School Counselor Consultation, 2nd Edition

15Consultation and Trauma-Infused Practices

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS

What is Trauma?

Recognizing the Signs of Trauma

Trauma-Informed Practices in Schools

The Role of the School Counselor in Building Trauma-Informed Schools

• Design and Deliver a Comprehensive School Counseling Program
• Pay Attention to the Classroom Climate
• Address Trauma with a Multitiered Approach
• Leverage Consultation to Strengthen Stakeholder Skills
• Engage in School-Wide Practices to Promote and Empower All Students
• Establish Community Partnerships

Summary

What is Trauma?

Traumatic events disrupt healthy child and adolescent development. Trauma can create intense feelings of distress and have significant long-term consequences. Because trauma is a response to an event or series of events, each person’s experience is unique. An individual’s environment and level of resilience, as well as the nature, frequency, and duration of the activating event, can influence trauma. Exposure to trauma can be experienced directly or as a bystander or witness. Researchers investigating trauma exposure offer robust evidence of the damaging effects of prolonged periods of stress on students’ cognitive, emotional, physical, and psychological development (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019; Felitti et al., 1998). Similarly, evidence corroborates that trauma can affect any student (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2014). The American Psychological Association (APA, 2008) reported ...