Who's Helping the Teachers?!? Screening Tools You Can Use to Check-In with Coworkers
A few days ago, I taught my Trauma-Informed Leadership Class and many of the participants acknowledged that there was room for growth in the way they were supporting the staff who were working on the front lines with students. While we are asking teachers to be the saving grace for our student, many of them are silently begging for a rescue.
It didn’t surprise me, I think A LOT of schools, well meaning administrators, focused and driven districts who are committed to providing trauma-informed settings for students are missing the mark on STAFF support. It’s why I’m so passionately advocating for STAFF wellness programs. I’ve worked with social workers and counselors for years. I have a thriving community of nearly 3000 mental health professionals from around the world who are knee deep in trauma-informed care and there is no shortage of a desire to help, but most of them acknowledge. that there is often a disconnect between what they want to do and feasibly can do and the expectations.
Doing trauma-informed care well is hard.
By hard, I mean there are lots of ways we can be trying to do it, but miss the mark. It means reviewing your systems, processes and supports consistently and providing lots of tools. Putting educators on the front line, means that they are quite literally in the line of fire. They need support. You can find hundreds of blogs and tools for providing care to students, but IF you find a blog for teachers, it’s usually a cookie cutter do more self-care post, when what is really being seen is compassion fatigue.
But you’re here, so that means you know there is a problem and you’re ready to help. Of course, you can partner with me to come in and give you a customized solution, but in the meanwhile, here are some screening tools that I believe will give you the data you need to start making an impact.
Now, my recommendation for using these screening tools is simple, you are not a therapist, so don’t try to be. This should be an invitation to gain additional insight, not a requirement. And most importantly, be ready with resources because there is little worse than opening a wound and not being ready to help with healing. What you want to go for is increasing your staff’s awareness of their own level of functioning and/or need. Then you can use that information to help influence your decisions. Here are some options for HOW to use these tools.
Invite staff to complete one of these prior to their staff development sessions or annual reviews
Invite staff to complete one of these at a PD/PLC session and open up a conversation about any insights gained
Invite staff to review one of these tools and offer their estimation of scores or results
Use the individual questions of these assessments as conversation starters periodically through the school year
Remember, being trauma-informed does NOT mean we are entitled to anyone’s story, but we can ask and offer resources if we are given the opportunity.
What kind of self-care do YOU Need Quiz
Secondary Traumatic Stress Screener
Secondary Traumatic Stress ORGANIZATION assessment