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Become a Trauma-Informed Care trainer for your district!

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Become a Trauma-Informed Care trainer for your district!

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The California Health Collaborative can provide the prerequisite trauma-informed care training for staff who wish to complete the CRI Training of Trainer's course. Explore the CRI website for additional resources for trauma-sensitive teaching.

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Training | Community Resilience Initiative | Walla Walla

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Training offered by Community Resilience Initiative: We offer a toolkit, framework and logic model to help build a plan for your community.

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Want a universal space for all students to access? A wellness room can be a great addition to positive behavioral intervention services at your school.

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School Wellness Centers #2 -Transitional Stress

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Schools can support the wellness of educators with intentionality.

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Sensory Pathways- Movement to Support Regulation

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Sensory Pathways- Movement to Support Regulation

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Schools are finding fun and creative ways to engage students in movement to support self-regulation and focus.

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Dr. Shawn Ginwright speaks on healing-centered engagement with young people.

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Foundation for Healthy Generations (Healthy Gen)

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Highlight Clip: Dr. Shawn Ginwright Keynote

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Eplore what National Compadres Network has to offer!

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Britline- Mental Health Resources for Families

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Britline- Mental Health Resources for Families

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California has developed a central hub for families to access behavioral health coaching to support the mental health needs of children and families. Share this resource with parents in your community today!

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Behavioral health coaching for parents, caregivers, and kids 0-12.

No costs attached. No insurance required. No referrals needed.

California cares. That's why California is paying for 100% of the care your family gets through BrightLife Kids.

Real coaches. Real simple. Really free - for all California families.

Families have questions. We have answers.

Infants & Toddlers

Coaching for new(ish) parents/caregivers

Learn how to build non-verbal communication skills, navigate milestones, teach toddlers how to share, solutions for separation anxiety, and more.

Kids

Coaching for kids and parents/caregivers

Develop more patience, encourage independence, solve sleep issues, support making friends and showing kindness, and more.

Tweens

Coaching for preteens and parents/caregivers

Manage friendships, stress, and social pressures, and learn how to navigate your tweens' growing sense of independence - together.

I often feel like a failure as a parent, but Brightline has been giving me hope that it can get better.

- BrightLife Kids parent

Our Mission

To help all kids see a bright future, we provide no-cost, expert behavioral health support for California families with children ages 0-12.

Our Approach

We make it easy for parents and kids to get the help they need with live coaching sessions via video, secure chat, and on-demand digital resources.

Our Care

Our bilingual coaches come from diverse backgrounds, have experience with LGBTQ+ and BIPOC populations, and are trained in personalized coaching.

What does BrightLife Kids offer?

What does BrightLife Kids help parents and caregivers with?

We are here to help you become the parents/caregivers you want to be. How? With a dedicated coach who communicates directly with you and your child to provide expert behavioral health guidance (along with on-demand resources). It's all yours - anytime and from anywhere.

Parents/caregivers of infants/toddlers ages 0-4 learn how to:

Identify "normal" development and when it's time to seek help

Help kids make friends and show kindness

Help toddlers work through frustration/tantrums

Build patience with defiant behavior

Get their kids to try new things, places, and foods

And much more

Parents/caregivers of kids ages 5-8 get help with:

Learning to express big emotions like sadness, worries, and anger in healthy ways

Encouraging age-appropriate independence and responsibility

Balancing alone time with social time

Finding organizational skills that work for your child

Eating healthy foods that are good for brains and bodies

And much more

Parents/caregivers of kids ages 9-12 partner with coaches to learn how to:

Set boundaries online/on social media (how to use it safely and reduce arguments about where/when/how much is okay)

Stay true to themselves when peer pressure starts

Build communication skills, manage conflict, and increase confidence

Manage relationships at home and friendships at school

Foster inclusivity and self-acceptance

And much more

Our provider really helped our son navigate his big feelings. She was kind and patient and provided many tools that he uses to manage his emotions on a day to day basis.

- BrightLife Kids parent

Frequently Asked Questions

Parenting is hard, and the stakes are high, and now I feel like I have a parenting coach. Improving my parenting and my relationship with my kids pays off in terms of my quality of life SO much.

- Brightlife Kids parent

Get the app

All clinical services are provided by licensed physicians and clinicians practicing within independently owned and operated professional practices. For patients in California, this is known as "Brightline Medical Associates of California, Inc." For patients in New Jersey, this is known as "Brightline Medical Associates of NJ, PA." For patients in Kansas, this is known as "Brightline Medical Associates of KS, PA." For patients in all other states, this is known as "Brightline Medical Associates, PA". Brightline, Inc. does not itself provide any physician, behavioral health professional, or other healthcare provider services.

© Brightline. All Rights Reserved. 2024

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BrightLife Kids - A CalHope Program by Brightline

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BrightLife Kids is a virtual mental health platform for California families with children ages 0-12. Support your kids' behavioral health and wellbeing with digital tools, resources and virtual support from experts in youth mental health.

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GoNoodle is one among a variety of virtual tools that can support the implementation of movement activities that can benefit all students regulatory systems.

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About the California Surgeon General

The role of the California Surgeon General was created in 2019 by Governor Gavin Newsom to marshal the insights and energy of medical professionals, scientists, public health experts, public servants, and everyday Californians to drive solutions to our most pressing public health challenges. Dr. Diana E. Ramos is a well-recognized public health leader, and as California's Surgeon General, serves as a leading spokesperson on health disparities, social determinants of health, preconception/interconception health, preterm birth, contraception and quality improvement in health.
"My hope for every Californian is a healthier, more equitable future. That is my commitment, and the Office of the California Surgeon General's commitment to you. I look forward to serving you."
- California Surgeon General, Dr. Diana Ramos

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Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress are a public health crisis. We can take action to change and save lives.

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Visit the Flourish Agenda to learn how to you can become a Healing-Centered Engagement Practitioner.

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Our Radical Healing process gets people off the path of the discouragement and onto the path of possibility and hope.

Radical Healing practices and principles restore hope, power, and possibilities in schools and youth serving organizations. Radical Healing builds relationships that improve organizational climate and support the well-being. We help youth-serving institutions incorporate powerful strategies and more effective policies to support young people by boosting their culture, agency, relationships, sense of meaning, and aspirations (CARMA).
WE TEACH PEOPLE TO:

1. Be more effective in building individual, collective, and organizational well-being.

2. Create approaches that improve young people's social emotional well-being.

3. Develop strategies that heal rather than harm young people.

4. Cultivate practices that improve school and organizational climate and racial equity.

5. Form networks for innovation and learning.

6. Adopt the right metrics to gauge progress toward well-being and equity.

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Flourish Agenda | Creating Strategies That Allow Young People To Flourish!

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Radical Healing practices and principles restore hope, power, and possibilities in schools and youth serving organizations. Radical Healing builds relationships that improve organizational climate and support the well-being. We help youth-serving institutions incorporate powerful strategies and more effective policies to support young people by boosting their culture, agency, relationships, sense of meaning, and aspirations (CARMA).

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Kristin Neff: The Three Components of Self-Compassion

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Engaging in self-compassion benefits your wellness and can lead to greater compassion for others.

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Free Meditations & Practices - Center for Mindful Self-Compassion

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The following meditations and exercises are drawn from the MSC program, and are presented in order of the particular MSC sessions in which they are taught. Some exercises are in... Read more

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Digital booklets to expand your knowledge

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Digital booklets to expand your knowledge

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Explore these digital resources to expand your knowledge, insight, and strategies.

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Digital Products - Community Resilience Initiative

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View Digital Products offered by CRI here!

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Car y Corazon- Culturally/Healing Centered Family Strengthening

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Car y Corazon- Culturally/Healing Centered Family Strengthening

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The National Compadres Network focus on healing families through the Cara y Corazon curriculum. Interested in holding space for Cara y Corazon for families and staff in your school community? Contact the California Health Collaborative- your local Cara y Corazon facilitators.

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Using indigenous families’ rituals for restorative healing

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Understanding the financial impact of ACEs can support Educational Leaders in moving policies and practices toward trauma-informed and healing-centered.

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Engaging youth and families from the protective factors perspective.

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Ready4K® - Evidence-Based Family Engagement

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As an educator, it's one thing to understand terms like "trauma" and "adverse childhood events" when working with students. But when you witness those events, and the lasting impact they have on a child, it changes how you think about trauma forever. And many of us educators can recall an example of how trauma impacted everyday life, either in the students we serve or even in our own lives.

"I can't go to school," M. told me. "How can I learn when I know that so much bad stuff can happen?"

M. had lost their grandmother on Mother's Day the month before this moment. But their list of bad things that could happen extended far beyond the death of a loved one. A single traumatic event had uprooted M.'s whole sense of security, throwing everything into question. It affected M.'s sleep, moods, behaviors and learning.

I ended up keeping M. home that day, and they spent time snuggling, talking, walking the dog, and planting flowers. As evening approached, they shared, "I'm really excited to go to school tomorrow. I remembered about all my protectors."

"Tell me about them," I said.

"Well," M. said with a deep breath, "you and daddy are my protectors, and my sisters are my protectors, and my friends like Mikey and Fionn-with-an-O. And also making up poems and tap dancing and books, too. And my good dream pillow and the backyard..."

Though the trauma of losing their grandmother still affected M., in that moment, they found both solace and a path forward back to learning thanks to these protective factors - conditions or attributes in individuals, families, and communities that promote the health and well-being of children and families.

This story is just one of many that demonstrate the power of protective factors to help kids with building resilience against trauma's impact. But educators may not always know who is impacted by trauma in their school community. Families, students, and even educators themselves all bring their own experiences to the table, and these experiences can influence how they engage within family-school partnerships, in the classroom, and beyond.

This is why the protective factors framework is so critical for schools and districts. When its guiding principles are woven into the fabric of family, school, and community partnerships, everyone is buffered against the negative effects of trauma, regardless of their past experiences - and everyone has that much greater opportunity to thrive.

Understanding the effects of trauma and how to counter them

Before we dive into the protective factors framework, let's take a step back and define:

Each of these terms is essential for educators, as the protective factors framework is a research-informed approach that can help not only with teaching students but also with family-school partnerships. When educators account for protective factors in their family engagement strategies, they create a pathway for students and families to experience a better future.

What is trauma?

The American Psychological Association defines 'trauma' as 'an emotional response to a terrible event.' Most educators may be familiar with trauma in the context of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which the CDC defines as 'potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood,' or anytime between birth through adolescence.

It's important to remember that what is traumatic for one person may not be for another. Yes, there are certain common examples of trauma that affect many people, such as a natural disaster event or the loss of a loved one as my family and M. experienced. In some cases, however, adverse trauma effects arise after small, repeated exposure to harmful situations, environments, or events.

For professionals like child welfare practitioners, social workers, therapists, and educators who work with children who have experienced ACEs, it is critical to leverage what's called a trauma-informed approach in their work.

What is trauma-informed care?

According to the Buffalo Center for Social Research, applying a trauma-informed lens to care means that a service provider "assumes that an individual is more likely than not to have a history of trauma... [and] recognizes the presence of trauma symptoms and acknowledges the role trauma may play in an individual's life." This approach scales up beyond individual practices, too, and is especially powerful at the organizational and programmatic levels.

Another way to think about a trauma-informed approach in action is through the SAMHSA's 4Rs model. The 4Rs are a guide for practitioners in their everyday practices to:

At their core, trauma-informed methods seek to reduce causing unintentional harm and to build trusting relationships while providing services to children and adults.

Risk factors exacerbate trauma - protective factors buffer against it

Research has identified a number of risk factors that may increase the likelihood of child abuse and other ACEs occurring. The Trauma Survivor Network (TSN) highlights the following examples of life stressors that can act as risk factors - many, if not all, of which are not the responsibility of the child experiencing trauma:

In contrast, protective factors can lessen the risk of ACEs, acting as a buffer against the effects of trauma. Protective factors can also promote healthy child development and family strengths.

