Trauma Free World

The start of a new school year brings fresh opportunities for learning, growth, and connection. For many students, however, this transition can also bring anxiety, uncertainty, and stress—especially for those who have experienced trauma. As an educator, you play a powerful role in helping students feel safe, supported, and ready to learn.

Here are five trauma-informed tips to set the tone for a successful year:

1. Start with Safety

Students can’t fully engage in learning until they feel physically and emotionally safe. Establish predictable routines, clear expectations, and consistent boundaries. Simple things—like greeting students at the door, explaining daily schedules, and following through on promises—can build trust and reduce anxiety.

2. Focus on Relationships First

Relationships are the foundation of a trauma-informed classroom. Take time to learn each student’s name, interests, and strengths. Small, consistent acts of care—like asking about a hobby or remembering a recent event—help students feel valued and seen.

3. Create Calm Spaces

Classrooms can be overwhelming. Provide a quiet area where students can take a break if they feel dysregulated. This isn’t a punishment—it’s a tool for self-regulation and emotional safety.

4. Be Mindful of Triggers

Loud noises, sudden changes, or certain topics can activate stress responses in students with trauma histories. Where possible, give advance notice before transitions, incorporate grounding techniques, and offer choices so students feel a sense of control.

5. Model Self-Regulation

Your calm presence is one of the most powerful tools in your classroom. Practice and model self-regulation strategies—such as deep breathing, pausing before reacting, and speaking in a steady tone—so that students see healthy coping in action.

Remember: You are not just teaching academics—you are shaping environments where healing and learning can happen together. By creating spaces rooted in safety, trust, and empathy, you provide students with the foundation they need to thrive.

If you’d like to learn more about how trauma impacts learning and how to create supportive environments, explore Trauma Free World’s practical skills and training, or check out this helpful guide from the National Center for School Safety on trauma-informed, resilience-oriented schools.

The back-to-school season can stir up a wide range of emotions for teens—excitement, stress, resistance, or even fear. For adolescents who have experienced trauma, these feelings may be amplified and harder to express. As a parent or caregiver, your steady presence and understanding can make all the difference.

At Trauma Free World, we believe that teens thrive when they feel safe, seen, and supported—especially during times of transition.

Here are a few trauma-informed tips to help guide your teen back into the school year:

1. Maintain Routines, but Allow Flexibility

Adolescents often crave independence, but they still need consistency. Help them re-establish school-year routines—like sleep, meals, and screen time—while also giving them space to make choices and set their own goals.

2. Make Space for Their Emotions

Teens may not always talk openly, but they still need to be heard. Ask open-ended questions like “What are you most looking forward to—or worried about?” Let them know it’s okay to have mixed feelings, and remind them you’re available without judgment.

3. Support Self-Regulation

Help your teen recognize signs of stress when transitioning back to school and develop calming strategies that work for them—going for a walk, exercising, deep breathing, journaling, listening to music, or taking a break. Encourage breaks from social media when needed to reduce overwhelm. And remember, modeling self-regulation is just as important. If you need a refresher, check out this Harvard Health guide to self-regulation strategies for adults, or explore additional practical self-care skills for caregivers on our site.

4. Stay Connected Without Hovering

Teens may pull away, but they still need connection. Find natural ways to stay engaged—check in after school, share meals, or watch a show together. Small moments of connection build trust and emotional safety over time.

5. Collaborate with School Supports

Encourage your teen to advocate for their needs at school, and if needed, help them connect with counselors or teachers. A brief heads-up to school staff about triggers or helpful strategies can prevent bigger issues down the line.

Adolescence is already a time of rapid change—adding school transitions can feel overwhelming. But with your support, your teen can face the school year feeling more grounded and capable. You don’t need to have all the answers—your steady, compassionate presence is often enough.

“Repair doesn’t just heal relationships, it strengthens them.”

Disconnection in relationships is inevitable, causing a rupture or a break in a relationship.  What truly matters when this happens is that we, the adult or the care provider, take the first steps to repair the relationship.

According to Dr. Dan Siegel, understanding and awareness alone can’t prevent disruptions from occurring with our family members, children, colleagues, and especially those we care for who have endured trauma. Dr. Siegel emphasizes that the challenge we all share is to embrace our humanity with humor and patience so that we can relate to others with openness and kindness (Siegel and Hartzel, 2018).

