Social Emotional Learning and Trauma Response ... - WSU Extension

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL 

LEARNING AND TRAUMA 

RESPONSE IN SCHOOLS: AN 

INTRODUCTION TO THE ARC 

MODEL TRAINING 

Christopher Blodgett, Ph.D. 

Area Health Education Center 

Washington State University

Plan for the discussion 

Social Emotional Learning in educational practice 

Dealing with complex trauma as the missing piece in 

successful social emotional learning 

Why knowing a little about brain development and 

stress matters 

Education as the business of brain development 

Introduction to complex trauma 

Local research evidence 

Risk and exposure is not destiny- many reasons for hope 

The ARC Model as a common framework for a 

continuum of response

You can’t teach if they can’t learn. 

“In college I was taught how to teach. 

I wasn’t taught how children learn.” 

An elementary school teacher introduced to trauma and its effects 

on students. 

Copyright 2010 WSU Area Health Education Center

Why P-12 education has a fundamental 

stake in addressing trauma 

4 

 

 

 

 

 

Schools have to educate all students 

An estimated 20 percent of children suffer from a 

psychological disorder 

Included in this 20%, 7-10% of the general population of 

children suffer from Serious Emotional Disturbance conditions 

Annually only 10-20 percent of SED children receive 

specialized mental health services 

The service access disparity for younger children is particularly acute. 

“Only 1 to 2 percent of preschoolers used any services; the average rates 

increased in older children—6 to 8 percent of children ages 6 to 11, and 8 to 9 

percent of adolescents ages 12 to 17.” (National Workgroup, 2001; p 34). 

Schools are the principal provider of mental health services to 

children in the United States 

Copyright WSU AHEC 2010

Why this is relevant to you as 

5 

educational leaders 

Children’s behavior and emotional adjustment 

facilitates or hinders their own academic success. 

What children bring to school not only challenges 

their own learning but also create burden for 

schools as systems because their behaviors affect 

other students and teachers. 

How classroom teachers succeed with traumatized 

children’s needs is foundational to the success of all 

children in the class

5 proposals for consideration 

1. Relationship is the evidence-based 

practice. 

2. How we feel defines how we learn. 

3. Social emotional learning is an essential 

condition for academic success. 

4. Trauma is what places learning at risk. 

5. Trauma is an existential threat to schools. 

Copyright WSU AHEC, 2010

7 

Still Face Experiment and Relationship 

as the Foundation for Development 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apzXGEbZht0

9 

Complex trauma as new framework for 

understanding a continuum of risk 

Both the process of exposure and the process of adjustment to 

terrible stress 

As a common defining concern, complex trauma originates in the 

child’s family 

But, community violence, racism, and the profound stressors of 

poverty also contribute to the complexity of trauma 

Often occurs early in the child’s life 

Occurs at most rapid period of development 

Occurs when thought and action by the child aren’t options 

Trauma effects the basic biology of responding to stress 

The experience of traumatic events often involves chronic exposure 

to trauma 

Exposure to multiple trauma types is common. 

Exposure to one trauma type is a marker for risk of exposure to 

others 

 

 

 

 


10 

Complex Trauma is 

Intimate Trauma 

 

 

 

Involves a range of acts resulting in physical trauma, 

psychological trauma, and the disruption of basic conditions 

of health and wellbeing. 

Persists over time. 

◦ While intimate trauma exposure may be limited to a single or shortterm 

set of events, this is the exception. 

Trauma exposure is typically persistent but episodic. 

◦ The victim endures high levels of unpredictability and recurrent 

exposure to risk. 

◦ Disruption of the quality and consistency of the intimate environment 

which supports development 

WSU Area Health Education Center Copyright 2008

Principal trauma behavior domains 

11 

Attachment 

Social emotional development 

Self-concept 

Emotional regulation 

Impulse control and aggression 

Cognition and language 


Social emotional development 

12 

Developmental dimensions to social emotional 

mastery 

Awareness and use of emotions in relationships 

Unfolding of social communication 

Valuing of intimate connections 

Progressive autonomy and initiative without sacrificing connection 

Capacity to negotiate relationships with empathy, compassion, and 

respect 

Sense of self-efficacy 

Trauma impacts 

Developmentally immature behavior 

Failure to master key domains effectively 


Self concept and trauma 

13 

Feel incapable of having a positive impact on the 

outside world 

Hopelessness 

Difficulty in initiating play or having safety with 

imagination and exploration 

Low self-esteem--diminished sense of self worth 

Disturbances of body image 

Shame and guilt; self blame 

Unsure of own needs and often lack capacity to get 

needs met 


14 

Emotional regulation 

Emotions organize thought and prepare our bodies 

for action 

Relationship is first built in reading and interpreting 

emotions 

Well-being involves accurately reading our internal 

emotional state and accurately perceiving the 

emotions of others 

Mastery involves impulse control in service of 

planning 

Empathy critical to planning and creation of range 

of responses 


Emotional regulation and trauma 

15 

Trauma impairs emotional learning. 