The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) synthesized research about protective factors and their impact on countering the effects of trauma into a protective factors framework. Called Strengthening Families, this model is "an organized set of strengths-based ideas that are used to guide programs, services, supports and interventions aimed at preventing child maltreatment and promoting healthy outcomes."

According to the framework, there are five key protective factors known to reduce harm caused by trauma:

These factors are critical for healthcare providers, therapists, and other human service professionals working with children and their families. Protective factors mitigate the negative outcomes from ACEs and set up each child for a brighter future.

Protective factors make all the difference in family engagement

Taking a trauma-informed approach doesn't just apply to social or mental health workers. In fact, you may have already noticed similarities between the protective factors framework and Dr. Karen Mapp's Dual Capacity-Building Framework for schools. Dr. Mapp's model, too, emphasizes using strengths-based strategies to build positive family relationships with teachers, school admin, and other staff supporting kids' learning. Educators, families, and students all benefit from integrating these protective factors into family-school partnerships.

Research already demonstrates that effective family engagement contributes to a number of positive outcomes for children, including increased academic achievement, increased graduation rates, reduced teacher absenteeism, and overall improved student mental and physical health. Adding the elements of the protective factors framework can further bolster these outcomes.

Of all the protective factors highlighted in the framework, family engagement can make a massive difference in supporting students to cultivate positive social connections. Research shows that when a child has a caring, trusting relationship with even just one adult in their life, they experience higher academic achievement, greater motivation, and improved self-efficacy. Family-school partnerships are all about building a team of caring adults around each student to bolster the child's wellbeing and academic success.

How then can educators across all grade-levels leverage each of these five protective factors to cultivate family-school partnerships that help students thrive?

Putting the protective factors framework into practice

ParentPowered has worked with hundreds of education partners - including schools, districts, early childhood programs, and community-based organizations - to create everyday learning opportunities for their families that directly benefit student learning. One program in particular is specifically designed to align with the protective factors framework and honor the 4Rs: ParentPowered Trauma Informed.

From our own experiences building this program, we've synthesized four examples of how educators can put the protective factors framework into practice to cultivate trust and partnership with their families. Each of these effective strategies can be adapted to fit your unique classroom, school, or community needs.

#1: Reflect on your organization's current practices

More than half of children in the U.S. have experienced at least one ACE in their lifetime ( Felitti et al, 1998), increasing the likelihood that educators will interact with children and families who are navigating the effects of trauma. In order to best serve these families - and, really, all families - educators need to recognize from what point their school is starting on this journey toward trauma-informed practices.

Gather with your team and reflect on your existing family engagement approaches. It's important to be thoughtful and frank about what may or may not be unintentionally activating for families, as well as what may promote healthy development and learning. Understanding your baseline practices, while identifying opportunities for improvement, helps your team determine their path forward for prioritizing and implementing adjustments. Remember, the goal is to create as much opportunity as possible to cultivate trusting relationships with your families.

Use these guiding questions to begin this process with your team:

Though I've mentioned this several times already, it bears repeating - a strengths-based approach to engaging with families is extraordinarily powerful.

When educators create communication channels that invite families to share their experiences and knowledge about their children, educators gain critical insights that support their classroom instruction. In turn, families receive strong signals from their school community that their voices matter, that they play a key role in their child's growth, and that schools want families engaged. These two-way communication routines build trust between home and school, trust that is essential to cultivate a partnership in service of student wellbeing.

Here are concrete examples of such strategies for equitable family engagement as applied to communication routines:

Read our blog post for more ways to reimagine classic parent engagement strategies.

#3: Create opportunities for families to build positive relationships

Family engagement strategies for schools can cultivate positive social connections not only between students and their adults, but also among the adults themselves. Educators can naturally start with helping families understand the best ways to connect with them and the school. Even returning families benefit from a refresher on the fundamentals of school!

Connect with your families about ways they can reach out and what things to ensure families reach out about. For example, if a parent has a question about school drop-off, do they call their teacher or the school front office? What about when a family has a sick child who needs to miss school, or they simply want to get to know their child's teacher? Providing explicit guidance to families makes it easier for them and educators to exchange information. You can even consider giving families conversation starters to kick off their connection!

#4: Partner with local organizations to connect families with crucial resources

Schools can become a critical connection point between their families and community services that can help meet families' most pressing needs.

No matter what the need, families that have these essentials in place face fewer barriers to engaging with their school and may also face fewer risk factors for experiencing new or past forms of trauma.

Conduct research among your families about what they need most and which organizations they may already be working with to meet those needs. Then reach out to those organizations first to build a collaborative relationship with them. You can try building a "community resources wall" in your school hallways or front office for parents to grab pamphlets or QR codes that connect them with each organization's website. Another option is to publish a shout-out about local services in your school newsletter, social media posts, or email blasts.

There are two powerful outcomes with this strategy:

Everyone thrives with protective factors

M.'s protective factors, along with collaboration with our school's teacher and counselor, were essential to help them build resilience against the trauma of losing their beloved grandmother. And this is just one of many family-school-partnership examples in which the elements of the protective factors framework created positive outcomes for kids and their families.

Looking for ways to bring trauma-informed engagement to your family community? ParentPowered Trauma-Informed is a low-lift, high-impact program designed specifically with these protective factors in mind. Watch a demo to learn more about an evidence- and strengths-based curriculum that grows as kids do, from birth through high school.
About the Authors Rebecca Honig Maren Madalyn is a freelance content marketer with over a decade of hands-on experience in education, mental health, and technology. She has served in a variety of capacities, including counseling, customer success, instructional design, and product management. is the Chief Content and Curriculum Officer at ParentPowered. She has authored numerous curricula, parent guides, and children's storybooks for Sesame Workshop, Scholastic, Disney, Compass Learning, PBS, WGBH, HITN, Nickelodeon, Mo Willems, and The Norman Rockwell Museum. She has also served as a Curriculum and Content Specialist for Sesame Street and spent ten years teaching in public, private, and after school programs. Rebecca has a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street.

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Protective Factors Framework: Supporting Your Families

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The protective factors framework offers powerful guidelines to nurture family-school partnerships and underpins ParentPowered Trauma Informed.

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Creating Positive Childhood Experiences in the Classroom

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Creating Positive Childhood Experiences in the Classroom

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The PACEs Connection is a human and digital catalyst that unites the people, organizations, systems and communities in the worldwide PACEs movement. As a main information exchange and resource, the PACEs Connection supports hundreds of local, state and national ACEs initiatives.

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COVER STORY

Even before the pandemic, the importance of mental health for teachers was realized. Study after study has shown the increased value of teachers dedicating time to their mental and physical health in order to have the focus needed to be the best at their craft.

Even before the pandemic, the importance of mental health for teachers was realized. Study after study has shown the increased value of teachers dedicating time to their mental and physical health in order to have the focus needed to be the best at their craft.

Fortunately, there are resources, both online and in-person, to help teachers focus on their mental health. There are places for teachers to come together, share experiences, laugh, offer tips, and validate each other's experiences. Learning from peers reinforces the sense of community and shares valuable lessons, both of which are integral to the profession.

Whether it's an app, podcast, social media group, or in person meet-up, there are a wide range of options just for teachers. Here are just a few great ones:

TeachersConnect

TeachersConnect was founded in 2015 with the goal of making sure teaching is never again a solo activity. Dave Meyers, CEO and co-founder, said that he recognizes that being a new teacher is incredibly complex and emotionally draining. He said that no teacher or student wins when a new teacher goes at it without a community behind them. In that spirit, the site has grown and now has over 20,000 members who support one another through discussion forums. Meyers stated that, by fall of 2022, the hope is to have 100,000 teachers getting validation, answers, and guidance from other teachers.

Teachers can join groups based on what age they teach or their geographic location. They can ask one another tricky or embarrassing questions anonymously or message each other privately. Teachers can share their emotional struggles as well as different techniques they have tried in the classroom. They celebrate each other's successes and cheer one another on when things get tough.

Happy Teacher Revolution

Happy Teacher Revolution was created by Danna Thomas, a public school teacher in Baltimore who wanted to build a space for teachers to feel, deal, and be real.

She started by bringing teachers together in her own school to talk about their mental health challenges and needs. It was so successful she wanted to replicate the model in schools across the world.

Happy Teacher Revolution trains leaders, called revolutionaries, to establish support groups for teachers in their own schools or school districts. They go through an online or in-person training to learn not just how to lead the support groups but how to initiate them and recruit peers to participate. All the techniques are data-driven and research-based.

The organization has certified over 500 teachers in 32 states, as well as a handful internationally.

WeAreTeachers Helpline

Never underestimate the power of a Facebook group. WeAreTeachers Helpline is run by WeAreTeachers, a website that provides ideas, inspiration, and giveaways for teachers. Over 46,000 teachers are part of the Facebook group, and members can ask one another questions about the classroom or teacher life. Some participants use the forum to discuss different teaching techniques. Others share their struggles, successes, or feelings. During the pandemic, the group was particularly active with teachers discussing their worries about the virus and sharing feedback and suggestions for staying safe.

WeAreTeachers also runs Facebook groups for specific types of teachers. " WeAreTeachers - first years ", for example, is for new teachers or those with only a few years of experience. It has over 15,000 members that discuss the specific challenges to those just getting started.

The Teacher Self-Care Podcast.

Maybe opening up to others is not your thing, and you feel more comfortable working on your own mental health by listening and learning from others? The Teacher Self-Care podcast interviews real-life teachers on the front line who discuss their struggles and how they take care of their mental and physical health. The host also interviews educational and mental health professionals to discuss what teachers can do to prioritize their well-being.

Each session tackles a different topic. Some are broad like the misconceptions and myths of self-care. Others are narrower, like how comparing yourself to other teachers can be dangerous and prevent you from being your best self.

Calm Schools.

Many teachers don't know that Calm, the meditation app for meditation and sleep, has a specific program just for them. The app offers teachers a 30-day program to teach mindfulness in the classroom. It includes sleep stories, breathing exercises, meditations, relaxation activities, and more that children of all ages can do.

But Calm also knows that before teachers can pass on mindfulness habits to students, they must address with themselves first. Teachers can download a free guide to help keep their mental health in check. The guide instructs users on how to take deep breaths when you get upet, create a bedtime routine you can keep, how to prioritize sleep, and more. As a teacher, you also get a discount if you want to join the premium version of the app.
Alyson Krueger

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The Support Groups that Should be on Every Teacher's Radar - Empowered

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Even before the pandemic, the importance of mental health for teachers was realized. Study after study has shown the increased value of teachers dedicating time to their mental and physical health in order to have the focus needed to be the best at their craft.

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Looking for how to create and facilitate a support group that is suited to you and your colleagues?

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Learn how to bring together and facilitate support and encouragement among a group of people who share common problems and experiences.

Portions of this section adapted from The Self-Help Leader's Handbook: Leading Effective Meetings by Adrienne Paine-Andrews, Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar, Stephen B. Fawcett, and Leslie Borck Jameson, with the collaboration of Melody G. Embree, published by the Research and Training Center on Independent Living at the University of Kansas.
Did you know that there are over 500,000 support groups in the United States? Because they are both inexpensive and effective ways to offer assistance to people dealing with a variety of concerns, support groups have become a common method of serving the needs of people who are experiencing problems in their lives.

Support groups can be found in big cities, small towns, and even rural areas, dealing with anything from substance use and gambling addiction to surviving domestic violence to gender issues.

If your group or initiative does service work with people who might benefit from talking to others who have similar experiences to their own, perhaps you should consider adding a peer support group to the services you offer.

What are peer support groups?

Support groups - also often referred to as self-help groups - are groups of people who gather to share common problems and experiences associated with a particular problem, condition, illness, or personal circumstance. In a support group, people are able to talk with other folks who are like themselves - people who truly understand what they're going through and can share the type of practical insights that can only come from firsthand experience.

