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Episode 1 What Happened to This Child? Understanding Behavior Through a Trauma Lens
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Episode 1
What Happened to This Child? Understanding Behavior Through a Trauma Lens
In this episode, we explore how childhood trauma and chronic stress impact brain development and student behavior. Grounded in the work of Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and current brain research, this episode reframes challenging behavior as communication rather than defiance. Listeners will learn how trauma affects the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex, and why some students appear reactive, shut down, or overwhelmed in classroom settings. The episode introduces a trauma-informed mindset shift that prioritizes safety, regulation, and relationships as the foundation for learning, while maintaining high expectations and accountability.
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Transcript
Introduction and Identifying Shifts
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, and welcome to podcast PD with Christina. i am so excited that you're here with me today. This project has been something i have been thinking about for a while, and i am excited to get started with our first episode.
00:00:15
Speaker
So before I introduce the research behind today's conversation, i want to start with why I began looking more deeply into childhood trauma in the first place. So over the past few years, I started noticing a shift in student behavior, not just more behavior challenges, but a noticeable difference in the intensity, frequency, and complexity of the behaviors.
00:00:39
Speaker
These weren't the behaviors that I had come to expect earlier in my
Childhood Trauma as a Public Health Crisis
00:00:43
Speaker
career. And that stood out to me because I have taught and led schools in Chester and in Philadelphia, communities where students have faced significant adversity for decades. And so challenging behaviors were not new to me.
00:00:56
Speaker
But what I was seeing felt different. students seem more dysregulated, more reactive, or more shut down, or possibly more explosive.
00:01:07
Speaker
And the strategies that used to work just weren't working the same way anymore. And so I started asking myself, what has changed? What am I missing? And I didn't start researching to excuse the behavior, i started researching it to understand it better.
00:01:23
Speaker
And my research led me to the work of Dr. Nadine Burke Harris. Now, before we go any further, it's important to ground this conversation in her work. Dr. Nadine Burke Harris helped reframe childhood trauma as not just a social issue, but an actual public health crisis.
00:01:41
Speaker
She shared that in the mid 1990s, researchers at the CDC and Kaiser Permanente identified an exposure so powerful that it dramatically increases the risk for seven of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States.
00:01:55
Speaker
At high levels, this exposure disrupts brain development, the immune system, hormonal systems, and even the way our DNA is read and expressed. People with very high exposure have three times the lifetime risk of heart disease and lung cancer, and up to a 20-year reduction in life expectancy.
Understanding Trauma-Informed Approaches
00:02:17
Speaker
And yet, most professionals are not routinely trained to screen for or address it. Now, this exposure that I'm talking about isn't chemical. It's not coming from the landfills or the refineries that are all around us.
00:02:29
Speaker
It's not pollution. It's not something that you can see or touch. I'm talking about childhood trauma. Dr. Burke Harris noticed early in her medical career that many children were being referred to her for ADHD.
00:02:42
Speaker
But after thorough evaluations, the diagnosis often didn't quite fit. Instead, many of these children had experienced chronic severe stress and their behaviors were being misunderstood.
00:02:57
Speaker
She offers this powerful analogy. If 100 children drink from the same well and 98 of them get sick, you can keep writing prescription after prescription after prescription.
00:03:10
Speaker
Or you can stop and ask yourself, what's happening in that well? And that question changed the way that I look at student behavior. Because when we understand the whole child, their experiences, their stressors, and their survival responses, we stop asking, how do we control this behavior?
00:03:31
Speaker
And we start asking, how can we support this child? A trauma-informed approach doesn't lower expectations or excuse harmful behavior or remove accountability from it.
Impact of Trauma on the Brain
00:03:43
Speaker
But what it does do is help us make decisions that are more effective, more humane, and more likely to lead to lasting change. And so today, when I look at behavior, I see it as communication and I prioritize safety, regulation, and relationships as the foundation for learning.
00:04:01
Speaker
And that's what we're going to explore together. So let's look at how trauma impacts the brain and the brain and how the brain responds to danger.
00:04:13
Speaker
Imagine that you're walking through the woods and suddenly you encounter a bear. Your brain immediately singles, danger, danger. Your body releases cortisol, the stress hormone, so you can fight, flee, or freeze.
