WORKING WITH TRAUMA-AFFECTED

AND SUICIDAL YOUTH:

BUILDING PERSONAL AND

TEAM RESILIENCE

Illinois School Psychology Internship Consortium

Suicide Prevention Showcase

December 7, 2018

Karen Flint Stipp PhD & Kyle Miller PhD

Illinois State University

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OBJECTIVES

1. Consider self-care as an antidote to stress and trauma, for school professionals and the youth they serve

2. Identify and explore self-care practices for building and sustaining personal & team resilience

3. Reflect on current stress-management strategies; Create or update self-care plans for building and sustaining resilience

4. Recognize active ingredients in evidence-based suicide prevention programs and consider applying them in culturally relevant ways with population & setting

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TRAUMA

AFFECTS ANYONE

IN THE ROOM (TIER 1?)

trauma event/stress:

adequate promotive

factors in facing threat;

exclusion

TRAUMA: physical

violence/injury from

people who should give

care; invasive medical

procedure

CHRONIC TRAUMA:

extended threat; lack

of basic resources;

abandonment/

oppression

Secondary Trauma: Acquired through relationship with people who carry trauma

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INTERSECTION OF I94 & I55:

A TRAUMA & RESILIENCE STORY4

INTERSECTION OF

TRAUMA & PROMOTIVE

FACTORS

TRAUMA or trauma

Promotive (care) factors:

Problem-solving skills

Consultation/Care: IDOT guy!

Family/friend supports

Nutrition, hydration, warm

bath

Financial resources;

time off work

Secondary Trauma:

IDOT guy? 5

TRAUMA & SUICIDALITY

DSM-5 neglects to mention the:

Trauma effects of disrupted attachment may persist into

adolescence and adulthood

Intersection between trauma and other high-suicide risk

disorders - major depressive disorder, OCD, borderline

personality disorder – brief mentions of high comorbidity)

Research indicates:

Similar neurology for trauma and for other disorders

with high suicide risk; perhaps causation (Ball & Links, 2009; Cattane et al., 2017)

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TRAUMA-INFORMED HOPE

Trauma disrupts neural pathways

for hours or days (trauma/stress)

for months or years (TRAUMA)

Neurons can develop new paths(at

any age)

Brain plasticity means that brains

can change; people can change

Promotive factors support

healing

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RESILIENCE-

PROMOTING

FACTORS

Promotive Assets: Positive factors within

the person, self-efficacy, self-esteem,

health (Zimmerman, 2013)

Promotive Resources: Positive factors

outside the person (Zimmerman, 2013)

for students: family; shelter/safety;

mentors; supportive peers; opportunity to

build skills; self-care

for school professionals: family/friends;

shelter/safety; colleagues/peer

consultation; knowledge & skills;

administrative support;

self-care 8

PROTECT YOUR BUTTONS

Unresolved TRAUMA, or even

trauma, can spiral a minor

stressor into a fight-flight-freeze

dysregulation.

Students are not just “pushing

our buttons”; their

dysregulation affects us.

This tier 1 begins before the

school day.

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WORK/LIFE BALANCE: FOUR BURNERS

Health Work

Friends Family

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BIO

(PHYSICAL)

SELF-CARE

move breathe

SEEK CARE

hydrate & nourish

sleep

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Insight Timer

PSYCHOLOGICAL

(EMOTIONAL) SELF-CARE

Speak kindly to yourself

Recognize:

This moment

Ways you’re okay

Ways you’re not okay

SEEK CARE

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SOCIAL SELF-CARE

Care for the people

you care about

“Vent” selectively

Make time for

people who bring

joy

Show grace; have

mercy

SEEK CARE

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SPIRITUAL SELF-CARE

Find meaning

Create: Sing, write, dance, draw, pray, play, build

Rejoice; celebrate

Find ways to love this work . . . even in failure

SEEK CARE

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INTELLECTUAL SELF-CARESEEK CARE

Attend events (musical

performances, special lectures, plays)

Visit museums & exhibits

Engage in stimulating conversation

Play stimulating games

Read!

