We've been talking about trauma-informed care and trauma-sensitive classrooms for a long time at the Ranch. But, for me at least, it's been difficult to grasp what exactly that means, and how to explain it. When I interviewed the teachers featured in this article, I saw very clearly that trauma-sensitivity is much more than talk and some cool furniture. Dakota Memorial School (DMS) teachers are trauma-sensitive from the tops of their heads to the very tips of their toes.…
Trauma Informed Care
Many of our children are in so much emotional pain they think they'd be better off dead. North Dakota's suicide rate has increased 57% since 2000, and the state has one of the highest adolescent suicide rates in the nation. If we can alleviate some of this intense pain and despair with medication--if we can keep kids alive--Dr. Wayne Martinsen believes we are obligated to do so.…
I’ve always known “Trauma-Sensitive Classroom” was an important concept in education, but I wasn’t exactly sure what it looked like in my lesson plans or day-to-day interactions with students. I’m going into the teaching field, and I consider myself a nice person—that should be enough to indicate that I’m considerate to students and their trauma, right? Wrong. My assumptions of what it means to react to student behaviors in a trauma-sensitive manner were way off base.…
Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch received a $15,000 grant from The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) to enhance the Ranch’s evidence-based trauma-informed care approaches to treatment.…