Sometimes ruptures occur because we make mistakes by reacting instead of responding.  Other times, the rupture is caused by the other person, but we take it personally and allow it to disrupt our connection. In some cases, we respond well, yet the other person still chooses to disconnect.

Interestingly, research shows that the part of our brain responsible for encoding physical pain is the same part that processes rejection and disconnection (Eisenberger & Lieberman, 2004). This means that disconnection is registered in our brain as a painful experience. Many of the people we work with have endured multiple relationships that were never repaired. This is a lot of pain. And, we have the opportunity to change that by showing them something new.

The Power of Repair

Repairing a relationship requires humility and mindfulness of our own behavior. It requires us to take the first step toward someone who has hurt us. Modeling humility and demonstrating the value of a connected relationship is powerful.
In our training, we regularly discuss how brain development is relationship-dependent. When we apologize or pursue reconciliation—even when the other person has not apologized—we are not only setting a really important example but also putting the relationship first. In this connected interaction, positive neurochemicals are released in both of our brains, facilitating new neurological growth and stronger relational bonds.

Steps to Repairing a Rupture

Healing happens through connection, and the closer the bond, the better the outcome for our children. As our connection strengthens, we witness improved behavior and enhanced social skills in interactions with others. (Kong & Yasmin, 2022.)

Resources:
Kong, C., & Yasmin, F. (2022). Impact of Parenting style on Early Childhood learning: Mediating Role of Parental Self-Efficacy. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.928629.
Eisenberger, N. I., & Lieberman, M. D. (2004). Why rejection hurts: A common neural alarm system for physical and social pain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8, 294–300.
Ekman, P. (1992). Facial expressions of emotion: An old controversy and new findings. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 335(1273), 63–69.
Siegel, D. J., & Hartzell, M. M. (2018). Parenting from the inside out: How a deeper self-understanding can help you raise children who thrive. Scribe Publications. pp. 185-194.


Jacob Bastien, Assistant General Manager of The Golden Lamb Inn

 

“By operating with an understanding of how past trauma can impact individuals today, we can be a positive force in our immediate community.”

 

In the past, the hospitality industry as a whole has garnered a reputation for harboring toxic leadership, fostering dysfunctional work environments, and contributing to self-destructive behaviors. While there may have been some basis for this perception, many of us within the industry are actively working to transform it. Our goal is to cultivate more positive and healthier workplaces. One persistent challenge, particularly in the context of sourcing new hires, stems from these outdated perceptions. To be taken seriously and attract the right individuals, leaders in the hospitality sector must proactively counter these beliefs. Trauma Free World, and the Trauma Informed Leadership course it offers, can play an instrumental role in steering us toward a more positive trajectory. At the Golden Lamb Restaurant & Hotel, our influence in the local community is substantial. By operating with an understanding of how past trauma can impact individuals today, effectively communicating with those who have experienced trauma, and embracing a perspective of compassion, we can be a positive force in our immediate community.

Despite the current operational shifts and uncertainties our industry faces, at the Golden Lamb Restaurant & Hotel, our turnover remains low, and morale remains high. Reflecting on my past work experiences, I am struck by how different they might have been if my former managers and co-managers had been equipped with the tools and knowledge provided by your course. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone with a passion for hospitality. I cannot express enough appreciation to you and your organization for compiling this material and providing us with access to it. I’m eager to encourage more members of our team to undergo this valuable training soon.

Amy Edwards, Second grade teacher at Kings Mills Elementary

Trauma awareness is increasingly becoming a necessity in order to serve and teach others

This course really opened my eyes to the number of children I encounter every day that have been through some form of trauma in their lives as well as the broad spectrum of trauma sources that they may have encountered that I would have never thought of!

It really opened me up to better understand and empathize with where these children are coming from and how to best respond to and aid them within my classroom.

Jennifer Desjardins

Helping Ronald McDonald House of Ontario build a trauma-informed environment across the continuum of care.

Ronald McDonald House

The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southwestern Ontario is a nonprofit organization that provides support and services to families with seriously ill or injured children.