Some of the common characteristics of support groups include:

They are made up of peers - people who are all directly affected by a particular issue, illness, or circumstance

They usually have a professional or volunteer discussion leader or facilitator

They tend to be fairly small in size, to better allow everyone a chance to talk

Attendance is voluntary (although sometimes people are required to attend support groups by employers or the court system, especially if criminal or destructive behavior has been involved)

Why create and facilitate a peer support group?

There are many benefits to peer support groups:

When someone doesn't know many - or any - other people who are going through what he is coping with, he can feel isolated and stigmatized. Support groups help people with a problem or illness feel less alone and more understood.

Support groups don't cost much to run - advertising for the group and maybe some refreshments are all you'll probably need to pay for. Another cost might be meeting space, but you can usually get someone to donate it.

Support groups empower people to work to solve their own problems.

Members can share information, keeping one another up to date on news of interest to them.

Among people who are experiencing similar problems, there is a unique emotional identification that is different from the type of support that can be gotten from professionals.

Members act as role models for each other. Seeing others who are contending with the same adversity and making progress in their lives is inspiring and encouraging.

A support group is a safe place for someone who needs to talk about intensely personal issues, experiences, struggles, and thoughts.

Talking to a counselor or doctor can be very intimidating for some people, because those relationships tend to place more power with the professional. In a support group, members are equals; this can make people feel much more comfortable opening up about their problems.

Talking to others in support groups reduces anxiety, improves self-esteem, and helps members' sense of well-being overall.

Who can be served by peer support groups?

Almost anyone! At any given time, over 6.25 million Americans are using self-help groups, and about 15 million have participated in such a group at some time in their lives. Support groups are used to address a myriad of concerns, such as:

Diseases, injuries, or chronic medical conditions

Eating disorders

Sexual identity questions

Physical disabilities

Bad or unhealthy habits

Emotional problems

Addictions

Bereavement

Parenting

Besides serving people directly affected by a problem, support groups often welcome family members or friends of those experiencing illnesses or difficulties. Also, many independent support groups exist just for family members or friends: for example, one such group is Al-Anon, a group for families and friends of alcoholics.

How do you create a peer support group?

Think about what you want to accomplish

Decide what your group's purpose will be and who you want to reach. You might find it helpful to write vision and mission statements for your support group.

Find out whether there are existing national, regional, or local groups your group can be involved with

There are several benefits to setting up your support group under the auspices of a larger organization, if you can. A larger organization can often offer resources and assistance in setting up a new support group. The name recognition that comes with affiliating with a big, well-known organization can give your group more credibility. It can also make it easier for people who need your support group services to find you. Finally, working with a larger organization keeps you from having to "reinvent the wheel" in deciding how the group will operate - you can take advantage of a tried and true model.

Using a fictional example, let's look at how someone might set up a support group with the help of a larger organization.

Yoshiko's support group
Yoshiko's sister was recently diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. Feeling frustrated and isolated, Yoshiko wanted to start a support group for the disease's sufferers and their families. After carefully studying this section of the Community Tool Box, Yoshiko decided to find out whether the Muscular Dystrophy Association, a national organization, sponsored a support group in her town.

She visited the MDA's website and found out that they offered a group in a nearby town, but there wasn't one in her city. After Yoshiko called the organization's national office and found out the many ways that they could help her new support group, Yoshiko decided to start a local MDA support group rather than an independent one.

Consider whether the group will meet for a specific period of time or for an indefinite period of time

Support groups can be long-running, or they can be restricted for certain periods of time. For example, the local crisis center may offer a six-week support group twice yearly for people who have lost a family member to suicide, rather than a single, year-round group. This type of time-limited format is best suited to crisis situations, such as bereavement or divorce. A drawback of this format is that the group may not be available at a time that someone needs it. Problems that are more long-term in nature - a chronic disease, for example - are better served by ongoing, long-term support groups.

Decide whether the group will be open or closed

Open support groups are those in which new members are welcome to join at any time during the life of the group. This may also mean that anyone can join the group - friends, family members, etc.

In closed groups, people are only allowed to join the group at certain times (e.g., for the first three weeks only) or under certain circumstances (e.g., groups that are only for women). Some organizations offer both types of meetings - open meetings, which anyone can attend, and closed meetings, which are only for people going through the program.

If you plan on working on a very specific issue and want the entire group to go through the process at the same time, you may want to consider having a closed group. However, open groups are best for most kinds of support groups.

Set a time and place for your support group to meet

Decide on a time that will make it possible for the most people to be there; for example, if your group members are likely to be church-goers, it wouldn't be a good idea to schedule meetings for Sunday mornings. Mid-afternoon on weekdays won't be good for most people who work during the day. Usually, early evenings on weekdays are the best times for the most people.

Picking a good location is far more crucial than you might think. If you work with an organization or coalition that has meeting space of its own, you might want to have your support group meet there, but don't automatically assume that this is the best space for it. You might find that a school, church, restaurant, library, or some other public building is better suited to your needs. Depending on the type of group, members may want to be discreet about their attendance, and may therefore be less likely to come if the group meets in some heavily-traveled place where they might be seen. A support group for former child molesters might want to be as nearly invisible as possible, for instance. While that's a particularly outrageous example, the same might be true for Al-Anon or a group for pregnant teens.

First and foremost, the location should be easily accessible for the people who will be coming to the support group. Is the building in an easy place to find? Is it accessible to people who use wheelchairs, canes, or service dogs? Is there adequate parking nearby?

The location should also be somewhere where people can feel comfortable enough to talk about their problems and able to offer each other support. If you're working with survivors of violent crimes, meeting in a high crime section of town or next door to the county jail might make people in your group uneasy or reluctant to even show up.

While the location you decide on should be accessible and comfortable, it also needs to fit the type of group you want yours to be. For example, meeting in a member's home can add an element of comfort, but groups are much more accessible to newcomers if held in public places; therefore, meeting in somebody's home should probably only be done if it's a closed group.

When you finally have a location picked out, make any needed room reservations or other arrangements, and you're ready to move on!

Select a group leader or facilitator

Picking the right person to lead your support group is of utmost importance. The group leader or facilitator opens and closes the meetings, sets the tone for the discussion, helps members learn how to listen and offer support to each other, and deals with any problems that come up during the meeting. The ideal facilitator will possess the following qualities:

Flexible schedule: He should have enough time to perform the required tasks and commit to be there for every meeting.

Lots of energy: He should have a positive attitude, be in generally good health, and be able to work after hours if necessary.

Ability: Ideally, he should have experience in facilitating such groups. He should also be responsible, articulate, fair, organized, and able to work well with others.

Support: Your facilitator needs to have access to needed resources to run the group (a phone, a car, etc.), and people he can rely on for assistance, if necessary.

The desire to do the job: He should have an interest in the topic or at least a commitment to helping others. It helps if the facilitator has some sort of affinity for the group and its topic. For example, if your support group is for survivors of breast cancer, then a good facilitator might be someone who has survived breast cancer herself, has been close to someone who experienced it, or at least has had similar experience with other types of disease. This isn't to say that people who haven't been personally touched by the topic can't be great facilitators. You might try folks who have done a lot of volunteer work or have an interest in counseling, such as a graduate student in social work or counseling psychology.

The details of the facilitator's job - running the meetings - are explained later on in this section; you may wish to refer to that when selecting somebody for the position.

Decide on any remaining details

Going back to step one, think about what you want this group to be like. This can help you make up your mind about whatever other ins and outs of the group are left, such as:

How often should we meet? Most support groups meet every week or two.

How long should meetings last? Most support groups meet for between one and two hours; you may want to have shorter meetings if you end up having a small group or if members' physical problems make sitting through a long meeting uncomfortable.

Should we serve refreshments? Refreshments help make everyone feel at home and encourage socializing among members; unless they aren't allowed by your location or you run a group that focuses on food issues (such as an overeaters or eating disorder groups), it's a good idea to have refreshments. If you're on a strict budget, you may have to be creative to get it set up. People can take turns providing cheap refreshments, with some discreet help if someone simply doesn't have the resources to do so. Or perhaps someone knows a merchant or restaurant who has some connection to the purpose of the group, and would be willing to donate refreshments.

Recruit members for your support group

Consider how large you want the support group to be before you start recruiting. Generally, it's best to have a group that's large enough to function well even when some of the members are absent, but small enough for all the members to feel comfortable. As a rule, 5 to 15 people is a pretty good number; anything larger too easily becomes unmanageable and impersonal.

There are many ways to get the word out about your group, and the most successful support groups usually use some combination of all of them.
Use referrals

Network with other groups and professionals in your area. Let local clergy, doctors, administrators, agency directors, social workers, media personnel, nurses, and other such people know about your group, and encourage them to tell people about it. Send out letters and, if you have them, brochures or flyers to the offices of local organizations that address your group's area of concern -- e.g., the local mental health agency or chapter of the American Cancer Society. You might also do presentations to some agencies and organizations

If your city or county has any community information and referral hotlines, be sure that they have information on your support group

If the support group is related to a health matter, be sure to send information to your local hospital's social services and community health education departments

Find out which agencies or organizations publish community or social service directories and request that your group be included in the next one

Use the media

Posters and flyers: These can be posted at clubs, shops, hospitals, churches, libraries, schools, post offices - just about anywhere that you think interested people might see them

Press releases: Sending information about your support group to the local press might interest them in doing stories on your group, which can generate interest

Paid advertising: Ads in the local newspaper, as well as those in publications or newsletters put out by agencies or businesses that reach the same folks you want to are a good idea, if you can afford them.

Letters to the editor: These can be used to tell the public about your group. They're more likely to be printed if they're in response to a story the paper has published about a related topic

Public service announcements: Getting these aired on local radio or television stations can get the word out to large numbers of people

Use personal invitations and word-of-mouth

This is the most informal method of recruiting people for support groups, but it's the most effective. The "people chain" happens when one person tells another person about a group, and then that person tells another, and so on. Tell everyone you can about the group, and ask them to tell others. When your group starts meeting, encourage members to tell others about the support group.

Once you have enough members, contact them to let them know the date and time of the first meeting. Give them a couple of weeks' advance notice so they can make any necessary adjustments in their schedule, and follow up with a postcard or telephone reminder a few days before the meeting.

How do you facilitate a peer support group?

You've put in a lot of hard work in preparing for your support group to begin, and now the day has arrived. If you are the group's facilitator, here are some helpful guidelines for running these meetings.

Prepare yourself for the meeting

Take a few minutes to think about possible topics for discussion. If this isn't your first meeting, review the topics that were talked about last time. Go over any notes you took. This can help you remember to bring up things that members might want to revisit or give updates on. If you plan to make any announcements of community events or activities that may be of interest to the group, make sure you have them ready.

Prepare the room for the meeting

Arrive 20 to 30 minutes early to arrange the room. Put the chairs in a circle large enough for latecomers to fit in, with enough room for folks who use wheelchairs to easily join. If you're going to have refreshments, set them up on a table to the side or back of the room. If you're going to use name tags, have them ready. Have a pen and paper to take notes.

Start the meeting

As people begin arriving, be sure to make eye contact and say hello, greeting them by name if you've met them before. Call the meeting to order on time, or at least within five minutes of the designated time. This encourages other members to be prompt. It also rewards those who are punctual; if you always start the meeting late because you're waiting for that one person who shows up 15 minutes late every time, you risk alienating those who made the effort to be there on time. A simple "Let's get started," or "Well, it's five minutes after seven o'clock, why don't we begin the meeting," is adequate.

Give preliminary introductions and information

Introduce yourself briefly; if you have some experience with the group topic, be sure to mention it. Make any announcements and ask the group if they have anything to add.

