6 ways to help students process trauma

Trauma affects all of us.

Train wrecks. Tornadoes. School shootings. Floods. Suicide. Financial crisis. Church scandal.

None of us is immune to traumatic events that happen without warning. Even if the event directly affects others (and not us), we can still be changed and impacted by that traumatic event. Therapists and counselors call this "secondary trauma".

I actually heard the term from my boss yesterday when my team met to catch up and assess the situations of our coworkers, neighbors, friends, and even strangers who were caught up by the floods that hit Nashville recently. I did a little research on it and discovered that secondary trauma is quite common. You might have noticed the symptoms in yourself or in your students in the aftershock of a major event. (I was amazed at how many I've been dealing with!)

1. Shock, disbelief
2. Anger, irritability, mood swings (including feeling sad or hopeless)
3. Guilt (often called "survivor's guilt")
4. Difficulty concentrating
5. Feeling disconnected from others
6. Anxiety or fear (a sense of safety and stability has been stripped away)
7. Insomnia or nightmares
8. Fatigue
9. Muscle tension
10. Being startled easily

How do we as adults help students process the unexpected events around them? Here are a few ideas.

1. Allow students to grieve, even if they're not directly affected. Many students (and adults!) feel a loss of safety and security when something unexpected, tragic, and uncontrollable occurs (fire, tornado, hurricane, shooting, etc.)
2. Provide a safe place to process emotions. Let students talk about what they saw, felt, heard (even if it's a rumor), and experienced. Expression is a key step of recovery. Don't ignore the event or pretend it didn't happen.
3. Encourage a return to routine and order. For me, even something simple as eating lunch with my friends this week has provided one element of normalcy in a situation that seems very chaotic and unsettling.
4. Encourage students to take care of their health. When possible, they need to eat healthy food and find time to exercise...which leads to...
5. Provide a place and space for students to release pent up "flight or fight" energy. Many experience a heightened sense of urgency or stress. They need to find a way to let it go. Basketball. A Wii Fit tournament. Running. Anything to release the chemicals that are storing up in mass quantities.
6. Organize a response. Many students (and adults) experience an overwhelming need to "do something." Provide opportunities to do that. Collect water. Let them tear down sheet rock, collect trash, or cook and serve meals.

How have you helped students process trauma? Post your ideas for others to use.