When a person realizes he has been deeply heard, his eyes moisten. I think in some real sense he is weeping for joy. It is as though he were saying, ‘Thank God, somebody heard me. Someone knows what it’s like to be me.’
– Carl R. Rogers, American psychologist (1902-1987)

In a video clip on the Exchange Hub, Holly Elissa Bruno talks about working with children who have faced or are still facing trauma. She is the author of Happiness is Running Through the Streets to Find You where she describes her own experiences with childhood trauma and gives recommendations for how teachers can be most helpful. In the video she says, in part:

“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 – a 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.”