Opening a support group meeting
At the first meeting for Yoshiko's MD support group, she was pleasantly surprised to see that 15 people showed up. Opening the meeting, Yoshiko introduced herself: "Hello everyone. My name is Yoshiko Hatori and my sister Miho has been living with muscular dystrophy for over a year now. I'm happy to see so many of you came tonight."

She had only one announcement: "By the way, there'll be a car wash fundraiser for the local chapter of the MDA next Saturday from noon to four p.m. at First Baptist Church, so tell as many people as you can about it."

If this is a new group or there are new members present for the first time, explain the ground rules. The most common ground rule for support groups is that everything discussed in the group must be kept confidential. Reminding the group of this from time to time is very important. Explain whether the group is open or closed and what that means. Be sure that everyone understands the rules.

Have everyone introduce themselves, stating their names and a little bit about why they were interested in the group. Then begin the discussion, either by touching on something that was mentioned by one of the members or by bringing up a prepared topic.

Starting a discussion
When members of Yoshiko's group were introducing themselves, one young man named Brian mentioned that his family was planning a trip to the Rockies and that he was concerned about his ability to withstand the higher altitudes. She had planned to talk about family issues in general, but Brian's comment gave Yoshiko an idea. When introductions were finished, she began the discussion this way:

"Brian, you mentioned your apprehension about this upcoming family trip. Could you tell us more about your concerns?" After the group discussed Brian's trip for a while, Yoshiko said, "I found that Christmas with my family was overshadowed by Miho's MD diagnosis. We were all worried about her, and it really made it hard to just enjoy being together as a family. Would anyone like to talk about what effect MD has had on their own family gatherings?" This prompted several members to jump into the discussion.

Encourage members to listen to each other

Being a good listener - and acting as an example to group members in this regard - means being an active listener, one who is obviously listening and understanding what is being said. How do you let people know that you're listening?

Body language (leaning slightly towards the speaker, not fidgeting)

Eye contact (looking in the speaker's eyes, not looking around the room)

Brief encouraging statements, also sometimes called nonverbal encouragers ("Uh-huh" or "Mmm-hmm")

Nodding

Repeating or rephrasing the speaker's last phrase to let him know you understood. ("I can't believe my mother was so cold about it," could be responded to with, "So you were really hurt by what your mother did," for example)

Encourage members to offer support to one another

While being supportive yourself, you must also help others in the group learn how to be so as well. Demonstrate the active listening skills listed above while the member is speaking. Wait 10 seconds or so and then, if no other members have done so, offer support. Group members will usually pick up on this and start offering support themselves. If they don't you may have to ask them questions about how they are affected by the discloser's experience.

For example, Yoshiko might say the following things in her group:

"Shawna, what can you say to Brian that might help?"

"How can we give Brian some support now?"

"What do you think about what Brian is going through, Annie?"

Encourage members to talk about themselves

One advantage of support groups is that they can create an atmosphere in which members feel comfortable talking about and working through very personal issues and experiences. Disclosure - the act of revealing personal information - gives other members a chance to offer support, ideas, and assistance. It also encourages other members to share their own experiences and fosters an atmosphere of trust in the group. To maintain that trust, facilitators may find that they also need to disclose information from time to time.

When a member discloses information, the facilitator may have to guide the discussion to make the member comfortable or encourage others to join the discussion. Asking open-ended questions - those which cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no" - is very useful at this point.

Asking open ended questions
Camilla, a single mother in Yoshiko's support group, talked about how hard it's been for her to take care of her three children over the past few months. She was having a hard time expressing herself, so Yoshiko coaxed her with these open ended questions:

"What's it like for you when you're trying to get your kids ready for school in the morning?"

"What have you told your children about what's going on with your health right now?"

Yoshiko wanted to get other members to offer support, and she wanted to use Camilla's disclosure to encourage further disclosure from other members.

She asked the following open-ended questions:

"What sorts of things in your own lives make you feel the way Camilla feels about this?"

"How do you all manage it when you have to be a caretaker for others while dealing with your own illness?"

You can also plan topics ahead of time. Some support groups do things like have their members do reading or keep journals of their experiences to help spark discussion.

Offer support

This is the main reason your group exists! Fortunately, offering support is one of the simplest things to do in the course of running a support group. Giving members support can help them realize that reaching their goals is possible, give them hope, or just let them know that you empathize with what they're going through.

Support consists of making statements that show your understanding, sympathy, and concern. Listen for the feelings expressed by the member, and address those feelings. Support can also be expressed through body language (such as making eye contact or smiling) or touch (hugging, patting the member's arm). Care should be taken in using touch as a form of support - in some circumstances, such as a support group for survivors of child sexual abuse, touch may be threatening and uncomfortable instead of comforting.

Usually, members will offer support to each other on their own, or they will quickly pick up on how to do so by following your example. However, you may have to ask questions to coax them into offering support by asking questions.

Providing support
When Brian said, "I feel bad because I think I'm becoming a burden to my family," Yoshiko could have offered support by saying:

"I know things are really tough for you, but I hope you can take some comfort from how much your family obviously loves you," or

"I'm sorry to hear that. But I know that I don't mind the extra time I put into taking care of my sister since she's gotten sick - as a matter of fact, I really cherish that we've been able to spend more time together. You might find that the same is true for your family.

Yoshiko could also encourage other members to offer support by saying:

"How can we support Brian now?"

"Has anyone been through similar experiences with their families?"

Help members solve problems

While solving problems shouldn't be the only goal of a support group, it is something that many members hope for and expect. All members should take part in the problem -solving process so that no single person is seen as the solution to their difficulties. It's the facilitator's job to help members learn how to help each other with problem solving.

Here are the steps to problem solving:

Clarifying the problem: Make sure everyone fully understands the problem. If you aren't sure what the problem is, ask questions to get more information.

Talking about the alternatives: Bring up possible solutions to the problem, but be very careful to word them in a way that doesn't give advice. For example, instead of "You should do this," a better wording could be "I wonder what it would be like for you to try this" or "Maybe you could do this." Telling people what to do is not the purpose or responsibility of a support group. It takes away a person's feeling that he can handle his own problems and can make people feel attacked and uncomfortable. Try asking members to tell what's worked well for them in similar situations. You can also ask the person with the problem what he thinks might work.

Choosing which option(s) to take: Have the group discuss the pros and cons of each suggestion. You can then let the person with the problem come to a decision, or he may want to take some time on his own to consider the possibilities. Let him know that the group cares and wants to know how things turn out.

Offering help: Sometimes members may offer to assist each other. For example, if the problem being discussed is a member's problems with transportation to the meetings, other members might offer to give that person a ride.

Problem-solving Clarifying the problem:
Yoshiko asked some questions to find out more about Camilla's problem:

"What parenting duties do you find to be the hardest to keep up with?"

"Do you find that these things are consistently hard to get done, or is it more difficult at particular times?"

Talking about the alternatives:
Yoshiko used open ended questions to gently make suggestions and get members to offer them as well:

"What would it be like to ask your kids to help out with chores around the house?"

"What has helped you get through hectic times with your kids in the past? "

"Would any of you like to suggest things Camilla could do to make things run more smoothly around her house?"

Choosing which option(s) to take:
Camilla's problem centered around transportation (getting her kids to and from school and soccer practice) and household chores. Camilla decided on the following solutions:

Another member's children were part of the same soccer team, so she offered to let Camilla's children ride with them to and from practice

One member's sister had children at the same school as Camilla's children. She offered to call her sister and arrange for Camilla's children to carpool with them to school in exchange for help with gas money.

Another single mother in the group shared some ideas on using incentives to get her children to help out more with household chores that Camilla decided to try

Offering help:
As you can see above, two of the three solutions that Camilla decided on involved help from other members.

Close the meeting

Most support group meetings last between an hour and two hours. If the group is caught up in a particularly intense discussion or in helping a member solve a problem, you might go a few extra minutes, but generally it's best to stop before everyone is tired and eager to leave. When the discussion is winding down or when a previously agreed-upon ending time has arrived, wrap things up. Here are some ways you can close the meeting:

Make a summary statement: Summarize the topics that were discussed and alternatives that were chosen. Highlight any positive observations or solutions that came up.

Ask for additional comments or questions: Check to see if anyone in the group has anything to add.

Remind members about the next meeting: Let everyone know the time and place for next time.

Request volunteers, if necessary: If you need help with donations, refreshments, transportation, or other group needs, this is the best time to ask for it. Asking for help from members encourages them to take leadership responsibilities and fosters a sense of personal investment in the group's success.

Give a final greeting: Thank everyone for coming, say goodbye, and encourage them to come again.

Make final notes: Shortly after the meeting, make some brief notes about what was discussed while it's fresh in your mind. This information can be used to jump-start the next meeting. Keep any notes on the group in a safe place to insure confidentiality.

Closing the meeting
After the discussion had wound down, Yoshiko followed the above steps in this way:
Making a summary statement:
"I see it's getting to be about the time we'd agreed that we'd stop, and I know many of you would like to get home, so I think we'd better wrap up for the evening."
Asking for additional comments or questions:
"We talked a lot about our families tonight. Are there any last thoughts anyone would like to add?"
Reminding members about the next meeting:
"Our next meeting will be on Wednesday the 23rd at 7:00 p.m. I hope you can all be there."
Requesting volunteers:
"Can someone volunteer to call everyone on the phone list a couple of days before the meeting to remind them about it?"
Giving a final greeting:
"I'm so glad you all came, and I think we got into some really interesting subjects tonight. I hope to see you on the 23rd!"
Making final notes:
After she got home, Yoshiko sat down with a cup of coffee and wrote some notes on the meeting: "Brian talked about his concerns about how MD will affect his upcoming family trip; Camilla talked about how tough it is to be a single mom with MD. Next time maybe we should focus more on issues that affect the people who are single or not close to their families."

Tips on Keeping a Support Group Going

Keep track of your group's progress. From time to time, ask members for their feedback on how the group is going. Find out how useful they find it, how comfortable they feel, and their likes and dislikes about the group. Use this information to make adjustments.

Share responsibility for the group. Letting others take leadership roles helps them feel more committed to and invested in the group. Make sure members know their help is appreciated. Since you may find it's often easier to do things yourself, asking others in the group to take over some responsibilities can be trying. However, no one person should have to do everything, and sharing responsibilities will help you avoid burnout.

Be sure everyone has a chance to talk. Some people are naturally more talkative than others. Asking questions to get quiet members to speak up is important. It's also crucial to keep the more vocal members on-topic and gently remind them to let others have a turn at times.

Emphasize the importance of confidentiality. In order for your members to feel safe enough in your support group to self-disclose and work through problems, they need to feel sure that nobody is going to be telling people outside of the group about the group's discussions. Make sure this is well understood by everyone.

Encourage outside contact among members. Members can offer support to each other outside of meetings. The "buddy" system, used by groups like AA, encourages members to take interest in one another's well-being and form relationships outside the group.

Keep recruiting. If you have an open group, make sure you continue to get the word out. Groups can stagnate when the membership remains the same all the time, and if members who leave are never replaced your group will not survive.

Share rewards and failures. Let members know that you appreciate their contributions. When people make mistakes, don't place blame. Don't heap all of the praise when something goes well on any one person - or all of the guilt when things go badly.

Keep a realistic perspective. Don't idealize the support group. There may sometimes be people that your group won't be able to help; this doesn't mean your efforts are futile. Also, when members leave, it doesn't mean you've failed them. Usually it means that they have used the group as much as they think is useful and moved on with their lives.

Remember that this is a support group. The dynamics of a group may change over time - for example, it could become more social in function, or it could change focus in terms of topic. No matter how the group changes, your group's primary purpose is to provide support and understanding to its individual members.

Tips on Handling Difficult Group Members

In dealing with difficult group members, support group facilitators must learn a delicate combination of control mixed with kindness. This sort of assertive caring directly addresses problems with the group without insulting or offending members. You may use assertive caring during a meeting to get the discussion back on track, or you may wish to speak to the member in private after the meeting.

