THE ROLE OF TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE IN THE CLASSROOM

Trauma-informed care has become a standard practice for many clinicians treating clients with psychological and behavioral problems and the principles that guide trauma-informed care are applicable in the classroom as well. Trauma-informed care does several things. It realizes the widespread impact of trauma on people; it recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in students, families, staff and others involved with the college or university; it responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into practice; and it seeks to actively resist re-traumatizing individuals. While trauma-informed care is not a "get out of jail free" card for bad behavior, and it certainly does not provide an excuse for bad behavior, it may help explain what is underlying a student's behavior in the classroom and may also help in getting the student the resources and help that he or she needs most. Trauma-informed care doesn't ask, "What's wrong with him/her?" but instead asks, "What happened to him/her?" A paradigm shift in how trauma is viewed is also taking place with interventions such as Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) being implemented to not only help traumatized students heal, but also to thrive.