In Indiana and across the nation, the effects of childhood trauma are far-reaching, impacting not only children, but also the people closest to them, including teachers and school staff. For educators, being on the front lines offering support and care to students experiencing trauma can take a personal toll, sometimes resulting in secondary traumatic stress (STS). IU School of Social Work Associate Professor Barbara Pierce, Ph.D., MSS, LCSW, is part of a team engaged in helping educators recognize and cope with STS through an innovative pilot program launched earlier this year with North Central High School in Indianapolis and Indianapolis Metropolitan High School.

“Kids can usually sense who the ‘safe people’ are in their lives, and teachers and school personnel are often at the top of the list,” said Dr. Pierce, whose work since 1984 has focused primarily on trauma and developing trauma-informed programming. “Working directly with children, educators are vulnerable to secondary traumatic stress. They can absorb the trauma their students bring to school and are at risk of experiencing compassion fatigue and symptoms of trauma themselves.”

To implement the pilot program, Dr. Pierce, IU School of Nursing colleague Wanda Thruston, DNP, PNP, RN, and Megan Carlson, MSN, PPCNP-BC, chief nursing officer, Shalom Health Care Center, Inc., received a three-year grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars program. From a pool of 81 applicants from across the nation, their program was one of 10 to receive funding in 2018. “Cultivating Student and Staff Resilience” includes a series of e-learning modules that help teachers and staff identify and understand the signs and risk factors of STS and develop tangible self-care skills and resiliency plans. Follow-up activities help to reinforce key concepts and facilitate a network of peer support among educators and staff at the school.

“Trauma and conditions like STS and PTSD are less likely to occur within an environment of support, with literature suggesting that peer support is one of the most important factors in helping people who have been traumatized,” explained Dr. Pierce. “Our program is unique in that it includes a support component, which can help mitigate some of the STS for teachers and staff.”

Barb Pierce TV Screenshot
Dr. Pierce and Dr. Thruston speak with Fox 59 about the teacher trauma project. Watch Teacher Trauma Response Interview with Fox 59

In February, Drs. Pierce and Thruston, Carlson and Paige Klemme, LSW, doctoral fellow, hosted a program kickoff at North Central High School attended by more than 220 educators and staff. Later this year, the project team will train about 20 school staff members who volunteered to serve as program champions. Once the champions are trained, they will facilitate the program schoolwide with Drs. Pierce and Thruston serving as consultants.

“People working in education have a lot of training and experience in helping children deal with trauma, and they do that very well; what we’re trying to do with this program is give educators the tools, resources and support to take care of themselves emotionally,” she said.

Dr. Pierce and the project team hope to use the learnings from the high school pilot program to customize similar initiatives for educators in other grade levels. Due to COVID-19, the team adjusted their project and began working with schools conducting surveys of school staff and their mental health needs, asking what resources may be required moving forward into the COVID-19 era in schools.