00:04:25
Speaker
And that response is essential for survival if you're in the woods and you encounter a bear. But here's the problem. Sometimes we live with the bear and when danger is ongoing or when a child's brain believes that the danger is ongoing, that stress response never fully turns off.
00:04:45
Speaker
And for children, this is especially damaging because their brains are still developing. And so instead of growing in environments that lead to safety, predictability and trust,
00:04:56
Speaker
Their brains are wired around survival.
Reframing Trauma-Related Behaviors
00:05:00
Speaker
Now, here's a few key areas of the brain that are affected by trauma. First is the amygdala. That's the alarm system.
00:05:07
Speaker
In traumatized children, the amygdala becomes overreactive. And so in the classroom, this could look like hypervigilance, anxiety, explosive reactions, freezing, or just shutting down.
00:05:19
Speaker
The child is constantly scanning for danger, even in a calm classroom. The hippocampus or the memory and learning center of the brain. Trauma disrupts how memories are formed and stored.
00:05:33
Speaker
And so this can look like difficulty learning new information, trouble remembering instructions, confusion between the past and the present, and zoning out in class. And the last area we're going to talk about is the prefrontal cortex. This is the thinking and self-control area of the brain.
00:05:52
Speaker
This area supports impulse control, focus, emotional regulation, and decision-making. And when trauma is present, this area may be underdeveloped or less active.
00:06:04
Speaker
And so that could look like poor attention, difficulty following rules, impulsivity, and having big emotions with little control. But here's a mindset shift that changes everything.
00:06:17
Speaker
Trauma related behaviors are survival responses, not character flaws. Children have adapted to unsafe environments in the only ways they can.
Handling Transition Meltdowns
00:06:30
Speaker
And so they might develop a distrust of adults, a fear of abandonment. They might feel shame and they develop a belief that the world is unpredictable or dangerous. And because these adaptations happen so early, they actually become wired into their development.
00:06:46
Speaker
And so as educators, when we see defiance, with withdrawal, aggression, and noncompliance, we need to ask ourselves a different question. Not what's wrong with this child, but what happened to this child and how can we set up their experience to be more supportive?
00:07:06
Speaker
And so at the end of each of these sessions, podcast, I want to share some scenarios with strategies that you can apply tomorrow. And so our first scenario is that transition meltdown.
00:07:19
Speaker
Your student is having a difficult time transitioning from recess to math. We observe the refusal behavior, that meltdown, even like emotional escalation and possibly slow compliance, if any.
00:07:36
Speaker
And when we use a trauma-informed reframe of that behavior, we can say to ourselves, hmm, he looks overwhelmed. Transitions are hard and his body might be in fight or flight.
00:07:49
Speaker
And that means our first goal is regulation, not compliance. And so here are some quick strategies that you can try in the moment. First, think about shrinking that transition.
00:08:00
Speaker
Instead of blowing the whistle, yelling recesses over, clean up, line up, let's get ready for math, we can shrink that transition into smaller pieces. First, you could give a warning.
00:08:11
Speaker
Recess will be ending in five minutes, three minutes, one minute. Blow the whistle, then state it's time to clean up. Narrate what you see the students doing. I see Joe grabbing the basketballs, Layla gathering her friends up.
00:08:26
Speaker
Once that cleanup piece has happened, then state it's time to line up. Again, narrating the positive things that you see the students doing. Use first then language in that transition.
00:08:39
Speaker
First, we're going to quietly walk in the hallway. Then when we enter the classroom, we will take out our math books. Shrinking the transition helps because it reduces the cognitive load when their brain is stressed.
00:08:54
Speaker
Using a predictable script. Use the same calm phrase every time that you line up from recess or from a particular transition. You could say, there are five minutes left of recess.
00:09:07
Speaker
Then there are three minutes left to recess. Then students know that you are going to blow the whistle and it is time to clean up. So you blow your whistle and you state it is time to clean up. Then once the cleanup is finished, you can say line up and you can tell them first we will line up, then we will walk quietly in the hallway.
00:09:27
Speaker
Why using a predictable script works? Predictability calms the nervous system because the brain knows what to expect next. Next, you can offer a regulated choice.
00:09:40
Speaker
Both choices lead to the same outcome, but it allows the student to feel in control. Do you wanna hop or walk to the carpet? Would you like to sit on the rug or in the chair?
