- 7 -
accessHealthNews.net
August 2023
Volume 9 | Issue No. 73
"T
rauma Informed Practices in Schools: Understanding
Racial Trauma and Cultivating Wellness," presented
by Mental Health America, explored the importance of
racial-trauma informed schools from the classroom to
district level. Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the
webinar featured speakers Dr. Jamie Freeny and Art
McCoy, Ph.D. Dr. Freeny works with Mental Health America
of Greater Houston, serving as director at the Center for
School Behavioral Health. Dr. McCoy is the Jennings School
District Superintendent Emeritus & Saint Louis University
Distinguished Fellow.
Trauma affects children's cognitive, emotional, and
behavioral development and can affect student learning
and performance. Educating school administrators and
staff on racial trauma and its impact on children can
create a healthier, safer environment for students and
empowers them to succeed.
Effects of Trauma
Trauma-informed approaches underscore the need to
interpret behavior as a communication. Children often
do not have the education necessary to understand that
they've experienced trauma, let alone the verbiage to
communicate that. To become equitable, school staff
require education on recognizing signs of trauma and
responding in a way that helps children instead of further
hurting them.
Trauma impacts the body in many ways from physically
shrinking the architecture in areas like the prefrontal
cortex to throwing the nervous system off balance. Neural
pathways are engrained in old thought patterns and
habits tied to the trauma and compound as more traumas
occur. Neurotransmitters become vulnerable to addiction,
which often cooccurs with trauma and can worsen health
and emotional issues. The immune system may see lower
cortisol causing unchecked inflammation, leading to a
variety of diseases including asthma and arthritis.
Because racism is chronic, the negative impacts compound
to create racial trauma. Racial trauma is experienced
in daily microaggressions, in subtle and stark situations
throughout a person's lifetime, and spans generations.
Black and Indigenous people of color (BIPOC) experience
racism from the day they are born until they pass; the
generations of family before and after them do also.
This lifetime of racial trauma can have severe negative
impacts including mental health concerns, low feelings
of self-worth and belonging, and physical complications
like low cortisol levels being passed to children during
pregnancy.
Racism in health care also affects treatment of behavioral
health issues. Implicit bias towards Black children, young
Black boys especially, often leads to misdiagnoses or
insufficient treatment. Anger, hyperactivity, and emotional
outbursts may be written off as a personal attitude rather
than a symptom of trauma. Failing to recognize the
difference, and judging the child in the process, can
create numerous problems including the child being
reticent to seeking support from adults in the future.
Trauma's Impact on Education
According to Dr. Freeny, there is also a direct relationship
between adverse childhood experiences and academic
performance. Exposure to trauma can have negative
impacts on their development, educational performance,
and ultimately their future. "It's important for us to
understand, especially as leaders of schools and districts,
that mental health does matter and plays a huge role
in the outcome of students within the district," she said.
"There is a need to prioritize the mental health needs of
students."
"You want everyone on that campus to feel that they belong. Not that they
have to change to fit in, but that they belong as who they are without any
modifications."
- Dr. Jamie Freeny
READ MORE
