Weekly WINGS
Wisdom and Inspiration Nurturing Growth and Success
As you probably know by now, I love to read!
Some of you have already downloaded the Big Book List for Trauma-Informed Changemakers, which is a “short list” of some of my favorite experts and thought leaders, including several that have been written specifically with parenting and teaching in mind.
As much as I appreciate and admire the work of these researchers, writers, and academics, I feel that it’s important to keep in mind that many of them have never had the experience of raising or teaching a child with extremely challenging or dangerous behaviors.
Some of you reading this newsletter do have that kind of experience, and in my view, YOU are the real experts.
While experts, therapists, and academics can provide theoretical perspectives, only parents and teachers with actual lived experience of raising and teaching children with developmental trauma, anxiety, and compromised nervous systems can truly understand what it is like.
We have a front-row seat to the day-to-day struggles and triumphs of these children, and it’s important to acknowledge the value of our perspective.
Communication is key
At the start of the school year, there is a lot to navigate.
Teachers, parents, and students all have a mix of excitement, anxiety, and sometimes even dread, knowing that with the new academic year there will be new teachers, routines, expectations, adventures and challenges.
As a classroom teacher for over twenty years, I did my best to get to know my students very well and worked hard to meet each of their individual needs. It was important to me to develop a good rapport and relationship with them so that we could all have a positive experience in the classroom.
Many of you who are teachers have this same level of passion and commitment for the work you do to help students feel safe, welcome, and successful. Those relationships with students and families are extremely important for a successful year!
Sometimes there is an educator, counselor, administrator, or other educational expert who may think they already know what is best for a child based solely on what the paperwork, medical diagnosis, or discipline records show.
Data is helpful, but not when we forget about the human beings it represents.
It is extremely important for parents and caring teachers to stand in the gap for children who are struggling and communicate what works best for them.
Our lived experience of working with the child and knowing them well can be so helpful in making sure that we don’t end up resorting to the blame and shame game.
Whether you are a parent, teacher, or other professional going into a new school year, remember that everyone has important wisdom gleaned from your lived experience. Keep an open mind, approach one another with a collaborative spirit, and always do your best to work together for the child’s benefit.
It’s also important to value your own ideas and not to discount what you believe about what’s best for students just because you don’t have a PhD in child development.
Your experience is important, and your wisdom and insight truly matters.
Lived Experience Coaching and Training
When my family was in crisis, I read all the books and went to all the workshops. I took copious notes and did everything the experts told me.
But it just wasn’t enough.
What turned the tide was working with three different parent coaches early in our journey.
Each of them had actually raised children like mine and had deep wisdom to share from their lived experience. It made me feel less alone and helped calm my fear that I was just a bad parent who couldn’t get it together for my child.
Those parent coaches had a level of compassion and empathy that none of my son’s therapists, counselors, doctors, or even the authors of all the parenting books could provide.
This is why here at HSI, we believe in training coaches and educational trainers with lived experience as parents or teachers working closely with children who have experienced trauma, adversity, and difficulties at school or at home.
We train people who have already been up the mountain to become the wise sherpas who can safely and expertly guide others on the journey because they have also “been there; done that.”
I hope that if you are a parent or teacher looking for some support that you will reach out for more information about how to work with one of our amazing graduates.
And some of you may be ready to use that hard-earned wisdom help others, too!
HSI Certification Programs
If you are passionate about using your lived experience to become the compassionate, trauma-informed, healing-centered leader that children, families, and teachers really need today, then we would love to talk to you about joining our one-of-a-kind certification programs!
These programs provide the tools and strategies you need to become a confident expert who can be a role-model and trauma-informed changemaker in schools, communities, and families.
Many of our graduates have also found that the program has made them better parents and teachers of their own children!
Scholarships:
A limited number of partial scholarships are available for each cohort on a first-come, first-served basis to those with financial need.
Download and read the brochure, then click the button below to schedule a Zoom meeting (choose “meeting – 30 minutes”):