As 2 out of 3 Canadians live in a city without a specialized children’s hospital, RMHC-SWO provides families with a “home-away-from-home” close to their children’s medical care.

Why are you partnering with Trauma Free World?

Trauma Free World has provided us with the tools and training we require to build a trauma-informed environment across the continuum of care. Our staff feel more confident in their ability to support our families through their journeys- considering this experience has the potential of producing acute, chronic, and complex developmental trauma. We would recommend this course to any organization that supports families and individuals during times of stress, uncertainty, and transition.

Marcia Post 
Team Leader of Kentuckiana Cru
People Care Coordinator, Campus Ministry Cohorts 9 & 11

Trauma awareness is increasingly becoming a necessity in order to serve and teach others

Trauma awareness is increasingly becoming a necessity in order to serve and teach others in our missional context appropriately. To holistically disciple a student in the campus ministry, staff & volunteers are wise to ask, “What might be behind this behavior?” and seek to make room for the Holy Spirit to move in the heart matters of a person, rather than just focus on the surface behaviors.  Trauma Free World has multiple resources available that help even the novice discipler understand the general implications of trauma and how it affects a person. Sometimes (and unfortunately in a growing number of cases), trauma is what is behind the unhealthy behaviors. This training served to help me (in the campus ministry) love disciples more holistically and also know when to point them to professionals when trauma was evident in their lives. It spurs on ministry that serves the whole person! I think this would be a valuable resource to offer staff in all of Cru’s divisions! 

Jill Osikowicz, from 91 Place

Equipping mentors to help homeless youth heal from trauma

Who is 91 Place?

91 Place is a home for homeless youth, with community, relationships, and a familial environment at its core. We aim to be a safe place for homeless youth to live, grow, and thrive. Residents are adolescents transitioning to adulthood, ages 17-22, and are able to stay for up to two years. This gives them time-bound space to further their education, obtain a job, save money, and create healthy relationships.

What do you do?

Through our life skills curriculum and mentorship program, our residents learn the skills they need to be independent adults. With therapy and trauma-responsive care, they heal from years of trauma.

Why are you partnering with Trauma Free World?

We love partnering with Trauma Free World because it gives us access to the professional level training we need. We use the Trauma Informed Care Overview for all of our community mentors. Community mentors are adults outside of our staff that are paired one on one with a youth in our program. Our mentors have great hearts and great relational skills and this training gets them to the next level to be able to mentor our youth with a right understanding of trauma care.

It may seem surprising, but your team meetings could be getting derailed by wounds that are decades old! 

70% of adults and 50% of kids have experienced trauma, which, even years later, can fire up the fear brain and shut down the thinking brain. When people’s thinking brain shuts down they have more difficulty with decision making, problem solving, learning, and thinking creatively — which are all things you need to have a great meeting. Good news though, making a little extra effort to ensure people feel safe helps quiet people’s fear brain so that their amazing thinking brains can wake up and participate.

1.  Send an agenda and/or a pre-read in advance.

I know, this is a pain, sometimes with busy schedules it’s hard enough just to get to all the meetings, but sending a few bullet points ahead of time can be powerful. Executive functioning, which happens in the prefrontal cortex, can be impacted by trauma making  it difficult for trauma-affected people to process things on the spot. Giving your team a chance to read through ideas in advance can give them more time to think through the issues and creates less pressure during the meeting to have an immediate answer. Even giving people a quick snapshot of the topics that will be covered, what you expect them to do in the meeting, and what you hope to achieve as a group helps take away any fear of surprises and will help people feel more confident to contribute.

2.  Allow for think time during the meeting.

As mentioned above, responding in real-time can be hard for people who have or are experiencing toxic stress or have a history of trauma. (Actually, about half of us don’t like responding in real-time anyways because of our temperaments!)  If you didn’t have time to send an agenda or pre-read, don’t panic, just give people a few minutes to think prior to open discussion. Saying something like “I want to present a few ideas and then I’ll give everyone a few minutes to think about it before we open the discussion” can really help people’s brain relax so they can think about the issue instead of worrying about needing to respond quickly.