Times to use assertive caring:

When a member is often late to meetings

When a member talks too much, monopolizing the discussion

When a member rejects every suggestion that others make - the "yes, but" phenomenon

When a member appears to have problems that are more than the group can handle - such as someone who's had a change in health and should seek medical attention, or someone who may have psychological problems needing professional attention

When a member interrupts others or brings up inappropriate or irrelevant subjects

When a member's problem doesn't match up with what the group is meant to address

The steps to assertive caring:

Show that you understand the member's position or dilemma: State that you understand the reason(s) behind the member's negative behavior. Use "I" or "we" statements, which show how his behavior affects you and the group. For example, "I know things are difficult for you, but right now we're trying to figure out what Camilla can do about child care."

Set limits: Gently but firmly correct the behavior. Explain your reasons; letting the member know why you need to change the situation will make him more likely to cooperate. For example, "I know things are difficult for you, but right now we're trying to figure out what Camilla can do about child care, and it's hard to do when you keep interrupting."

Suggest an alternative: Explain what you'd like to see the member do instead of the negative behavior. For example, "I know things are difficult for you, but right now we're trying to figure out what Camilla can do about child care, and it's hard to do when you keep interrupting. I wonder if we could wait to talk about your problem until after we've come to some conclusions about what Camilla can do."

Get the member's agreement on the alternative: Make sure the member understands what is being asked of him and agrees to do it. For example, "I know things are difficult for you right now, but we're trying to figure out what Camilla can do about child care right now, and it's hard to do when you keep interrupting. I wonder if we could wait to talk about your problem until after we've come to some conclusions about what Camilla can do. Is that okay with you?"

In Summary

Support groups are a great way to provide a service to the people your organization or initiative works with, without a huge investment of time or money. Moreover, running a support group is a good way to reach out and get people interested in the other things your organization or initiative does. It's also a way to give back to the community - improving or supporting a good public image for your group. Finally, it's just a good thing to do. With relatively little effort and cost, a support group can make a significant impact in the lives of people dealing with a problem. What better reason can there be?

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Section 2. Creating and Facilitating Peer Support Groups

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Learn how to bring together and facilitate support and encouragement among a group of people who share common problems and experiences.

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Trauma-Sensitive Schools: A Whole-School Approach - Trauma Sensitive Schools

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Trauma-Sensitive Schools and Safe and Supportive Schools benefit all children. TLPI embraces a whole-school approach that enables all children to achieve.

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Healing-centered sounds great! But, how do we get there?

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Roadmap For Resilience: The CA Surgeon General's Report on ACEs Toxic Stress and Health 

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Looking for extensive research into how systems can work together to address adversity in our communities?

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Center for Disease Control and Prevention - ACEs

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Center for Disease Control and Prevention - ACEs

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Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have a tremendous impact on future violence victimization and perpetration, and lifelong health and opportunity. CDC works to understand ACEs and prevent them.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Prevention Strategy Plan [3 MB, 20 Pages]
This resource outlines CDC's specific goals and objectives for ACEs prevention and response. The goals and objectives aim to prevent ACEs before they happen, identify those who have experienced ACEs, and respond using trauma-informed approaches in order to create the conditions for strong, thriving families and communities where all children and youth are free from harm and all people can achieve lifelong health and wellbeing.

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Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have a tremendous impact on future violence victimization and perpetration, and lifelong health and opportunity. CDC works to understand ACEs and prevent them. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Prevention Strategy Plan [3 MB, 20 Pages] This resource outlines CDC's specific goals and objectives for ACEs prevention and response.

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The states of the brain

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A multidisciplinary approach based on three distinct brain-body states in adults and children that drive behavior.

Conscious Discipline's Brain State Model

Conscious Discipline empowers us to be conscious of brain-body states in ourselves and children. It then provides us with the practical skills we need to manage our thoughts, feeling and actions.

With this ability to self-regulate, we are then able to teach children to do the same. By doing this, we help children who are physically aggressive (survival state) or verbally aggressive (emotional state) become more integrated so they can learn and use problem-solving skills (executive state). When we understand the brain state model, we can clearly see the importance of building our homes, schools and businesses on the core principles of safety, connection and problem-solving.

Survival State asks the question, "Am I safe?"

The only way to soothe the survival state is through the creation of safety.

In a survival state where we feel triggered by threat, these skills are flight, fight or surrender. We can't think clearly when a tiger is chasing us. In the modern world, the tiger may be a disrespectful child, but our brain's evolutionary skill set is the same: fight, flight or surrender.

Emotional State asks the question "Am I loved?"

The only way to soothe an upset emotional state is through the creation of connection.

Emotional State is our response to upset - and can only be soothed through connection. An upset emotional state is triggered by the world not going our way. It limits our ability to see from another's point of view. This upset, unconscious state keeps us on autopilot so our words and tone match those of key authority figures from our childhood. We revert to disciplining the same ways we were disciplined, even if we know these behaviors to be ineffective or hurtful.

Executive State asks the question, "What can I learn?"

The Executive State is the optimal state of problem-solving and learning.

Conscious Discipline empowers us to be conscious of brain-body states in ourselves and children. It then provides us with the practical skills we need to manage our thoughts, feeling and actions. With this ability to self-regulate, we are able to teach children to do the same. By doing this, we help children who are physically aggressive (survival state) or verbally aggressive (emotional state) become more integrated so they can learn and use problem-solving skills (executive state). When we understand the brain state model, we can clearly see the importance of building our homes, schools and businesses on the core principles of safety, connection and problem-solving.

Executive State is the optimal state for problem-solving and learning. As we learn to regulate and integrate our internal state to be one of relaxed alertness, we are able access our own brilliance. We are empowered to change and make wise choices. An integrated executive state frees us from past conditioning, attunes us to the feelings and experiences of others, enables us to remain focused enough to set and achieve goals, and allows us to consciously respond instead of automatically react to life events.

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A multidisciplinary approach based on three distinct brain-body states in adults and children that drive behavior. Conscious Discipline's Brain State Model Conscious Discipline empowers us to be conscious of brain-body states in ourselves and children. It then provides us with the practical skills we need to manage our thoughts, feeling and actions.

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Educator training from the Office of the Surgeon General

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Educator training from the Office of the Surgeon General

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A new resource for teachers!

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Anyone who works with children is invited to take the free, online professional learning. This includes early care providers, educators and school personnel, including school nurses, librarians, administrative support, school bus drivers and yard duty support. Each module is about two hours and is filled with case examples, videos, strategies and practices. Select the module(s) that best fit your professional needs:

NOTE: For Module 1 (ages 0-5), you will need to create a California Early Childhood Online (CECO) account here.

For all technical assistance, please call 1-800-770-6339 or e-mail ceco@wested.org.

Through participating in the online trauma-informed professional learning module, learners will be able to:

Describe foundational concepts related to trauma-informed practice, healing and resilience.

Develop awareness of the brain's response to stress, its impact on behavior and protective factors on mental and physical health and well-being.

Describe the essential role of positive relationships in protecting social, emotional, and mental well-being.

Recognize developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive trauma-informed and healing-centered supports.

The training is designed to engage the learner with case examples, strategies, videos and practices - each varied according to the developmental stage served.

Understanding your role in promoting resilience and healing

Understanding trauma-informed practice

Preventing ACEs

Promoting healing and resilience

Reflection and planning

Understanding how individuals experience stress and trauma

Parts of the brain and what they do

Behavior is a form of communication

Identifying activated stress responses

Responding to students/children who are stressed

Adult well-being

Case examples, reflection, and planning

Understanding the collective conditions for health and well-being

Collective relationships

Environments and routines

Community of care

Case examples, reflection, and planning

Understanding the role of systems in supporting health and well-being

Conditions that support well-being in care/education contexts

Strategies for supporting well-being in care/education contexts

Reflection and planning

Dr. Joshua Sparrow

Joshua Sparrow, M.D., DFAACAP, is executive director of the Brazelton Touchpoints Center (BTC) in the Division of Development of Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital, where he also holds an appointment in the Department of Psychiatry, and is an associate professor at Harvard Medical school, part time. Dr. Sparrow's care in the 1990s for children hospitalized for severe psychiatric disturbances, often associated with physical and sexual abuse, and for developmental delays aggravated by social and economic deprivation and injustice, prompted his interest in the social determinants of health, racial health inequities, trauma and historical trauma, and community-based prevention and health promotion. At BTC, Dr. Sparrow's work focuses on organizational learning and change, and aligning systems of care with community strengths and priorities. BTC provides professional, organizational and leadership development, community based participatory research, and developmental program evaluation for family-facing professionals in pediatrics, early childhood care and education, infant mental health, home visiting, child welfare, public libraries and children's museums. Dr. Sparrow began working with young children at age 13 and did so every summer through most of college. After graduating from college, he taught in preschools (2 year old and 4 year old classrooms) for a few years before deciding to go to medical school. www.brazeltontouchpoints.org.

Ms. Lindsey Fuller

Lindsey Fuller is an unapologetic and passionate advocate for scholars and marginalized communities. Prior to joining The Teaching Well where she leads as the Executive Director, she served as a 1 st and 6 th grade teacher, and elementary school administrator, and District Leader in the position of Regional Director of Student Services. In that role, she supported 11 Bay Area schools and led all non-academic initiatives, including mental health programming, behavioral supports, socio-emotional learning, and crisis management. Through her private practice, Fuller Freedom Consulting, as well as TTW she strives to sustain adults in our schools to ensure trauma-sensitive continuity of care. She is a trainer in Restorative Practices (IIRP) and is state certified as a Mediator (CCEJ). Lindsey is a native of the Oakland/Berkeley community, the child of two educators, and mother of two.

Dr. Pamela Cantor

Pamela Cantor, M.D. is a child and adolescent psychiatrist, author, and thought leader on human potential, the science of learning and development, and educational equity. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, she founded Turnaround for Children, which translates scientific insights into tools and services that help educators establish the conditions for all students to thrive. In two books published in 2021, Whole-Child Development, Learning and Thriving: A Dynamic Systems Approach and The Science of Learning and Development, Dr. Cantor crystallizes key scientific concepts about how human potential and learning unfold so that anyone seeking to open pathways for learning and opportunity for young people can do so. She is a featured contributor to Edutopia's How Learning Happens series which has been viewed more than 15 million times. Dr. Cantor is a governing partner of the Science of Learning and Development Alliance, a member of the Brookings Institution's Task Force on Next Generation Community Schools, and a Commissioner of the Learning 2025 Commission of the American Association of School Superintendents. She received an M.D. from Cornell University, a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, and was a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

January 2023 Progress Report

The Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI) released a progress report highlighting the first 18 months of the initiative to transform the way California serves the mental, emotional and behavioral health needs of children, youth and families

Youth at the Center Report

The Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative (CYBHI) released the Youth at the Center Report, highlighting what children, youth, families, and community members want in a reimagined behavioral health ecosystem.

Working Paper: California's Children & Youth Behavioral Health Ecosystem

The CYBHI's Working Paper is an early blueprint articulating what a more integrated and equitable mental and behavioral health system would look like and outlining the components, changes and steps necessary to get there.

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Safe Spaces: Foundations of Trauma-Informed Practice for Educational and Care Settings | OSG

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Check out what Chicago schools are doing!

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Healing-Centered | Chicago Public Schools

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In Fall 2019, Chicago Public Schools, led by the Office of Social Emotional Learning, embarked on a long-term effort to transform CPS into a healing-centered district, recognizing that to achieve our five-year vision, we need to ensure collective wellness for all CPS students, staff, families, caregivers, and communities.

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Put on your own oxygen mask first!

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As part of California's ongoing mental health movement, the Take Action for Mental Health campaign is designed to help you check in, learn more, and get support for your own mental health or the mental health of someone you care about.

