What does it mean to be "trauma informed"? 🤔 What I am using that term, I am using it in relation to working with TRAUMA AFFECTED people. What are the basics, you say? 🦋 Understanding how trauma effects individuals. How it affects the brain, and it"s systems. How it effects relationships. How it affects bodily functions: i.e. digestion, cognition, nervous system. 🦋 Moving from that understanding taking a deeper look at, and understanding what TRAUMA may look like, in people they treat, teach, coach, counsel. And in even in people they are parenting, or have some form of relationship with. 🦋 Understanding how the brain responds to a threat. The survival tactics used by the brain to process the trauma (which it has a really hard time doing). These tactics are basically: Fight/Flight/Freeze/Fawn. 🦋Examining behaviors that you may see in your classroom, therapy session, work, family. Trauma greatly effects our ability to have, let's say, "typical" interactions and relationships with people. 🦋 De-escalation tactics that you can use to help someone re-regulate their nervous system. A lot of times, especially with "challenging or difficult" children people want to say "calm down" or "stop doing that" or bark directions. (We won't discuss people/programs that use physically coercive tactics, because, ew). 🦋Not taking things personally and attempting unconditional positive regard. Someone's trauma reactions are not based on their relationship with you, typically. This is especially true if you are a professional and have some form of professional relationship with this person. 🦋 I ALWAYS talk about unconditional positive regard when I talk about my work with TRAUMA AFFECTED children. What I say is that even if child is physically or verbally aggressive with me, I will continue to treat them with respect/kindness/patience/care. 🦋 Having a clear understanding of what modalities and interventions work, and which do not. Mindfulness practices have been found to be helpful, breathing techniques and other strategies.

I am taking a self care day. I hope that you all get a chance to take care of yourselves well! Here are some ideas that may help. See you tomorrow!!!

I was amazingly blessed to study self-defense with Nadia Telsey!! She wrote a book in her last years and I am so happy to pass on her theory, her information and the skills she taught me over the 5ish years that I actively trained and worked with her. Check out this article, written specifically about Nadia and her "brand" of Women's Empowerment Self Defense.

"Trauma doesn’t make us abnormal — it makes us adapted. There is nothing “wrong” with a nervous system that learned to survive" @Christopher Whitehead-Baines

Should children that display "challenging behaviors" be punished? Do children with Oppositional Defiance Disorder or an Emotional/Behavioral Disorder act "bad" on purpose? Often, so often, children that display these characteristics are TRAUMA AFFECTED. When thinking about how trauma causes us to go into SURVIVAL MODE: making us choose to fight/flee/fawn or freeze. Children who show "challenging behaviors" are in FIGHT mode and their BRAIN'S BELIEVE that they are in danger, mortal danger. I will talk more about this and how to address these "behaviors" in my classes and videos. I will say that I also go into FIGHT MODE when my survival instinct is activated, and many people DO consider it a character flaw instead of an issue with my BRAIN not working correctly. Trauma causes BRAIN DAMAGE. The more trauma the more damage. The longer the trauma lasted the more damage.