TRAUMA-INFORMED
PARAEDUCATORS
Will Henson Psy.D

WHY TRAUMA?
• ITS COMMON - Trauma is EXTREMELY PREVALENT in school-age children. Out of a typical
high school class of 45 only 7 have no ACEs. 45% have 3 or more!
• BEHAVIOR - The emotional dysregulation, hyper-vigilance, hyper-arousal social
misperception associated with trauma FREQUENTLY result in behavior problems in the
classroom
• DIFFERENT RESPONSE -Adults response to students with trauma often serves to INCREASE
difficulties, increase arousal, and decrease trust.
• DIFFRERENT APPROACH – Trauma requires a different approach to understanding
students, and creating interventions that lead to success

ACES – ADVERSE CHILDHOOD
EXPERIENCES
• Original study of Trauma was conducted in the Keiser Health system in the 1990s.
• 10 types of ACE’s or “Adverse Childhood Experiences” in 3 categories were
identified:
• ABUSE: Physical, Sexual, Emotional
• NEGLECT: Physical, Emotional
• HOUSEHOLD: Family members incarcerated, mental illness, parental separation,
substance abuse, domestic violence.
• ACEs tend to occur in clusters.

ACES IMPACTS
• ACEs have an enormous impact on school age students:
• Neurological development
• Decreased resilience
• Mental illness (increased rates)
• Increased stress response (fight or flight)
• Low emotional regulation
• Hyper-vigilance
• Social misattributions (hostile bias)
• Academic difficulties
• Problems with Concentration and attention
• Difficulty trusting others
• Low self-worth & self concept, sense of agency
• High risk behaviors (substance abuse, domestic violence, etc)
• Long-term health problems and early morbidity

ACES IMPACTS
• Students at risk: Compared to someone with no ACES students are:
• 3 times more likely to experience academic failure
• 4 times more likely to have reported poor health
• 5 times more likely to have severe attendance problems
• 6 times more likely to evident school behavior problems
• Impacts Vary by:
• Point in time trauma occurs
• Nature of adverse experience
• Relational environment & supports present
• Students resilience

PREVALENCE OF ADVERSE
EXPERIENCES

RESILIENCE
• Resilience = An adaptive response in
the face of stress. Just as the brain can
change in response to negative stress it
can also change to become more
resilient!
• A KEY GOAL OF A TRAUMA-INFORMED
CLASSROOM IS TO BUILD STUDENTS
RESILIENCE

WHAT BUILDS RESILIENCE?
• Relationships: At least one stable &
supportive caring adult relationship
• A Sense of Mastery: A sense of
mastery or self-efficacy
• Well-developed coping skills: skills at
regulating emotions, inhibiting
impulses to consider multiple options
• Supportive & Affirming Faith &
Cultural Traditions: Faith, culture &
community supports.
• HOW DO YOU HELP?
• Build that relationships
• Support kids with things that they are
good at, develop skills
• Teach: self-regulation, planning and
problem solving skills
• Connect: Kids to faith, culture, and
community

REGULATION
• Regulation – The ability to impact your
own thinking, attention, emotions and
physical sensations. All of these can be
impacted by ACEs.
• Top Down Control: Using thinking to
regulate.
• Bottom Up Control: when you are
overwhelmed by automatic arousal
process

HOW REGULATION DEVELOPS
• Developmental Pathway
• Absolute Dependency: Fetus is 100%
dependent on mother to regulate.
• Co-Regulation: Mothers help infants
and small children regulate because
they can’t do so on their own.
• Care-giver Directed Regulation: Over
time, caregivers direct kids to use
strategies until kids can learn…
• Self Regulation: The ability to regulate
independently.