Trauma constricts the range of feelings and 

behaviors options we have in managing 

ourselves and our relationships with others. 

Survival trumps exploration and growth 

Dysregulation 

Dissociation, numbing, and withdrawal 


Cognitive Development 

16 

Progressive development through young adulthood 

from concrete to abstract thought 

◦ Executive function- ability to plan, anticipate, value, and be 

goal-directed in behavior 

Progressive ability to use imagination in planning 

Progressive ability to use language to create 

meaning (expressive and receptive language) 

Progressive integration of a moral sense into 

reasoning and choice 

Progressive capacity to sustain attention in organizing 

behavior 


How Complex Trauma Can/May Disrupt 

Cognition: 

 

 

 

 

 

Difficulty in their ability to 

learn and process verbal 

information 

Harder to use language as 

a vehicle for communication 

Difficulty in organizing and 

remembering new 

information 

Difficulty understanding 

cause and effect 

Tend to have poor problem 

solving skills 

 

 

 

 

Difficulty focusing on 

tasks at hand 

Difficulty planning and 

anticipating 

Problems with orientation 

in time and space 

Difficulty focusing on and 

completing tasks 

17 


How trauma may change how students 

succeed in classrooms 

Trauma leads children to appraise many situations as 

threats 

Limited age-appropriate negotiation skills 

Relate through their biological reactions 

Not as open to realistic appraisal of the situation and to new 

learning 

Their interpretations do not fit our expectations and our lack 

of understanding results in us misperceiving the purpose and 

meaning of the child’s behavior 

They act inappropriately and violate our own sense of 

comfort, safety, and expectations 

• Triggers for rejection, isolation, re-traumatizing actions 

• You can’t teach or care effectively when you are angry 



Adult research on trauma impact 

20 

The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study 

A decade-long, ongoing study conducted collaboratively with the 

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Kaiser Health Plan. 

17,000 members of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care 

Program in San Diego. 

Self-report tied to medical records. 

Stressful or traumatic childhood experiences are a 

common pathway to social, emotional, and cognitive 

impairments 

These trauma experiences are predictive of increased risk 

of disease, physical and mental disability, social 

problems, and premature mortality 


21 

ACE predict long term health and social 

outcomes 

 

 

ACE exposure 

With four or more categories 

of childhood exposure, 

compared to adults with no 

ACEs 

4 to 12-fold increased 

alcoholism, drug abuse, 

depression, and suicide attempt 

2 to 4-fold increase in poor 

self-rated health 

3 to 4-fold increase in chronic 

illness (heart disease, liver 

disease) 

(ACE 

Score) 

Women 

% 

Men 

% 

Total 

% 

0 34.5 38 36.1 

1 24.5 27.9 26 

2 15.5 16.4 15.9 

3 10.3 8.6 9.5 

4 or 

more 15.2 9.2 12.5 


Relationship is the 

evidence-based practice. 

‘Placebo’ as a powerful intervention 

The real and meaningful value-added of specific 

curricula and interventions as EBPs 

The universal benefits of 

Positive regard 

Genuineness 

Warmth 

Positive reinforcement 

Attachment as foundational to all we do 


How we feel defines how we learn. 

Neurodevelopment has to guide how we teach and how 

we support children. 

Recalibrating our expectations of children based on 

knowledge of neurodevelopment. 

Trauma can interfere with maturation 

Under stress, we respond from more basic areas of the 

brain 

Social emotional development and learning is the 

smooth integration of feelings and thought. 

Trauma challenges this smooth integration by disrupting 

what has been learned and compromising new learning. 


Key Principles of Brain Function 

Principle 1: Brain function is hierarchical. Our first 

responses are based in non-conscious, reflexive, and 

conditioned responses. 

Principle 2: The brain develops in a sequential fashion. 

Principle 3: The brain develops most rapidly early in life. 

Principle 4: Brain systems change with use throughout life. 

Principle 5: Our brains are designed to benefit from rich 

and supportive intimate social relationships. 

Principle 6: We feel and then we think. 

Principle 7: Neural systems can be changed, but some 

systems are easier to change than others. 

Principle 8: Stress can change brain development. 

