Postsecondary institutions are awakening to the reality that there is a correlation between student success and student mental health and well-being. While there are exciting, emergent data examining this correlation, putting the information into practice can be difficult. 

My services help faculty, staff, and administrators assess, design, implement, and evaluate trauma-informed, diversity-centered, and empathy-based postsecondary strategies to improve student success within role-appropriate boundaries. 

I work with groups and organizations to help translate "big information" about trauma into practice. When I first started learning about the impact of trauma on student learning, I was overwhelmed by translating clinical practices into appropriate, actionable changes in the college classroom. I have spent the past 15 years honing these skills to make them accessible to educators and can help your institution take steps toward improving your relationships with employees and students alike. 

Faculty and staff are able to read and analyze information about trauma-informed teaching, student mental health data, and socioemotional learning. But they likely are nervous or hesitant to put these findings into practice. This is because empathic, trauma-informed teaching is difficult. I teach teachers how to integrate empathy, care, kindness, and trauma-informed practices through hands-on activities, role-playing, and humor. 

Students--especially multiply marginalized students--are extraordinarily stressed, and a stressed brain cannot learn effectively. I show teachers how to balance the academic rigor they value with pedagogical methods that help calm students' brains so learning is easier. 

Trauma-informed, empathy-driven strategies benefit everyone. Faculty and staff who are seen, heard and validated perform better. Facilities that are designed with intention and that honor peoples' identities help retain students and employees. Assessment metrics that are designed with understandings of brain science and intergenerational trauma help institutions align their values and practices. I help administrators learn to see their institutions with renewed focus and empathy.