What is trauma‑informed care, and how do schools do it?

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Trauma-informed approaches have become increasingly prominent in education policy and guidance, although the term is not always explicitly used. Trauma-informed practice recognizes that trauma—an event, series of events or set of circumstances that a person experiences as harmful or life-threatening—can affect a person's well-being mentally, physically, emotionally and socially.

Teachers and other school staff should therefore aim to create a culturally sensitive, safe environment that avoids retraumatization, in which people again feel the thoughts, emotions and sensations they experienced. Drawing on my teaching and research in trauma-informed education, I have worked with children, young people, schools and other children's services to support mental health and well-being.

First reported by Medical Xpress.