Adapted from Perry (2006) 


25 

Trauma’s potential pathways of influence 

on brain development 1 

1. Access to adequate stimulation at key times that 

organizes brain structure and function 

2. Elevated stress hormone levels (particularly adrenaline 

and cortisol) may impact brain structural development 

 

 

Sustained stress hormones correlated with reductions in brain 

development and function 

Memory, emotional regulation, and stress regulation 

 

Verbal skills, memory, and problem solving 

 

Focus for new learning and modification through teaching 


Nervous system development and 

specialization- What stress can interrupt 

De Bellis, 2005 


The Threat-Arousal System Response Continuum 

Adapted from Dr. Bruce Perry 

Perceived 

Threat 

Level 

Low 

High 

Adaptive 

Response 

Regulating 

Brain 

Region 

Receptive 

Ready to 

Learn 

Cortex 

Vigilance 

Cortex/ 

Limbic 

Freeze/ 

Withdrawal 

Limbic/ 

Midbrain 

Midbrain/ 

Brain 

Stem 

Flight/ 

Fight 

Brain 

Stem 

Cognition Abstract Concrete Emotional Reactive Reflexive 

Physical 

State 

Calm 

Arousal/ 

Attention 

Alarm Fear Terror 

Copyright 2010 WSU Area Health 

Education Center

28 

Trauma’s potential pathways of influence 

on brain development 2 

3. Immaturity of the threat-arousal management system 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trauma responses primarily regulated by biological 

systems beneath language and reasoning 

What defines threat becomes disordered 

• Not having learned to be safe makes most situations unsafe 

Brain development follows use- risk of the dominating 

use of more primitive responses 

Survival trumps new learning 

Smooth integration of reasoning, emotional response, 

and basic biological response to threat compromised 

Threat-arousal can be managed in our relationships 


Implications of impaired threat-arousal response 

We need to calibrate our relationship and goals to 

the arousal level of the child 

New learning can not occur effectively in high states of 

painful arousal 

Response options available to children reflect their 

level of present arousal and their range of skills and 

learning 

Arousal level can be re-regulated to permit students 

to access higher levels of thought and new learning 

Don’t personalize the trauma response 


How we manage stress is 

how we manage learning 

 

 

 

 

 

Brain and hormonal systems are a single unified system 

Central nervous system appraisal of threat and triggering 

of threat response 

Direct neural and hormonal responses to prepare fight/flight 

survival responses 

Conscious thought is where we may get but it is not where 

we start. 

Reasoning follows emotion 

How well we integrate emotion and thought predicts how flexibly 

we adjust and learn. 

If we manage our stress, we manage our potential to learn. 

As adults, we often misinterpret threat reactions as 

intentional challenges to us. We are usually wrong. 


Trauma, Teaching, and Social Emotional Response 

 

 

Students 

Poor skills in managing relationships 

May misinterpret behavior because of hyper-vigilance and 

misperception of engagement as threat. 

Traumatized children’s impulsive behaviors, poor affective 

management (including withdrawal and aggression), and poor 

social skills challenge the teacher’s intention to help and support. 

Teachers 

Teachers’ emotions and beliefs define expectations of and 

engagement with students. 

Critical to setting the conditions for success. 

Teachers engage traumatized children through the lens of their 

own trauma histories. 

Dealing with trauma can change us. 


Relationship is the evidence-based 

practice. 

Effective relationships manage stress responses. 

‘Placebo’ as a powerful intervention 

The real and meaningful value-added of specific 

curricula and interventions as EBPs 

The universal benefits of 

Positive regard 

Genuineness 

Warmth 

Positive reinforcement 

Attachment as foundational to all we do 


Social emotional learning is an essential condition for 

academic success. 

Several hundred well-designed studies 

Practical, reliable gains with SEL interventions 

Reduced behavioral concerns in schools 

Improved adjustment in key stress symptoms 

Increased school connectedness 

Increased academic performance 

Tested curricula aligned to routine academic practice 

Quality of SEL implementation matters 

Teachers have to be the leads. 

SAFE- Sequenced, Active, Focused, Explicit skill 

development 


Social emotional learning aligns with effective 

classroom management- trauma challenges application 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clear and effective rules and procedures 

Effective discipline and accountability practices support 

learning 

Role appropriate high quality teacher-student relationships 

Teachers’ ‘Mindfulness’ in assessing, anticipating, and acting to 

support learning and behavior 

Instruction and management practices that support student 

responsibility for learning 

Parent engagement and inclusion in learning supports 

Intentional use of physical and social environment to support 

learning. 


