Trauma-Informed Approach

At TLC Leadership, we take the stance that it is risky to assume that a child has not experienced trauma. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are common and often invisible. All TLC Leadership staff – from the classroom to the music room to the front office – are trained in transformational education and trauma informed teaching.

We assume that all benefit from trauma-informed and SEL practices and that all teachers and staff need to be skillful in developing caring relationships, setting appropriate boundaries, working to build critical skills like self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and the ability to foster a learning environment in which openness, teamwork, and cooperation are possible.

TLC Leadership’s daily group coaching and counseling sessions take a trauma informed stance to focus on the development of soft skills and relationships. These sessions will also include an explicit socio-emotional curriculum (SEL), delivered through the lens of trauma.

Students who experience an explicit SEL curriculum in school continue to do better than their peers on a number of indicators including positive social behaviors and attitudes, key soft skills such as empathy and teamwork, and academic achievement.

Having strong SEL skills benefits students in many ways, including fewer conduct problems, less emotional distress, and lower drug use. While many schools have worked to incorporate SEL into their curriculum, there are no examples of schools with a daily 6-12 focus on SEL delivered through a trauma informed lens.