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Trauma-Informed Positive Education: Using Positive Psychology to Strengthen Vulnerable Students

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Abstract

This paper explores the role of a positive education paradigm in mainstream and specialist classrooms for students who have experienced complex trauma resulting from abuse, neglect, violence, or being witness to violence. Existing trauma-informed education focuses on repairing regulatory abilities and repairing disrupted attachment in students. However, a dual-continua model of mental health suggests that repairing deficits is only part of the education response needed to nurture well-being in trauma-affected students. Trauma-informed education can be conceived from both a deficit perspective (e.g., what deficiencies or developmental struggles does this student face?) and a strengths perspective (e.g., what psychological resources does this student have to build upon for future success?). This paper develops the strengths-based trauma-informed positive education (TIPE) approach which proposes three domains of learning needed for trauma-affected students: repairing regulatory abilities, repairing disrupted attachment, and increasing psychological resources. It is argued that the three domains support each other via synergistic interactions which create upward spirals to increase psychological growth. The TIPE model will make a contribution to research in positive education, positive psychology, and traumatology, with the applied context of assisting classroom teachers and school-based practitioners to meet the complex behavioral, cognitive, and relational needs of students struggling in schools.

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Notes

  1. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) included child physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse, emotional and/or physical neglect, mentally ill, depressed, or suicidal person at home, substance abuse of a family members, witnessing domestic violence against the mother, loss of parent to divorce, death or abandonment, or incarceration of any family member for a crime (Anda et al. 2005)

  2. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) included child physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse, emotional and/or physical neglect, mentally ill, depressed, or suicidal person at home, substance abuse of a family member, witnessing domestic violence against the mother, loss of parent to divorce, death or abandonment, or incarceration of any family member for a crime (Anda et al. 2005).

  3. An appendix of these studies is available upon request to the corresponding author.

  4. Psychological resources are increased by broadening thought-action repertoires, thereby generating greater capacity for attention, cognition, and action.

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Brunzell, T., Stokes, H. & Waters, L. Trauma-Informed Positive Education: Using Positive Psychology to Strengthen Vulnerable Students. Contemp School Psychol 20, 63–83 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-015-0070-x

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