ACES DISRUPT THE REGULATION
PATHWAY
• There are two important conditions
that facilitate growth in regulations
skills from total dependency to self-
regulation:
• 1. supportive caregiving and
• 2. stable, safe, and predictable
environments. ACEs often involve
disruptions in these conditions. For
children with ACEs:
• regulation skills may not develop
normally
• The brain and nervous system may be
overly reactive and oriented toward
“fight or flight” responses
• They may be hyper-vigilant to and
over-focused on threat and safety
• They may be prone to misperceive
people’s intentions and events in their
environment as threatening

CO-REGULATION
• When students with ACEs are upset,
they may not be able to calm
themselves down.
• Students may need YOU to help them
• Students will likely rely heavily on your
non-verbal interaction with them
(rather than what you say)
• REGULATE – First help students
become calm
• RELATE – Then listen
• REASON – Then, if ready, reason and
problem solve. Don’t start here.

HOW CAN YOU HELP STUDENTS
LEARN TO REGULATE?
• Teach students the skill of self-monitoring: How do you observe, track and become
more aware of your own thoughts, feelings? Teach students words to describe
thoughts, emotions and physical sensations.
• Help students find new strategies that are similar to the way a student currently
regulates in two important ways:
• Does the student use physical / sensory or cognitive strategies?
• Does the student attempt to regulate alone or involve others?
• Find a similar strategy

REGULATION SKILLS
• Help students build skill sets that help students modify the way they
currently attempt to regulate by:
• Help them identify a range of options they can use to regulate
• Use word or picture lists to aid them in remembering and identifying these options
• Provide students with opportunities to practice different ways to regulate
• Help student identify and evaluate the effectiveness of behaviors that are successful
• Students will rely on your modeling to help them.

TRAUMA-INFORMED CLASSROOMS
• THREE KEY GOALS
• Predictability
• Safe Relationships /
Engagement
• Opportunities for
Regulation

PREDICTABILITY
• Students with ACEs do not respond
well to the unexpected.
• 1. Post and follow a regular schedule
• 2. Make students aware of changes.
• 3. Designate spaces for specific
activities.
• 4. Post and teach routines, stay
consistent

SAFE RELATIONSHIPS &
ENGAGEMENT
• 1. Seat kids in proximity to staff, facing
forward – make it easy to interact, get
feedback and cues
• 2. Seat kids facing toward teacher.
• 3. Arrange class so kids entering,
exciting and moving around causes
minimal distraction.
• 4. Establish classroom Rituals – like
morning meetings, afternoon
goodbyes, compliments etc – that
foster sense of belonging.
• CLASSROOM RITUALS
• - Provide consistency
• - Help students become regulated.
• - Transition into academic work
• - Help students learn and practice
engagement skills
• - Have fun
• - Develop sense of belonging
• - Develop relationships

OPPORTUNITIES FOR REGULATION
• 1. Planned Regulation Activities:
Movement breaks, exercise, calming
routines.
• 2. Calming Space: Place students can
go if they are dysregulated.
• 3. Visual Supports: Students with ACEs
pay less attention to words than visuals.

STRATEGIES FOR CO-REGULATION
WHAT DO WE DO IN RESPONSE TO
BEHAVIOR?
• Problem Solving
• Working towards rewards
• Learning from consequences
• Social Skill Development
• Academics
• Relationship Building
• ALL THESE REQUIRE A PERSON BE
REGULATED…

CO-REGULATION IS A SHARED EXPERIENCE
WITH A SHARED RESOLUTION

CO-REGULATION IS
•A right-brain (i.e.
emotional) and
primarily non-
verbal process.
• 93% OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION IS NON-VERBAL OR PARAVERBAL

YOU: THE MOST IMPORTANT
ELEMENT
•YOU CAN’T
REGULATE A
PERSON IF YOU
ARE NOT
REGULATED.

HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO
• 1. Check yourself – Make sure you
understand your own stress level,
triggers and can regulate yourself
before you react.
• 2. Focus on what’s behind the behavior
– many students with ACEs act like they
do for a reason. Have empathy – this is
part of a normal stress response.
• 3. Remember to regulate – relate and
then reason.
• Many of our students with ACEs don’t
have experience with adults in their life
• - Asking for their opinion
• - Requesting they express emotion
• - Asking them to solve a problem
through verbal dialogue.
• - Wanting to listen to their
explanations.

