Trauma Informed Classroom Series: Difficult classrooms, burnt-out teachers, failed learning expectations… One reason these problems persist is not recognizing the impact of trauma across the lives of educators and students. The problems worsen when failing to address the reality of this trauma and, therefore, a focus on mental health and trauma-informed classrooms is vital. Considering the need to address this at every level of educational settings, Ms. Poland has developed a four-part module-based series that covers the neurobiology of trauma and how this impacts learning and behaviors in the classroom. Principles of a trauma-informed classroom and compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress for educators are also discussed. Ms. Poland can also present one individual module of this series to fit your organization’s needs. You can see two sample modules from this series described below.

• Supporting Student Mental Health and Well-Being: The National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative states “More than two thirds of children reported at least 1 traumatic event by the age of 16”. Student mental health significantly impacts student learning, behaviors in the classroom, and how students perform on standardized testing. Using a trauma-informed approach, Ms. Poland provides tools to help educators create a healthy and safe environment where student learning and success are optimized. Educators will learn specific strategies for implementing a trauma-informed classroom and healthy emotional regulation strategies. The information and actionable tools included in this talk will change how you view education, your students, and how you structure learning, transitions, interactions, and classroom management.

• Supporting Educator Mental Health and Well-Being: Ms. Poland has previously stated that, “as schools increasingly ask more of teachers (who simultaneously must attend to students’ psychological and educational needs), it’s urgent to effectively equip educators with the tools and resources needed to manage these ever-growing issues and concerns. Ultimately, administrators support their students as they proactively and reactively create supportive and healthy work environments for educators.” (quote from Grow Schools’ Supporting Mental Health Guide) Ms. Poland works with educators to provide strategies for enhancing mental health and well-being for individual educators, administrators, and the school environment as an integrated, holistic whole. When the mental health of both the school and classroom is enhanced the positive outcomes of teacher recruitment and retention are enhanced and the learning objectives of students will be met. 

Building and Implementing Trauma Informed Medical Settings: Understanding How Trauma Impacts You and Your Patients: This lecture, workshop, or seminar will aid you in understanding how trauma impacts you and your patients within medical and hospital settings. Ms. Poland will explore trauma and how it impacts the body and the brain, and subsequently an individual’s mental and physical health. She will also explore pillars for designing a trauma-informed medical setting and discuss how trauma-informed care can be beneficially integrated into medical settings.

Unraveling Trauma: A Journey and Way Forward: Across our lifetimes, the universal reality of trauma has cascading impacts on neurobiology, mood, and how we engage with work. Trauma triggers lurk and pop up unexpectedly, and suddenly the trauma that happened in the past feels like it is occurring in the present in the form of a "trauma reliving".  This is compounded by new trauma that occurs now in the present. In this lecture, Ms. Poland sheds light on what trauma is, the universal experience of trauma in everyone’s life, the symptoms of psychological trauma, and the neurobiology of trauma and its impact across the life of the individual. She shares evidence-based strategies and techniques for navigating feelings of being overwhelmed resulting from trauma. She will discuss regulation and grounding strategies to help navigate trauma triggers, discuss a long-term plan for processing trauma, and give additional helpful resources.