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Culturally Responsive Education

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Zaretta Hammond: Culturally Responsive Teaching 101 | #PLtogether

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While the concept has been around for decades and the idea comes intuitively to most educators, strength-based education is getting renewed attention as schools look for new ways to individualize learning and broadly evaluate and support students and adults in positive ways.

It also may be particularly important for students whose first language is not English and who too often are limited by assumptions made about them concerning deficits.

The Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning at St. Louis University describes it this way:

"Strengths-based education is a learner-centered approach to teaching that helps students identify, articulate and apply their individual skills relevant to their learning needs. Based on research from social work, positive psychology and business, a strengths-based approach can help build student confidence, encourage efficacious behaviors, and support life-long learning pursuits."

It is a far-reaching but logical change in thinking about student learning, says Jamie Lipp, a former classroom teacher and now professor at Ohio State University who specializes in teacher education and literacy instruction and has written about strength-based approaches in reading specifically.

"It is the antithesis of finding gaps in learning then trying to fill them, which is the sort of deficit-based instruction we have done too often," she says. "With a strength-based approach we identify what a student does know, or what they can do, and build on it. Success builds success."

Research has shown that identifying student assets in the classroom, which is also known as positive education or asset-based learning, improves engagement and perseverance and increases achievement and well-being. Focusing continually on skills they lack can reduce enthusiasm and discourage students, Lipp says.

Strength-Based Learning in Schools

processes for identifying strengths involving the recognition and acknowledgment of preferences, abilities and passions.

processes for applying strengths with teachers encouraging students to "be aware of how they can use those strengths to achieve, accomplish and overcome".

processes for further developing strengths to enable students to improve known competencies.

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New Focus on Strength-Based Learning | NEA

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Instead of finding and filling gaps in learning, says expert, schools should do more to identify what students know, or what they can do, and build on that knowledge.

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Literature on Culturally Responsive Education

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Literature on Culturally Responsive Education

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There is much academic literature around Culturally Responsive Education (CRE) and pedagogical practices in the classroom. Educational theorists such as John Dewey's Democracy and Education (1997), Paolo Freire's Education for Critical Consciousness (2005), Kenneth Howe's Equality of Educational Opportunity (1993), and W.E.B. DuBois' "Talented Tenth": a passionate belief that African Americans need greater access to higher education (DuBois, 2002, pp. 68-72) educators and critics have tried to understand how a system is unable to adequately service all students. The collective works of Gloria Ladson-Billings, Lisa Delpit, Geneva Gay, and Sonia Nieta have not only contributed to educational equity literature reviews, but have enormously influenced theoretical and practical understandings of CRE. How does one "not merely apply theory, but use it to create equity- oriented and meaningful change in ourselves and the systems we're in "(Gutierrez, 2010, p. 104)?

Dr. Sembridge brilliantly defines educational equity work and synthesizes CRE as a theory of change. Dedicating his life and practice to designing culturally responsive learning experiences, Culturally Responsive Education in the Classroom identifies and discusses six themes of CRE and gives teachers authentic planning questions for teachers to plan and teach with an equity mindset. If "equity is an idea that is demonstrated in our work" (p. 5), then Dr. Stembridge embodies a life-long commitment to not only having productive discussions on race and learning, but inspiring educators everywhere to aim for brilliance in the classroom. If you are an educator, administrator, or parent of children in public schools, you need to read this book. Be sure to buy two copies: one to read and one to give to a fellow educator.

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Culturally Responsive Education in the Classroom: An Equity Framework for Pedagogy

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Culturally Responsive Education in the Classroom: An Equity Framework for Pedagogy [Stembridge, Adeyemi] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Culturally Responsive Education in the Classroom: An Equity Framework for Pedagogy

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Anti-bias education is a school-wide commitment.

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Anti-bias education is an approach to teaching and learning designed to increase understanding of differences and their value to a respectful and civil society and to actively challenge bias, stereotyping and all forms of discrimination in schools and communities. It incorporates inclusive curriculu…

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To be effective in multicultural classrooms, teachers must relate teaching content to the cultural backgrounds of their students. According to the research, teaching that ignores student norms of behavior and communication provokes student resistance, while teaching that is responsive prompts student involvement (Olneck 1995). There is growing evidence that strong, continual engagement among diverse students requires a holistic approach-that is, an approach where the how, what, and why of teaching are unified and meaningful (Ogbu 1995).

To that end, we have developed a comprehensive model of culturally responsive teaching: a pedagogy that crosses disciplines and cultures to engage learners while respecting their cultural integrity. It accommodates the dynamic mix of race, ethnicity, class, gender, region, religion, and family that contributes to every student's cultural identity. The foundation for this approach lies in theories of intrinsic motivation.

Before we outline our framework for culturally responsive teaching, we will address the bond of motivation and culture, and analyze some of the social and institutional resistance to teaching based on principles of intrinsic motivation. Understanding these relationships provides a clearer view of the challenges we must overcome if we are to genuinely transform teaching and successfully engage all students.

Motivation Is Inseparable from Culture

Engagement is the visible outcome of motivation, the natural capacity to direct energy in the pursuit of a goal. Our emotions influence our motivation. In turn, our emotions are socialized through culture-the deeply learned confluence of language, beliefs, values, and behaviors that pervades every aspect of our lives. For example, one person working at a task feels frustrated and stops, while another person working at the task feels joy and continues. Yet another person, with an even different set of cultural beliefs, feels frustrated at the task but continues with increased determination. What may elicit that frustration, joy, or determination may differ across cultures, because cultures differ in their definitions of novelty, hazard, opportunity, and gratification, and in their definitions of appropriate responses. Thus, the response a student has to a learning activity reflects his or her culture.

While the internal logic as to why a student does something may not coincide with that of the teacher, it is, nonetheless, present. And, to be effective, the teacher must understand that perspective. Rather than trying to know what to do to students, we must work with students to interpret and deepen their existing knowledge and enthusiasm for learning. From this viewpoint, motivationally effective teaching is culturally responsive teaching.

Locked in Mid-Century

Most educators with whom we have worked would agree that there is a strong relationship between culture and motivation, and that it only makes sense to understand a student's perspective. Why, then, do we have such difficulty acting this way in the classroom?

One major reason is that we feel very little social pressure to act otherwise. The popular media and structural systems of education remain locked in a deterministic, mechanistic, and behavioristic orientation toward human motivation.

If one were to do a content analysis of national news broadcasts and news magazines for the last 40 years to identify the most widely used metaphor for motivation, "the carrot and the stick"-reward and punish, manipulate and control-would prevail. As a result, our national consciousness assumes there are many people who need to be motivated by other people.

The prevailing question, "How do I motivate them?" implies that "they" are somehow dependent, incapable of self-motivation, and in need of help from a more powerful "other." In this sense, the "at-risk" label acts to heighten our perception of students as motivationally dysfunctional, and increases our tendency not to trust their perspective. The fact that an inordinately high number of "at-risk" students are poor and people of color should cause us to reflect on how well we understand motivation. Thoughtful scholars have suggested that this label now serves as a euphemism for "culturally deprived" (Banks 1993).

Secondary education is influenced a great deal by the practices of higher education, and both levels tend to follow the precepts of extrinsic reinforcement. Teaching and testing practices, competitive assessment procedures, grades, grade point averages, and eligibility for select vocations and colleges form an interrelated system. This system is based on the assumption that human beings will strive to learn when they are externally rewarded for a specific behavior or punished for lack of it.

Schools and colleges successfully educate a disproportionately low number of low-income and ethnic minority students (Wlodkowski and Ginsberg 1995). Because the importance of grades and grade point averages increases as a student advances in school, it is legitimate to question whether extrinsic motivation systems are effective for significant numbers of students across cultures. We can only conclude that, as long as the educational system continues to relate motivation to learn with external rewards and punishments, culturally different students will, in large part, be excluded from engagement and success in school.

Changing Consciousness About Motivation

It is part of human nature to be curious, to be active, to initiate thought and behavior, to make meaning from experience, and to be effective at what we value. These primary sources of motivation reside in all of us, across all cultures. When students can see that what they are learning makes sense and is important, their intrinsic motivation emerges.

We can begin to replace the carrot and stick metaphor with the words "understand" and "elicit"; to change the concept of motivation from reward and punishment to communication and respect. We can influence the motivation of students by coming to know their perspective, by drawing forth who they naturally and culturally are, and by seeing them as unique and active. Sharing our resources with theirs, working together, we can create greater energy for learning.

Intrinsic systems of motivation can accommodate cultural differences. Theories of intrinsic motivation have been successfully applied and researched in areas such as cross-cultural studies (Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi 1988); bilingual education (Cummins 1986); and education, work, and sports (Deci and Ryan 1985). Ample documentation across a variety of student and regional settings suggests that noncompetitive, informational evaluation processes are more effective than competitive, controlling evaluation procedures (Deci et al. 1991, Deci and Ryan 1991).

A growing number of educational models, including constructivism and multiple intelligences theory, are based on intrinsic motivation. They see student perspective as central to teaching. Unfortunately, educators must often apply these theories within educational systems dominated by extrinsic reinforcement, where grades and class rank are emphasized. And, when extrinsic rewards continue to be the primary motivators, intrinsic motivation is dampened. Those students whose socialization accommodates the extrinsic approach surge ahead, while those students-often the culturally different-whose socialization does not, fall behind. A holistic, culturally responsive pedagogy based on intrinsic motivation is needed to correct this imbalance.

An Intrinsic Motivational Framework

We propose a model of culturally responsive teaching based on theories of intrinsic motivation. This model is respectful of different cultures and is capable of creating a common culture that all students can accept. Within this framework, pedagogical alignment-the coordination of approaches to teaching that ensure maximum consistent effect-is critical. The more harmonious the elements of teaching are, the more likely they are to evoke, encourage, and sustain intrinsic motivation.

1. Establishing inclusion -creating a learning atmosphere in which students and teachers feel respected by and connected to one another.

2. Developing attitude -creating a favorable disposition toward the learning experience through personal relevance and choice.

3. Enhancing meaning -creating challenging, thoughtful learning experiences that include student perspectives and values.

4. Engendering competence -creating an understanding that students are effective in learning something they value.

These conditions are essential to developing intrinsic motivation. They are sensitive to cultural differences. They work in concert as they influence students and teachers, and they happen in a moment as well as over a period of time.

Culturally Responsive Teaching

Let us look at an actual episode of culturally responsive teaching based on this motivational framework. It occurs in an urban high school social science class with a diverse group of students and an experienced teacher.

At the start of a new term, the teacher wants to familiarize students with active research methods. She will use such methods throughout the semester, and she knows from previous experience that many students view research as abstract, irrelevant, and oppressive work.

After reflecting on the framework, her teaching goal, and her repertoire of methods, she randomly assigns students to small groups. She encourages them to discuss any previous experiences they may have had in doing research as well as their expectations and concerns for the course. Each group then shares its experiences, expectations, and concerns as she records them on the chalkboard. In this manner, she is able to understand her students' perspectives and to increase their connection to one another and herself (motivational condition: establishing inclusion).

The teacher explains that most people are researchers much of the time, and she asks the students what they would like to research among themselves. After a lively discussion, the class decides to investigate and predict the amount of sleep some members of the class had the previous night. This experience engages student choice, increases the relevance of the activity, and contributes to the favorable disposition emerging in the class (motivational condition: developing attitude). The students are learning in a way that includes their experiences and perspectives.

Five students volunteer to serve as subjects, and the other students form research teams. Each team must develop a set of observations and questions to ask the volunteers. (They cannot ask them how many hours of sleep they had the night before.) After they ask their questions, the teams rank the five volunteers from the most to the least amount of sleep. When the volunteers reveal the amount of time they slept, the students discover that no research team was correct in ranking more than three students.