QUICK REGULATION MODEL
• STEP ONE:
•REGULATE
YOURSELF
• MANTRA: “Quiet mind & quiet body
• SELF ASSESSMENT
• What thoughts am I having?
• What feelings am I experiencing
• What state of arousal am I in?
• Where is my attention
• CRITICAL QUESTION: AM I READY TO
CO-REGULATE

CRITICAL QUESTION: AM I
READY???
• NO
• My Feelings: Are not calm (scared,
excited, angry etc…)
• My Thoughts
• I can’t let them get away with it
• What will everyone think
• I’m in a hurry
• I have to be right!
• I need to make my point!
• I need the last work
• She’s getting a consequence
• YES
• My Feelings: Calm
• My Thoughts:
• I’m ready to prioritize calming
techniques and I don’t have another
agenda.

CALMING DOWN
• Things to Remember
• Backing off is not backing down
• Regulation is not a battle
• No one wins or loses
• This is faster than arguing with an
escalated person.
• Tools
• Slow down your thoughts and self talk
• Slow down your rate of speech and
actions.
• Take slow deep breaths with a focus on
exhalation.
• Drop your other concerns and
expectations for the moment.

STEP TWO: ASSESS THE STUDENT
• WHAT IS THE STUDENT…
• Doing?
• Saying?
CRITICAL QUESTION: What is the
communication mean?
Back off?
I need help?
I’m really frustrated
I’m Scared…

AGITATION BEHAVIORS
• Agitation Indicators
• Increased or decreased eye, body and
hand movement
• Cryptic or no speech
• Questioning, arguing
• Non-compliance – defiance
• Verbal abuse
• Disruption or bothering others
• Destroy property
• Test limits
• Whine/cry
• Threaten
• Avoid or escape
• Off task
• Use engagement behaviors to get
predictable response from others
• Physical Aggressions
• Self-harm
• Confusion
• Withdrawal

STUDENT ASSESSMENT
• Observe
• Non-verbal behaviors
• Eye contact, tone, rate of speech
• What is their response timing, how
intense is it
• Pay attention to red vs. green light
signals
• How far is the student off baseline
• CRITICAL DECISIONS
• 1. Approach and regulate or
• 2. Give the student space.

STEP 3: USE REGULATION
STRATEGIES
• YOUR MINDSET:
• The student is trying to communicate something (example: “I am overwhelmed)
• I can tolerate the student’s emotional experience
• Non-defensive ( I don’t have to defend myself or be right right now)
• I want to understand more
• I can hold off what I need right now
• The student has some valid needs and feelings
• I’m not going to be able to teach the student new skills or insights until they are
regulated.

VERBAL STRATEGIES
• Listen: More than you talk!
• Reflect: ”What I hear you saying is…”
• Acknowledge/Validate: Show that you
understand how the person is feeling
(they don’t have to be accurate for
you to do this.)
• Don’t Analyze!: Don’t be a therapist
• Don’t give Advice: That’s not what
escalated people want.

NON-VERBAL STRATEGIES
•Slow Down:
Slow down your
movements and rate of
speech. Everything you do
should be more rhythmic

NON-VERBALS
• Tone
• Rate of speech
• Choice of words
• Facial expression
• Voice volume
• Gestures
• Smile vs. Frown
• Personal distance

SELF CARE: ITS PART OF YOUR JOB
• ACEs & Stress: Working with students
with ACEs can be stressful
• Feeling responsible to help
• Feeling powerless
• Vicarious traumatization
• Worrying about students
• SELF-CARE is not selfish. You are the
vehicle for all the healing and learning
that takes place in your students, Take
care of your mind, body and spirit.

WE ALL HAVE ACES
• What if I have ACES? – Many people
after learning about ACEs believe they
may have experienced ACEs also.
• Trauma treatments are well-
developed and effective and can help
people who have trouble be happier.
• Your school may have an EAP that
gives you counseling sessions – Find a
good match for you.

THANK YOU PARAEDUCATORS!!!
• WILL HENSON
• Clinical Director 321insight
• Special Education Consultant
• will@drhenson.org
• whenson@321insight.com