Carefully select movies and TV

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UPDATE OR CREATE A SELF-CARE PLAN 17

PROTECT YOUR COLLEAGUES’ BUTTONS 18

TRAUMA-INFORMED LEARNING COMMUNITIES (ADAPTED FROM SAMHSA)

Professional Learning Communities: Collaborative cycles of

inquiry and action that require continuous educator learning (Stoll, Bolam, McMahon, Wallace & Thomas, 2006; Popp & Goldman, 2016)

Consultation Teams for Professionals Working with Suicidality: Mirrors the therapeutic process in terms of a dialectical

approach and the balance of acceptance and change (Waltz, Fruzzetti, & Linehan, 1998)

Adapt collaboration & consultation for work with trauma, to

decrease suicidality (Adapted from SAMHSA) . . .

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TRAUMA-INFORMED LEARNING COMMUNITIES (ADAPTED FROM SAMHSA)

Recognize trauma in community:

Find support from school & community specialists

Administrator buy-in with peer supervision structure/time;

encouraging usage of EAPs/”mental health” days;

professional development

Realize trauma responses in self & colleagues

Respond to colleagues’ difficult encounters with safety;

help each other regulate in their best ways e.g. breathing,

reframing, being mindful

Resist re-victimization: normalize secondary trauma

experiences; plan next steps

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TRAUMA-INFORMED LEARNING COMMUNITIES (ADAPTED FOR SCHOOLS FROM NCTSN)

Peer Supervision (adapted for schools from NCTSN)

Include specialists as peers

Develop team routines for reflecting on trauma responses

Select a model, e.g. Psychological First Aid: reflectively listen,

protect, connect

Structure group resilience-building activities, e.g. group

mindfulness, yoga, walking, writing/creative exercises

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CONSIDER A TEAM-CARE PLAN 22

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REFERENCESBall, J. & Links, P. (2009). Borderline personality disorder and childhood trauma: evidence for a causal

relationship. Current Psychiatry Reports, 11(1), 63-68. doi: /10.1007/s11920-009-0010-4

Cattane, N., Rossi, R. Lanfredi, M. & Cattaneo, A. (2017). Borderline personality disorder and childhood

trauma: Exploring the affected biological systems and mechanisms. BMC Psychiatry, 17, 221.

doi: 10.1186/s12888-017-1383-2

Mindfulness Coach (2016). Mindful. Retrieved from:

http://www.mindfulnesscoach.com.au/?page_id=51

(Popp, J. S., & Goldman, S. R. (2016). Knowledge building in teacher professional learning communities:

Focus of meeting matters. Teaching and Teacher Education, 59, 347-359.

SAMHSA (2017, October 11). SAMHSA addresses trauma by supporting community programs throughout

US. Retrieved from https://newsletter.samhsa.gov/2017/05/16/trauma-informed-communities/

Stoll, L., Bolam, R., McMahon, A., Wallace, M., & Thomas, S. (2006). Professional learning communities: a

review of the literature. Retrieved from

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/df69/ad43e89f8c039b8ca2ab1416044173c06284.pdf

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.NCTSN.org/

Waltz, J., Fruzzetti, A., & Linehan, M. (2008). The role of supervision in dialectical behavior Therapy.

Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J001v17n01_09

Zimmerman, M. (2013). Resiliency theory: A strengths-based approach to research and practice for

adolescent health. Health Education & Behavior, 40(2), 381-383. doi: 10.1177/1090198113493782

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IMAGESSlides 3 & 8: Social stratification (2005). Course Alum Kelly Williamson. [Electronic image]. Retrieved from

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yoga-class

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Slide 22: The Maven Circle. (2016, March 03). Self Help for Anxiety. Retrieved from https://www.themavencircle.com/

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