Students discuss why this outcome may have occurred, and consider questions that might have increased their accuracy, such as, "How many hours of sleep do you need to feel rested?" Collaborative learning, hypothesis testing, critical questioning, and predicting heighten the engagement, challenge, and complexity of this process for the students (motivational condition: enhancing meaning).

These procedures encourage and model equitable participation for all students.

After the discussion, the teacher asks the students to write a series of statements about what this activity has taught them about research. Students then break into small groups to exchange their insights. Self-assessment helps the students to gain, from an authentic experience, an understanding of something they may value (motivational condition: engendering competence).

This snapshot of culturally responsive teaching illustrates how the four motivational conditions constantly influence and interact with one another. Without establishing inclusion (small groups to discuss experiences) and developing attitude (students choosing a relevant research), the enhancement of meaning (research teams devising hypotheses) may not have occurred with equal ease and energy; and the self-assessment to engender competence (what students learned from their perspective) may have had a dismal outcome. According to this model of teaching, all the motivational conditions contribute to student engagement.

Norms, Procedures, and Structures

Although the above event actually occurred, it may sound like a fairy tale because everything worked smoothly. In reality, teaching situations often become fragmented by the competing needs and interests of a diverse student body. All too often, we use educational norms and procedures that are contradictory. The result is that we confuse students and decrease their intrinsic motivation. For example, consider the teacher who uses cooperative learning yet gives pop quizzes; or who espouses constructivist learning yet grades for participation; or who abhors discrimination yet calls mainly on boys during class discussions.

In an effort to help educators avoid such errors of incoherence, we have compiled educational norms, procedures, and structures that are effective from a motivational as well as multicultural perspective (see fig. 1). Together, they provide an integrated system of teaching practices for our model of culturally responsive teaching. They are categorized according to the motivational conditions of the framework:

Norms are the explicit values espoused by the teacher and students. Procedures are learning processes that carry out the norms. Structures are the rules or binding expectations that support the norms and procedures.

Figure 1. Four Conditions Necessary for Culturally Responsive Teaching

Emphasize the human purpose of what is being learned and its relationship to the students' experience.

Share the ownership of knowing with all students.

Collaborate and cooperate. The class assumes a hopeful view of people and their capacity to change.

Treat all students equitably. Invite them to point out behaviors or practices that discriminate.

Procedures: Collaborative learning approaches; cooperative learning; writing groups; peer teaching; multi-dimensional sharing; focus groups; and reframing.

Structures: Ground rules, learning communities; and cooperative base groups.
2. Develop Positive Attitude

Relate teaching and learning activities to students' experience or previous knowledge.

Encourage students to make choices in content and assessment methods based on their experiences, values, needs, and strengths.

Procedures: Clear learning goals; problem solving goals; fair and clear criteria of evaluation; relevant learning models; learning contracts; approaches based on multiple intelligences theory, pedagogical flexibility based on style, and experiential learning.

Structure: Culturally responsive teacher/student/parent conferences.

Provide challenging learning experiences involving higher order thinking and critical inquiry. Address relevant, real-world issues in an action-oriented manner.

Encourage discussion of relevant experiences. Incorporate student dialect into classroom dialogue.

Procedures: Critical questioning; guided reciprocal peer questioning; posing problems; decision making; investigation of definitions; historical investigations; experimental inquiry; invention; art; simulations; and case study methods.

Structures: Projects and the problem-posing model.

Connect the assessment process to the students' world, frames of reference, and values.

Include multiple ways to represent knowledge and skills and allow for attainment of outcomes at different points in time.

Encourage self-assessment.

Procedures: Feedback; contextualized assessment; authentic assessment tasks; portfolios and process-folios; tests and testing formats critiqued for bias; and self-assessment.

Structures: Narrative evaluations; credit/no credit systems; and contracts for grades.

Based on Wlodkowski, R. J., and M. B. Ginsberg. (1995). Diversity and Motivation: Culturally Responsive Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Teaching in a way that respects diversity is challenging, of course. Consider the following case example. The norm that Mr. Clark, a U.S. history teacher, is aiming for is "sharing the ownership of knowing." The topic is the notion of cultural pluralism, and, later, the roles that our socioeconomic backgrounds play in our lives. Clark uses the procedures of collaborative learning and critical questioning to facilitate student comprehension of the concepts of "melting pot," "social class," and other terms.

Clark asks the class to first brainstorm words that are associated with culture. Students volunteer "language," "ethnicity," "gender," "religion," "food preference," and so forth. In pairs, students then talk to their partner about ways in which they believe they are culturally similar and distinct from each other.

After 15 minutes, the teacher asks students to note three observations about the concept of culture. The most prevalent response is that "we were surprised at how much we have in common." Clark indicates that he sees this as well. He asks the class, "If we have such commonality, why do some groups of people in the United States have such difficulty becoming economically secure?" Note what happen as students struggle over whose perceptions are the most accurate. First student: Some have more difficulty because of discrimination, because people have prejudices against people whose skin is a different color from theirs. Second student: I don't think it's that simple. Look how many people of color are doing well. We've got generals, mayors, and corporation executives. There's a black middle class and they are economically secure. Third student: Yeah, that might be so, but it isn't as many people as you think. The newspapers just make a big deal about minorities succeeding.

1. Which ethnic groups are most economically successful? Least successful?

2. What proportion of each ethnic group is lower income, middle income, upper income?

3. Are more people of color economically successful today than 20 years ago? 100 years ago?

4. What is the relationship of educational opportunity to income status?

5. Do middle- and upper-class African Americans and Latinos encounter more discrimination than do European Americans?

6. Is there a difference in the quality of family and community support among middle- and upper-income African Americans, European Americans, and Latinos?

As a result of the discussion, students begin to see how the viewpoints about race and socioeconomic backgrounds are part of a broad and complex picture. The difference of opinion has become a stimulus for deeper learning. Students then divide into three groups: one to conduct library research of relevant documents and studies; one to read and analyze relevant biographies and autobiographies; and one to interview community members who represent different cultures.

A Holistic Approach

For culturally different students, engagement in learning is most likely to occur when they are intrinsically motivated to learn. This motivational framework provides a holistic and culturally responsive way to create, plan, and refine teaching activities, lessons, and assessment practices.

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A Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching

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Research has shown that no one teaching strategy will consistently engage all learners. The key is helping students relate lesson content to their own backgrounds.

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In January 2018, the New York State Board of Regents directed the Office of P-12 Education and Higher Education to convene a panel of experts, engage with stakeholders, and develop from the ground up a framework for culturally responsive-sustaining education. The New York University Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, under the leadership of Dr. David Kirkland, drafted a robust guidance document that served as a springboard for this initiative. The New York State Education Department presented this guidance document to students, teachers, parents, school and district leaders, higher education faculty, community advocates, and policymakers. The guidelines in this framework document represent the collective insight of this work.

The Culturally Responsive-Sustaining (CR-S) Education Framework is intended to help education stakeholders create student-centered learning environments that affirm cultural identities; foster positive academic outcomes; develop students' abilities to connect across lines of difference; elevate historically marginalized voices; empower students as agents of social change; and contribute to individual student engagement, learning, growth, and achievement through the cultivation of critical thinking. The framework was designed to support education stakeholders in developing and implementing policies that educate all students effectively and equitably, as well as provide appropriate supports and services to promote positive student outcomes.

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In January 2018, the New York State Board of Regents directed the Office of P-12 Education and Higher Education to convene a panel of experts, engage with stakeholders, and develop from the ground up a framework for culturally responsive-sustaining education.

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Understanding the Stress Response System

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Understanding the Stress Response System

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Yes, you can teach students about their brain!

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Dan Siegel's Hand Model of the Brain, Flip Your Lid

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Reframing our understanding of discipline in school environments.

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Video on supporting self-regulation with Dr. Bruce Perry

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Mindful Schools on Trauma-Sensitive Practices

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Mindful Schools on Trauma-Sensitive Practices

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Every school has students who have experienced trauma. According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative (NCSTI), more than two thirds of children have reported at least one traumatic event by the age of 16, making trauma one of the most important public health issues in our world today.

The experiences and depth of trauma can vary from child to child, but the impact often remains the same. It can show up in many different trauma-related behaviors (e.g., avoidance, disengagement, inattention.) that may lead to negative impacts on their social, emotional, and academic development in school.

Mindfulness is a vital resource in supporting trauma-sensitive schools and classrooms. In bringing mindfulness into our schools, we help students and teachers build healthy relationships with one another while also developing life-long tools for awareness, emotional regulation, self-care, and resiliency. The practice can help create safe enough spaces for all students to feel welcomed and supported in the classroom so that true learning can occur in a healthy regulated state.

The truth is, a trauma-sensitive classroom helps ALL students, not just those experiencing the current effects of trauma. However, it isn't enough to just bring mindfulness into the classroom; we must also be intentional with we offer the practice to students. To be truly effective, mindfulness offerings need to be inclusive of all student experiences, including those that may have a history of trauma. The goal isn't to know every student's history with trauma, but to teach mindfulness in a way that allows the classroom to become a safe enough space for all nervous system states present.

3 Trauma-Sensitive Practices for Your Classroom

Below are few mindfulness facilitation tips to help ensure that your practices are trauma-sensitive and welcoming of all student experiences:

1. Emphasize student choice:

When starting practice, normalize options and choice. There are multiple ways to practice, and what may feel comfortable to each student may vary. You can call attention to the different anchors students might use (e.g., breath, body, sound, touch), postures (e.g., sitting upright, lying down), and movement. Invite students to figure out for themselves what feels most supportive and safe for them in the moment.

2. Offer mindfulness as an invitation, not a requirement:

Students should always be always in choice when it comes to the extent in which they participate in the practice. When presenting mindfulness to students, use invitational language (e.g., " I invite you to find a comfortable posture ...") and give options for students who may choose to opt out or not participate. Keep in mind that participation for each student will vary and that this is not a time for you to worry about compliance or behavior management.

One option for students who choose to not participate in a guided mindfulness practice can be to journal on their own. You can give students a prompt to explore or invite them to write down whatever they notice in the moment. This option can be given at the beginning so that students have choice throughout the lesson.

3. Normalize all different types of student experiences:

There is no right or wrong way to practice mindfulness. It's important to normalize the spectrum of experiences that may arise during the practice, no matter what they may be. Remember that the main intention of mindfulness is to notice present-moment experiences and emotions. As students share what comes up for them, you can affirm them by using helpful phrases like "That's okay," "I notice/experience that sometimes too," or "Did anyone else notice that?" Normalizing the spectrum of experiences sends a powerful message to students.

As you try these trauma-sensitive facilitation tips, remember to be kind and patient with yourself. Some of these practices may not come natural or easy at first, but over time they will deepen and enrich your mindfulness teaching skills. Your ability to create more opportunities for nervous system regulation will help your students feel safe, seen, and heard.

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Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness in the Classroom

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Every school has students who have experienced trauma. According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative (NCSTI), more than two thirds of children have reported at least one traumatic event by the age of 16, making trauma one of the most important public health issues in our world today.

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C.B. Community Schools: Healing Centered Academics

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Through adversity, we acquire skills, abilities, and attributes that enable us to not just survive, but ultimately, thrive.

French psychiatrist Pierre Janet said:

"Every life is a piece of art, put together with all means available."

Van Der Kolk, 2014, p. 112

When I think of Janet's statement, I envision a colorful and intricate life mosaic assembled through good times and bad, having considered and tried different options, landing on the right fit to complete the work.

Adversity is similarly situated. As youth, we watched adults negotiate hardship. We observed what made them resilient and what helped them get through difficult times. If we think of life as art, we ask, "what skills and attributes are apparent in their life mosaic?"

To understand the attributes and abilities used to overcome adversity, in this article, we investigate the concept of protective factors in psychology and their vital role in mental healthcare.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Resilience Exercises for free. These engaging, science-based exercises will help you to effectively deal with difficult circumstances and give you the tools to improve the resilience of your clients, students, or employees.