00:09:53
Speaker
Avoid asking them, do you want to do math? Do you want to do this? That invites the refusal and we don't want the students to be able to
Dealing with Shutdown Scenarios
00:10:01
Speaker
refuse. We want to make sure that they have a choice in how they participate.
00:10:06
Speaker
Next, you can try regulating with the student. Before correcting a behavior, check your own body language. Lower your voice. Slow your body. Stand at their level and take one visible deep breath and say,
00:10:22
Speaker
Watch me take a deep breath. Do you see how my belly and chest expand when I breathe in Now you try. And why this strategy works is co-regulation comes before self-regulation.
00:10:35
Speaker
If your students don't know how to regulate their body, they need to be shown how to do it and have someone to do it with them. And then follow up after regulation.
00:10:47
Speaker
This is later. It's not during the meltdown. It's not right after regulation. they become deescalated. But after when their body is ready to talk about what happened, you could say something like, transitions are hard for your body.
00:11:01
Speaker
We'll keep practicing it together. This keeps the expectations intact without escalating the moment. And just keep this thought in your mind. This isn't a discipline moment. This is regulation moment.
00:11:15
Speaker
You can talk about what happened later, but not in that moment. The next scenario is a shutdown scenario. So you have taught your lesson, asked the kids to get started working, and you observe a frozen, staring child. No work has started. They're completely disengaged.
00:11:36
Speaker
And when we use a trauma-informed reframe of that behavior, we can say to ourselves, she's showing me that she isn't ready to engage. This is freeze. It's not defiance. And so what you can do immediately in that moment is to reduce the demand.
00:11:52
Speaker
Instead of saying, you need to get started, you could say, i see you're having a tough time. Let's try to just write your name on the paper or circle the first problem.
00:12:03
Speaker
This works because it lowers the threat and re-engages the thinking brain. The next is important to remember in any situation. Remove the public attention.
00:12:15
Speaker
Quietly kneel or sit behind the student. Calling attention in front of the peers escalates their behavior. reprie Avoid repeated prompts from across the room. Again, you're calling attention to that student.
00:12:30
Speaker
Walk over to them. Say, I'm here. You're safe. Let's take out your math book. If they do that, good. Now write your name. Try to use some side-by-side support.
00:12:43
Speaker
Start the first item together. Model an example for them. Then pause. You could say, I'll do the first one with you, or i can show you how to do the first one. This builds the momentum of getting started without the pressure.
00:12:57
Speaker
You could also offer a time-based experience. break, not an escape. You can take two minutes, then I'll check back on you and set a visual timer if it's helpful.
00:13:08
Speaker
Avoid, you don't have to do it. Your goal is to pause, allow them to take the time that they need and re-engage them to complete the task, not avoid the task altogether.
00:13:20
Speaker
and normalize the response. Later, privately with the student, you could say, sometimes our brains freeze when things feel big. That happens to a lot of people. That reduces the shame for the child and rebuilds that trust.
Benefits of Trauma-Informed Approaches
00:13:33
Speaker
And just remember that silence is communication as well. And so when you see that child who is not engaged, that is also communicating something with you. And when we all start to to develop this trauma informed lens, we respond the same way across different settings. And so that means there's fewer power struggles, faster regulation, less escalation, and we have more trust from our students.
00:13:59
Speaker
Trauma informed does not mean that there are no boundaries, no expectations and no consequences. but it does mean that we regulate first, teach skills after, and hold limits once the brain is back online.
Recap of Strategies and Listener Engagement
00:14:14
Speaker
So again, just to recap, something that you could try tomorrow, choose one student and commit to the sequence. Name the state. Your body looks overwhelmed.
00:14:25
Speaker
Reduce the demand. One step, one task, one choice. Regulate together. using a calm voice, a slow body, and a brief presence.
00:14:38
Speaker
And finally, address the expectations later when the student is calm and ready to hear you.
00:14:47
Speaker
Here's one sentence that can shift your response in the moment. When you see a behavior, you can ask yourself, what might this behavior be protecting the student from right now?
00:15:00
Speaker
That question doesn't remove the limits, but it helps how you choose to respond.
00:15:06
Speaker
I hope you enjoyed our first podcast session in this series. Thank you for joining me on this. um I would love to hear if you apply any of these strategies. So if you would like, you can send me an email or a text to say how you have used this strategy if you give it a try next week.
00:15:24
Speaker
And I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.