Brain-Changing Strategies to Trauma-Proof Our Schools: A Heart-Centered Movement for Wiring Well-Being

by Maggie Kline, Peter A. Levine (Foreword)

Stop trauma in its tracks, address disruptive behaviors, and create a safe and nurturing school environment with a neuroscience-based approach in your classroom.More than 32 million children in the US suffer from trauma symptoms. Some have had adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), like neglect, abuse, violence, and loss, or have experienced distress from medical trauma and social injustice. Toxic traumatic stress shapes the structure and function of both brain and body, which can lead to anxiety, hyperactivity, aggression, shutting down, and acting out--emotions and behaviors that hinder learning and create classroom chaos. Maggie Kline, a family therapist, trauma specialist, school psychologist, and former teacher, gives you whole-brain, heart-centered tools to identify and reverse trauma-driven behaviors so students feel supported and safe. Her unique roadmap will empower you to facilitate positive school-wide outcomes as you trauma alters kids' brains causing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral challengesEvidence-based somatic, relational, and mindfulness interventions to rewire reactivityHow to manage Pre-K-12 classrooms to promote empathy, cooperation, and belongingSocial equity practices so kids from all backgrounds feel safe, valued, and joyfulConcrete steps to restore resilience following natural and man-made catastrophes

424 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 3, 2020

Reviews

[Pepper Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever felt the desire to be of service while confronting frustrating ever-changing needs? As a former administrator at UC Berkeley, now actively teaching, with a history of working with children and young adults, this book has been a practical gift of answers and empowerment while addressing anxiety, depression and anger in our world. It provides a deep understanding and different lens of how bodies, brains, and hearts work together. I recommend jumping into this book by reading first, chapter one “The Reality of Trauma’s Scope” then chapter 10, “And justice for All”. This will inspire your view of this masterful work written by an author whose every book I have absorbed from cover-to-cover. I know you will embrace Brain Changing Strategies as I have; it stays on my desk as my talisman.

Pepper A. Black