The number of students with mental health issues in institutions of higher education has been rising over the past few years, and the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this issue. Depression, anxiety, and suicide ideation are the most serious concerns. While the impact of working with others in distress is well documented in the health…

The purpose of the present qualitative study of formerly incarcerated Black male students' is a heartfelt look into the lives of Black men navigating the U.S. criminal justice system using their resilience following participation in a prison-based education program. Drawing on a strength-based lens versus a deficit-based lens was a focus on…

Purpose: Guided by several of the 9 essentials of what it means to be a PDS (NAPDS, 2021), authors share a plea to rethink the teacher burnout-attrition-staffing crisis with a call toward a moral imperative of recentering an ethic of care. Many schools are operating under anti-care practices which directly undermine teacher wellness in part due to…

Racial disparities in violence exposure and criminal justice contact are a subject of growing policy and public concern. We conduct a large-scale, randomized controlled trial of a six-month behavioral health intervention combining intensive mentoring and group therapy designed to reduce criminal justice and violence involvement among Black and…

From 2020 to 2022, a global pandemic caused schools to pivot from primarily in-person instruction to all-virtual or hybrid instruction, creating a shift in contextual learning environments that made it necessary for experienced music teachers to become more adaptable and flexible within their already established expertise or leave the profession.…

Traumatic events are becoming more prevalent in youth, especially considering the increase in disaster exposure, impacting the wellbeing and mental health of youth. Youth in rural communities are more adversely impacted due to a lack of access to available support and services. Interventions geared toward treating traumatic stress are needed for…

Research on trauma in education has primarily focused on the student experience while the prevalence and scope of educator trauma remains largely unexplored, especially through an identity-conscious lens. This study addresses the gap in our understanding of educator trauma through a national survey of United States educators. Results indicated…

At the 2020 American String Teachers Association (ASTA) Conference held in Orlando Florida, an attendee of the Wellness Committee Listening Session recommended that a study be conducted to determine the prevalence and awareness of mental health concerns among students and teachers within the organization. Members agreed that there is more needed…

Background: This review explores the pastoral role of early childhood development (ECD) teachers through a trauma-informed lens, grounded in neuroscience. Traumatised learners experience neurobiological changes that hinder cognitive and physical functioning. The review highlights the importance of pastoral support in ECD because of learners'…

Trauma is not a novel phenomenon within the world or society. Kilpatrick et al. (2013) postulated that most individuals will experience at least one traumatic event in their life. Possibly the more disturbing truth about trauma is it can occur throughout all stages of a person's life, sometimes even before the person is born (Narayan et al.,…

Background: Historical trauma and cultural loss resulting from colonialism have contributed to educational and health disparities among Pacific youth. Recognizing the protective factors is essential for mitigating disparities and enhancing the overall well-being of these youth. Objective: This review provides evidence about the current state of…

To bridge the gap between the learning goals of the classroom and the overtaxed, returning-from-the-pandemic learner, adapting teaching practices to respond to present-day experiences became a way to facilitate success. Weaving anecdotal experiences with pedagogical scholarship, this discussion explores the impact of practices that approach the…

The objectives of this article are to examine the epidemiology of suicide for Black college men; social determinants of mental health, mental health inequities, and suicide prevention for Black college men; role of mental health utilization for Black college men; role of culture in addressing mental health needs for Black college men; racial…

This experimental study explored the use of online expressive writing interventions to cope with distress from heterosexist events among a sample of autistic-LBGQ + individuals. This study included an open writing condition and an emotion focused therapy guided writing condition. Over 89% of the participants indicated that the writing exercises…

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for designing lessons that is grounded in data and recognized as best practice under IDEA and ESSA. The use of the method allows for greater intervention with students socially, emotionally, and academically. UDL allows intentional and purposeful work with populations that are normally…