainstream classrooms that contain trauma-affected students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved). PMID: 25642652 [PubMed - in process]
Source: The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Am J Orthopsychiatry Source Type: research