What Are Protective Factors in Psychology?

Protective factors are individual and environmental attributes that are associated with positive adjustment and development throughout the course of life-threatening conditions and cultural situations (Lopez, Pedrotti, and Snyder, 2019).

Grych, Hamby, and Banyard (2015) use a framework they call the resilience portfolio model to describe attributes that promote health and thriving for individuals who experience adversity.

In order to construct a comprehensive model, factors such as self-regulation and social support have been identified and organized into three domains:

Regulatory strengths contribute toward impulse control, managing unruly emotions, and perseverance in the face of adversity.

Cultivating strong interpersonal relationships, including family, friends, and community members, supports thriving and resilience.

The ability to both understand and explain difficult or traumatic experiences promotes mental health. Religious and spiritual meaning making are included in this category, helping individuals cope with violence and hardship.

The resilience portfolio model suggests it may be the totality of strengths, or poly-strengths, in a person's portfolio that is likely to reduce exposure and enhance coping, rather than any single strength or protective factor. The use of poly-strengths suggests that the "density and diversity of resources and assets available to individuals (their resilience portfolio) shapes their responses to violence" (Grych et al., 2015, p. 343).

There are several ways protective factors can operate. They can reduce the likelihood of adversity, promote healthy functioning despite adversity, or reduce the impact of adversity on health and wellbeing (Grych et al., 2015).

The 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center showcased this in story after story depicting the horrific events experienced by New Yorkers and the world.

Several New Yorkers exhibited strengths that helped them survive and thrive through this adversity. Let's evaluate these strengths.

36 Examples of Protective Factors

Martin Seligman's theory of learned optimism indicates that certain individuals use adaptive causal attributions to understand and explain negative life events, whereas pessimists default to internal causation and failure (Lopez et al., 2019).

Optimism is one of several protective factors.

Hamby, Grych, and Banyard (2017) conducted research in rural Appalachia using three indicators of healthy functioning following adversity: subjective wellbeing, post-traumatic growth, and mental health symptoms.

They showed how regulatory, meaning-making, and interpersonal strengths are associated with various domains of healthy functioning.

Some protective factors associated with each strength are outlined below.

Regulatory strengths

Meaning-making strengths

Purpose

Religious meaning making

Self-oriented meaning making

Relationship-oriented meaning making

Moral meaning making

Family care meaning making

Interpersonal strengths

Generativity

Compassion

Social support

Community support

Forgiveness

Generous behavior

Generative roles

Maternal attachment

Paternal attachment

Some of the most promising protective factors included emotional intelligence components - emotional regulation and emotional awareness. Others included optimism, a sense of purpose, and psychological endurance (Hamby et al., 2017).

Protective factors for children

As juvenile probation officers, we used categories such as living environment, prior offenses, education/employment, peer relations, substance abuse, mental health, leisure/recreation, and attitudes/orientation to assess the protective factors of at-risk youth.

Based on a report published by the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (2009), the US Department of Health and Human Services (n.d.) released a handout dividing protective factors for youth into three domains: individual, family, and school/community.

Individual

Positive physical development

Academic achievement

High self-esteem

Emotional self-regulation

Coping and problem-solving skills

Engagement and connections in at least two contexts including school, peers, athletics, employment, religion, and culture

Family

Provides structure, limits, rules, monitoring, and predictability

Supportive relationships

Clear expectations for behaviors and values

School/community

Mentors and support for development of skills and interests

Engagement in school and community

Positive norms

Clear expectations for behavior

Physical and psychological safety

Protective Factors and Resilience

Trying times can be the seedbed of negativity and pessimism. According to Barbara Fredrickson (2008), if we fail to monitor our mindset and perspective during hardships, it can lead to a downward spiral that can drain the life out of us.

The word resilience refers to healthy functioning following adverse circumstances. Another term used to describe resilience is bouncing back. Lopez et al. (2019, p. 108) describe resilience as "a class of phenomena characterized by patterns of positive adaptation in the context of significant adversity or risk."

Hamby et al. (2017) state that resilience involves three components: adversity or some traumatic or stressful event, healthy functioning following adversity, and the mechanisms that enable the individual to avoid or recover from adversity.

The mechanisms include protective factors. The study of resilience led researchers to label factors that promote productive functioning following adversity.

One regulatory protective factor cited by Hamby et al. (2017) is emotional awareness. Experts in the field of resilience expound on this protective factor and discuss how various emotions aid resilience.

Resilience and positive emotions

Positivity

Fredrickson (2008) believes humans can be quite resilient and that resilience is, in fact, our birthright. Her research with college students before and after the 9/11 attacks bore this out.

The students with resilient personality styles before the attacks showed fewer signs of clinical depression, grew psychologically stronger in some manner, and became more optimistic, tranquil, and fulfilled with their lives after the attacks.

Curiosity

According to Lucy Hone (2017), seeking answers following adversity can lead to curious investigation about the incident itself and the ensuing emotional processing.

Individuals may find comfort and solace in understanding that the process is normal and that they are not alone.

Awe

According to Hone, experiences such as a magnificent sunset or the changing of the leaves in fall lend themselves to moments of awe, reminding us we are part of an immense and amazing universe, much bigger than the problems experienced in the moment.

Other positive emotions discussed by Hone include pride, hope, inspiration, gratitude, serenity, humor, and love.

The Role in Mental Healthcare

Healthcare providers, social workers, instructors, and all personnel working with struggling people can use the strengths-based focus of protective factors as part of an assessment process.

Layous, Chancellor, and Lyubomirsky (2014, p. 3) succinctly conclude, "Happier people show less psychopathology."

According to the authors, wellbeing serves as an antidote to negative emotions such as anxiety and depression and aids those feeling trapped by grief, pessimism, and isolation. Increased happiness helps dampen acute pain from adverse life events and prevents the spiral to clinical levels of depression, substance abuse, or other mental health conditions.

Layous et al. (2014) acknowledge that most people are currently without the minimally suggested healthcare treatment and suggest researchers and practitioners focus on wellbeing. They believe attending to wellbeing improves overall mental health in two ways:

1. Intentionally cultivating wellbeing can reduce negative emotions, behaviors, and thoughts characteristic of many risk factors for disorders.

2. Promoting wellbeing renders positive outcomes in work, love, and health that buffer the adverse effects of risk factors.

Using Fredrickson's broaden-and-build theory, Layous et al. (2014) posit that positive emotions serve to enhance creative problem-solving and outcomes. They propose positive activities serve in an intervening capacity, buffering against psychopathology.

Positive activities are feasible and functional, according to Layous et al. (2014, p. 5), because they are "typically brief, simple, accessible, and require little to no financial resources." For example, clients may be asked to list five blessings or reflect on two good things that happened at the end of each day.

Practices shown to increase wellbeing include:

1. Writing letters of gratitude

2. Counting blessings

3. Practicing optimism

4. Practicing acts of kindness

5. Using subjective strengths in new ways

6. Affirming personal values

7. Meditating on positive feelings toward ourselves and others

Besides buffering against difficult times, engagement in positive activities has also been shown to satisfy the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competency, and relatedness posited by Ryan and Deci (2000) in self-determination theory.

Protective Factors Training Explained

Protective factors can be applied in a variety of contexts; for instance, protective factors for mental health may have differing components than protective factors for children at risk.

Therefore, accessing protective factors training is nuanced and achieved through perseverance. Thankfully, most types of training can now be accessed online. Some ideas for protective factors training have been included below.

As it relates to substance abuse, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helps explain the underlying utility of protective factors in this handout detailing Risk and Protective Factors.

The US Department of Health and Human Services (n.d.) also published a handout of protective factors that span from infancy to early adulthood.

Another way to attain protective factors training is through courses related to resilience, as the two are often associated. The READY Resilience Training Program, a group psychosocial training program, explores five protective factors targeting workplace wellbeing: positive emotions, cognitive flexibility, social support, life meaning, and active coping (Burton, Pakenham, & Brown, 2010).

The Children's Trust Alliance provides training, resources, and materials that explain a strengths-based approach to eradicate child abuse and neglect. Resources such as this description of protective factors are available in Spanish and English. In addition, information about training can be found in this flyer or on their website.

Finally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide information related to protective factors that buffer individuals from suicide on their website along with other helpful resources.

Top 5 Worksheets to Help Clients

Worksheets included here develop some of the critical components related to protective factors. Below are worksheets that explore coping skills, coping with stress, exploring past resilience, avoidant tendencies, and gratitude.

The Coping Skills Inventory identifies six common coping skills, including thought challenging, releasing emotions, practicing self-love, distracting, tapping into your best self, and grounding. The inventory encourages clients to journal how they might employ each of the coping skills when faced with adversity.

This worksheet helps clients identify coping strategies they possess in the present, reflect on strategies used in the past, and consider strategies that may be available to them in the future. Clients are encouraged to identify stressors, coping resources, obstacles, and methods for overcoming obstacles.

This worksheet provides an opportunity to reflect on a past setback and examine the strategies used to overcome it. A series of questions help guide the client to a deeper understanding of the holistic experience.

This exercise acknowledges that avoidant behavior is one way to deal with trauma; however, it is a short-term solution. The first step in overcoming fears is to face them. This exercise helps clients identify and gradually face the fears that plague them, first by listing them and then by devising a gradual plan to face them.

Positive emotions such as gratitude have been identified as factors leading to resilience by researchers, such as Barbara Fredrickson. This simple exercise can be used to help clients create a plan to express gratitude to one or more deserving people in their life.

Helpful PositivePsychology.com Resources

Here at PositivePsychology.com we have a rich collection of resources that can help you thrive. By developing your abilities, protective factors can help you overcome adversity and enjoy mental health.

Related articles
Below is a selection of related articles you might enjoy:

17 Resilience & Coping Exercises
If you're looking for more science-based ways to help others overcome adversity, check out this collection of 17 validated resilience tools for practitioners. Use them to help others recover from personal challenges and turn setbacks into opportunities for growth.

A Take-Home Message

There has been ample time to reflect on the trauma that occurred in the 9/11 attacks and assess both the totality of the harm and the resilience of the survivors.

Similar to creating a mosaic, a variety of strengths and attributes were painfully, meticulously realized by survivors, contributing to their ongoing, individual narrative of overcoming adversity.

What will we say years after a worldwide pandemic? Who survived? Who thrived and why? What strengths were discovered and used to thrive?

Each of us has protective factors, both used and unrealized, contributing to our life mosaics. They help explain how we embraced the good and traversed the bad. In doing so, we create lessons for ourselves and our loved ones. Art is never perfect, but what a beautiful piece of art it is.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don't forget to download our three Resilience Exercises for free.

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What Are Protective Factors in Psychology? 36 Examples

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To understand the attributes and abilities used to overcome adversity, we investigate the concept of protective factors in psychology and their role in mental healthcare.

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PACEs Connection and ACEs Aware created a handout based on seven evidence-based stress busters, as described in the Roadmap for Resilience: The California Surgeon General's Report on Adverse Childhood Experiences, Toxic Stress, and Health. The California Virtual Training Academy (VTA) provided support in the creation and translation of this handout.

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School Connectedness Helps Students Thrive

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Schools play a critical role in promoting students’ health and development and can take action to help students feel connected.

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Hear from former CA Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris in this 16 minute Ted Talk

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How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime | Nadine Burke Harris | TED

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The stress response turns toxic when the challenging situation doesn't end, or when there is no adult to help us process what we've been through. When our stress response stays active too long, it can hurt our body and brain, and even affect our behavior.

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National Strategy for Trauma-Informed Care Operating Plan - SAMSAH

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ATTENTION ADMINISTRATORS! Looking for research to support trauma-sensitive policy reform?

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Bringing mindfulness to youth-serving professionals: Adult Courses

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Peace in Schools is available to contract with your school or organization to provide mindfulness workshops and courses for adults interested in learning how to embody mindfulness in their work with youth.