Brain-Changing Strategies to Trauma-Proof Our Schools: A Heart-Centered Movement for Wiring Well-Being

Stop trauma in its tracks, address disruptive behaviors, and create a safe and nurturing school environment with a neuroscience-based approach in your classroom.

"Here we are given a gift that will keep on giving for generations to come."--Daniel J. Siegel, MD, New York Times best-selling co-author of The Whole-Brain Child and Parenting from the Inside Out

More than 32 million children in the US suffer from trauma symptoms. Some have had adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), like neglect, abuse, violence, and loss, or have experienced distress from medical trauma and social injustice. Toxic traumatic stress shapes the structure and function of both brain and body, which can lead to anxiety, hyperactivity, aggression, shutting down, and acting out--emotions and behaviors that hinder learning and create classroom chaos.

Maggie Kline, a family therapist, trauma specialist, school psychologist, and former teacher, gives you whole-brain, heart-centered tools to identify and reverse trauma-driven behaviors so students feel supported and safe. Her unique roadmap will empower you to facilitate positive school-wide outcomes as you learn:

• How trauma alters kids' brains causing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral challenges

• Evidence-based somatic, relational, and mindfulness interventions to rewire reactivity

• How to manage Pre-K-12 classrooms to promote empathy, cooperation, and belonging

• Social equity practices so kids from all backgrounds feel safe, valued, and joyful

• Concrete steps to restore resilience following natural and man-made catastrophes

About the Author
MAGGIE KLINE is a retired school counselor and school psychologist, who worked as marriage, family, and child therapist in private practice for over thirty-five years. She began her career as an elementary school teacher in Long Beach USD, one of the most ethnically diverse school districts in the United States. Maggie trained with Dr. Peter A.Levine, creator of Somatic Experiencing (SE), a physiologically-based, psycho-biological trauma prevention and treatment method to help reverse the effects of toxic stress in children and adults. For more than twenty years, she has been a senior international faculty member at the SE Trauma Institute (www.traumahealing.org). She is the coauthor with Peter Levine of "It Won't Hurt Forever," Trauma through a Child's Eyes, and Trauma Proofing Your Kids. She is also the creator of Conscious Connections PlayShops, which she teaches on five continents to professionals who help youth, parents, and schools. This work includes relational repair for students with complex PTSD, in addition to reducing the effects of acute stress reactions from ordinary and extraordinary life challenges. Maggie is featured in fifteen video interviews produced and offered free to parents by www.kidsinthehouse.com to help children cope with trauma and grief.