The Positive Behavior Support Team at Madison Metropolitan School District (Wisconsin) provides consultation and wrap-around services for students who exhibit significant physical or sexual aggression. Several members of the team received training in the Three Pillars of TraumaWise Care curriculum from Reclaiming Youth International. This article…

Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) is a therapeutic, verbal strategy for intervention with students in crisis. It explores a student's reactions to stressful events to gain insight into thinking, feelings, and behavior in order to strengthen resilience and self-esteem (Long, Wood, & Fecser, 2001). By exploring timelines of challenging…

A growing body of research shows that many seriously troubled children and adolescents are reacting to adverse life experiences. Yet traditional diagnostic labels are based on checklists of surface symptoms. Distracted by disruptive behavior, the common response is to medicate, punish, or exclude rather than respond to needs of youth who have…

This Reclaiming Intervention is an excellent example of the notion that life is a watercolor. Tricia Jump's interview demonstrates how a patient, caring adult can bring comfort and hope to a child experiencing some very difficult and painful life events. KC, a ten year old girl, is typical of many children whose home lives are turbulent. In some…

This article features Community Service Foundation/Buxmont Academy (CSF Buxmont) school, in Trevose, Pennsylvania, which operates alternative schools using restorative practices. CSF Buxmont operates eight schools, 16 foster group homes, and probation and drug-and-alcohol supervision programs for youth, which are demonstration programs of the…

The traditional "stay silent, sit still, do nothing" school detention approach is a punitive and ineffective way to change behavior. It does little to create positive school climates. For children who have been traumatized through fear, isolation, and emotional abuse, poorly managed detention can add to that trauma. A restorative justice approach…

Over the last 20 years, the clinical teams at The ChildTrauma Academy have been adapting their clinical practice to be better informed by the core principles of neurodevelopment and neuroscience. The hope is that by better understanding how the brain changes they will better understand the effects of maltreatment on the child and, thereby,…

The Developmental Audit[R] is a comprehensive means of assessment and treatment planning that identifies the coping strategies underlying a youth's maladaptive and self-defeating behavior. This is a strength-based assessment that engages youth in conflict in the process of generating solutions rather than focusing on deficits. This process…

To heal the hurt child, one begins not as a clinician but as a person trying to witness how the child experiences trauma. This requires more than just talking since the child's terrifying memories are stored in the brain's senses and visual imagery, not in rational thoughts and words. The goal is to change these frightening sensory experiences…