Social Emotional Learning’s Key 

Domains 1 

Self-Awareness: Knowing what we are feeling in the 

moment 

Having a realistic assessment of our own abilities and a wellgrounded 

sense of self confidence 

Social Awareness: Reading what others are feeling 

Being able to take their perspective; appreciating and 

Interacting positively with a range of people 

Self-Management: Handling our emotions so they 

facilitate rather than interfere with the task at hand 

Being conscientious and delaying gratification to pursue goals 

Persevering in the face of setbacks and frustrations

Social Emotional Learning’s Key 

Domains 2 

 

 

Relationship Skills: Handling emotions in relationships 

effectively 

Establishing and maintaining healthy relationships based on 

cooperation 

Resistance to inappropriate social pressure 

Negotiating solutions to conflict 

Seeking help when needed 

Responsible Decision-Making 

Accurately assessing risks 

Making decisions based on a consideration of all relevant factors and 

the likely consequences of alternative courses of action 

Respecting others (empathy) 

Taking personal responsibility for one’s decisions

37 

Spokane ACEs and School Success 

Study Summary 

• De-identified data collection 

• 10 elementary buildings in four districts (5 Title I) 

• Students in Grades K-6 

• Reviews of 2,101 randomly selected students 

• Teachers reported factually what they knew about ACEs 

exposure, academic challenges, and chronic health concerns. 

Suspicions were not reported. 

• Academic problems were: 

– Failing to meet grade expectations in one or more core subjects 

– Attendance problems severe enough to interfere with academic success 

– School behaviors severe enough to interfere with academic success 


Half of the children already are 

38 

struggling to succeed in school 

Specific Concerns 

Academic failure- 35% 

Serious attendance problems- 13% 

Serious behavior concerns- 27% 

Combination of Concerns 

None 52% 

One 26% 

Two 17% 

Three 5% 


ACEs Exposure 

39 

Lifetime Past 12 months 

Parents Divorced/Separated 36% 6% 

Residential Instability 9% 6% 

Domestic Violence Witness 9% 5% 

CPS Involved 9% 4% 

Jailed Family Member 9% 4% 

Substance Abuse in Family Member 7% 3% 

Basic Needs 7% 4% 

Mental Health Disorder in Family Member 5% 3% 

Physical Disability in Family Member 3% 1% 

Community Violence Exposure 3% 1% 

Parent/Caregiver Death 2% 1% 


Complex Trauma Risk 

40 

Lifetime 

ACE Exposure 

Past 12 Month 

ACE Exposure 

None 

One 

Two 

Three 

Four 

Five 

More than Five 

55% 81% 

22% 12% 

10% 4% 

5% 2% 

3% 1% 

2% 0% 

1% 0% 


ACEs Exposure and Student 

41 

Characteristics 

ACE exposure is significantly related to: 

Poverty (FRM status) 

Race Ethnicity 

Special Education enrollment 

As a result, the level of exposure to ACEs for 

school’s students reflects the students enrolled 


42 

Odds Ratios for Problems with 

Increasing ACEs 

Academic 

Failure 

Severe 

Attendance 

Problems 

Severe 

School 

Behavior 

Concerns 

Frequent 

Reported 

Poor 

Health 

Three or More 2.9 4.9 6.1 3.9 

ACEs 

Two ACEs 2.5 2.6 4.3 2.4 

One ACE 1.5 2.2 2.4 2.3 

No Known 

ACEs 

1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 


Percent of Students with One or More Academic Concerns by ACE 

Exposure 

100% 

90% 

80% 

Percent of Students with Academic Problems 

70% 

60% 

50% 

40% 

30% 

20% 

10% 

0% 

No Known Adverse Events 

One Reported Adverse 

Event 

Two Reported Adverse 

Events 

Three or more Adverse 

Events 

One or More Academic Concerns 34% 56% 71% 80% 

43 


Summary on risk in schools 

44 

One in five children in Spokane exposed to multiple 

ACEs 

An estimated 15,000 students in Spokane County K-12 

ACE exposure has a dose effect in young children 

where exposure directly predicts developmental 

risk and poor health experiences 

ACE exposure is the most powerful predictor of 

childhood risk among the student characteristics 

examined with the exception of SPED 


What schools can do to change the impact 

of trauma 

Six basic goals to guide school improvement strategies 

1. Build meaningful relationships 

• Preparation to learn and grow 

• Engagement to parents where and when possible and safe 

2. Create safety and predictability 

3. Promote skill development from where students are 

• Accountability as an essential survival skill 

4. Meaning-making (reasoning and problem-solving) 

5. Enhance resiliency 

6. Add targeted supports when support is needed 


46 

A framework for trauma-sensitive 

school response 

Response to Intervention as planning framework 

integrate social emotional learning in curriculum 

Reduce triggers of trauma responses 

Professional development in social emotional learning and traumainformed 

practice 

Classroom management and building teams 

Effective assessment and management of risk 

Targeted use of brief, effective interventions 

Integration of care planning with building classroom success 

More sustained remedial care where needed 

Coordination of care and supports in the community when 

possible

What ARC Can Offer 

A common vocabulary for responses from 

classrooms to individualized services 

Having intervention concepts aligned with our universal 

education goals 

Linking social emotional growth with trauma recovery 

Adapting trauma knowledge and language into 

classroom management 

A specific intervention that can be delivered in school 

settings

Social Emotional Learning and Trauma Response ... - WSU Extension

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