3.  Start with hello and some eye contact. 

Often, in our time-restricted environments, we find ourselves rushing from one meeting to the next and just jump in full steam ahead to tackle our objectives. Taking even just a minute or two to say hello, smile at people, and ask how they are doing can help people feel seen, heard, and valued as a person. Take a mental note of the “emotional temperature” of the room before starting. If it seems people have not had a chance to fully discharge the emotion and pressure from a previous encounter, start with one minute of silence and some deep breaths to help people clear their heads and restore calm to their brain.  

4.  Check your space.

Feeling safe allows us to access more of our brain power to work hard, take ownership and think creatively. The more comfortable we are in an environment, the safer we feel. You don’t have to provide expensive leather office chairs or anything, but making sure people know where the conference room/meeting is, providing directions, making sure the room is well lit, having enough chairs, etc. can go a long way in helping people feel safe and welcome.

5.  Be aware of Sensory Triggers. 

85% of people who experienced trauma as a young child have sensory sensitivities – light, noise, movement, etc. Do a quick check of your meeting environment to think about what might affect people. Is it a glass conference room with lots of visual stimuli or is the room extremely cold? Are the chairs so tightly packed that personal space may be difficult to maintain?  It can be tough to predict sensitivities, so try to talk about it openly or ask questions in real time. “Is this light bothering anyone?” or “I’m distracted by too much movement, so I pulled the blinds, is everyone ok with that?“ or “Please feel welcome to stand in the back if you need to move or if it helps you concentrate.”

6.  Give people a voice. 

“Psychological safety” is the key to helping people activate their thinking brain. This means your team members need to actually be safe and feel safe. A big part of feeling safe is knowing that your voice counts. Be sure to remind your team often that their voice is important and that you’ll be taking their opinions into consideration. Tell them up front what you are going to do with their ideas and how you as a team or leader will come to a final decision so they can see that their input matters.

7.  Give people choices. 

Another key aspect of psychological safety is being able to exercise the power to choose. Often people from trauma did not get a chance to choose what happened to them, so having the ability to choose can help empower and strengthen them. You can do this in big or small ways. You could give people the choice to submit ideas to you in writing instead of attending the meeting. Or you could give people a choice when/where the meeting occurs. Sharing your power with others can help everyone feel more connected to the work or project.

8.  Help people regulate. 

Experiencing trauma often affects one’s ability to regulate emotions. When under pressure or tired people can either act out (anger, explosive emotions, etc.) or “act in” (shut down, withdraw, etc.). If you feel like your meeting is dragging a bit or getting tense, don’t be afraid to steer it in a different direction. Saying something to the group like “OK, I’m feeling like we’re all getting a little tired, let’s all stand up and take a lap around the room to get our energy flowing.” Or, “OK! Time out! I’m seeing we’ve got a lot of strong opinions and I want to hear everyone’s thoughts. Let’s take 2 minutes to take some deep breaths, stretch and regroup.”  For more ideas on how to help people regulate check out our Regulation Techniques webinar.

9.  Shut down culture-killers. 

As the leader of the meeting, showing you are trustworthy helps people feel safe and ready to engage. Demonstrate respect and insist that others show respect as well. Watch out for things like favoritism, gossip, discrimination, negative talk about someone who isn’t present, etc. These things can erode a team’s trust in you and in each other. Practice some scripts you can use if this comes up like “Hey, guys, it’s important to me that we’ve got a culture where everyone is welcome and valued, so I’m going to jump in here and ask that you stop that kind of talk now and in the future, ok?”

10.   Bring snacks. 

It may sound silly, but making sure people are hydrated and nourished helps signal safety and care. Moreover, when people’s physical needs are met, it can help reduce distraction and increase focus.

Business guru Patrick Lencioni says:

“If you could get all the people in the organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time.”

We hope these tips help you get all of the people on your team rowing in the same direction!

Trauma-Informed-Leaders-Host-Guide-Find-ParticipantsDownload

This Host Guide is designed to accompany the Trauma-Informed Leadership course. If you want to gather your coworkers to learn about trauma-informed care and strategize how to implement it in your workplace, this guide is perfect for you. It includes email templates and background materials to share with your team. If you need additional support, please reach out to hello@traumafreeworld.org.

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