We think we listen, but very rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet listening, of this very special kind, is one of the most potent forces for change that I know.
– Carl Rogers

In her popular book, Happiness is Running Through the Streets to Find You: Translating Trauma’s Harsh Legacy into Healing, Holly Elissa Bruno offers discussion questions and tools at the end of each chapter to help educators support children affected by trauma.

In an Ed.Flicks video clip Bruno talks about her philosophy of working with children who have faced or are facing challenging situations:

“I applaud trauma informed care, and we do need to be informed, so it means we study up on the ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) scale and we learn what happens to the brain on trauma. But all of that is just intellectual training, and not fully helpful unless the training touches the heart of the teacher…Without a true relationship of trust with a child, all the information on trauma isn’t going to help very much…True trauma care is acknowledging that inside the child is a beautiful person waiting to emerge. She just needs someone to see her. We look beyond the behavior and see what’s going on inside that child, and help her know she has a home, safe home in the classroom, finally…

“I have talked to more adults (who were traumatized as children) who say, ‘It was that one teacher who really saw me [who finally helped].’ Trauma informed care means more than having the knowledge, it means having the heart and soul to really be there…offering love and safety to a child.”