Supporting Students Around Anxiety and Trauma

1. Supporting Students Around Anxiety and Trauma PRESENTED BY: MARIA KAVANAUGH, LICSW DIRECTOR, COUNSELING & TESTING CENTER KATE RAFEY PREVENTION COORDINATOR, A NEW DAY ELAINE FILLION-CROUSE, LICSW A NEW DAY

2. Today We Will: • Explore types of anxiety Stonehill students may experience • Identify characteristics of anxiety • Examine how anxiety may impact a student’s learning experience • Discuss trauma-informed education • Review on and off-campus resources to support students around anxiety and/or trauma

3. Frequent Presenting Concerns at the CTC • Academic Concerns/Major Choice • Administrative Referrals (sanctions, mental status evaluations, self-injury/safety) • Adjustment to the school year (first-year students as well as other class years having difficulty transitioning back) • Anxiety (reactive as well as chronic) • Depression (reactive as well as chronic) • Difficulty in Interpersonal Relationships (general and romantic) • Disordered Eating/Body Image/Self-Esteem • Family Concerns • Grief and Loss (death of family/friends, as well as loss reactions to break-ups, separations) • Substance abuse (sanctioned and voluntary)

4. Types of Anxiety (DSM-IV-TR) • Panic Disorder • Panic Attack • Agoraphobia • Specific Phobias • Blood/Injury • Illness/Fainting • Vomit • Situational: flying, elevators, driving • Social Phobia • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder • Acute Stress Disorder • Generalized Anxiety Disorder

5. Characteristics of Anxiety Note: Anxiety is a normal human emotion. However, when anxiety is disruptive to day to day functioning such as in the ways mentioned below, it may be excessive and need treatment/support • Ruminating • Excessive worry • Fatigue • Difficulty with concentration • Muscle tension • Sleep disturbance • Social discomfort • Restlessness, “on edge” • Irritability • Repetitive behaviors • Avoidance • Inflexibility/Rigidity • Panic • Excessive Fears • Intrusive/disruptive thoughts, images

6. Potential Impact of Excessive Anxiety on a Student’s Learning Experience • Avoidance/Procrastination • Difficulty with class participation or group projects • Over-functioning/Perfectionism • Continuously seeking out professor for direction, guidance, reassurance due to discomfort with ambiguity or irrational worries • Disrupted concentration • Struggle with change/transitions • Layout of classroom, seating could trigger symptoms • May struggle with: • Ability to handle certain topics/materials, eg: blood in lab • Travel associated with field trips or assignments

7. Supporting Anxious Students • Be direct about your observations/concerns • May occur with depression, other disorders. Ask about thoughts of suicide. • Refer to Counseling and Testing Center • Counseling, coping strategies, psychiatric consultation • Refer to Center for Academic Achievement • Student may want to explore accommodations • Student may be asking you to accommodate in ways you are not obligated to • Universal course design • Multiple modalities/means for class participation

8. Trauma – Types/Characteristics • Trauma Develops into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when: • A person experiences a situation that is overwhelming to them in which their safety or the safety of another is threatened. Left unresolved the person can develop PTSD

9. Trauma – Types/Characteristics? • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder presents itself in three major ways: • Hyper-vigilance • Hyper-arousal • Constriction

10. What happens to a brain on PTSD ?

11. How the brain functions after trauma

12. Trauma-Informed Education and how trauma might impact learning experience • Trauma causes the brain to function in the limbic and brain stem areas when stressed or triggered. Producing Cortisol and Adrenaline • Trauma causes the Cortex and learning centers of the brain to shut down, or be distracted. • When the body has too much Cortisol it disrupts the functioning of the Hippocampus which takes in factual information, organizes it, confirms it and turns it into explicit memory. Then transports it to the Cortex where the information is owned.

13. Trauma-Informed Education and how trauma might impact learning experience • Students with active PTSD may not be getting adequate sleep, nutrition, and their attention can be distracted by intrusive thoughts or out of body experiences. • Multi modal learning is best for these students, for example; handouts and diagrams are great; using colors and movement in the learning environment help the brain to stabilize and wake up the learning centers of the brain. • Sour candies can help a student reduce intrusive

14. Trauma-Informed Education and how trauma might impact learning experience thoughts and flashbacks as they bring the sensory areas of the cortex back on line. Using mindfulness in the classroom helps all students to be present in the class, as well, a relaxed brain is a learning brain. Allowing the hippocampus and cortex to function properly. Interpersonal connection between student and professor allows the student to be open with the professor about their difficulties; this way the Professor may be able to give extensions or help support the student.

15. Trauma-Informed Education and how trauma might impact learning experience • Research shows that being understood by the professor helps the student to feel at ease with their learning and can go a long way in succeeding. • Consistency, structure, and predictability, allows someone with PTSD to know what to expect and thus decrease the fight/flight/freeze response.

16. Off-Campus Resource • A New Day - Brockton • Hotline: 508 588 8255 • Counseling and advocacy services • Professional training opportunities • http://healthimperatives.org/anewday/new-day • Other specialized trauma and anxiety treatment referrals available through the CTC • BU CARD • EMDR Specialists

17. On-Campus Resources • Counseling and Testing Center • Center for Academic Achievement • Writing Center • Disabilities Services • Academic Services and Advising • SHARE Program • Student Affairs • Needs Assessment Team • Community Standards • Health & Wellness Education • Student Organizations • Moore Center for Gender Equity • Active Minds