Learn about the upcoming 7th Annual Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Conference.

Learn about the largest gathering of trauma-informed educators in the United States with Ginger Healy and Kimberly Smathers. The 7th Annual Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Conference is dedicated to building trauma-reformed schools. It is being held in Dallas, Texas, on February 18-23, 2024. Registration is now OPEN.

Feb 18th Academy Day Preconference
Feb 19-20 In-Person Conference
Feb 22-23 Virtual Conference Online

https://www.attachmenttraumanetwork.org/conference/

Join us live to learn more about this amazing upcoming event.

Ginger Healy MSW, LCSW, is a clinical social worker who began her career as a non-profit case manager and child abuse investigator. She then became a hospital social worker and spent 15 years as the social service supervisor at an international adoption agency and was able to travel to provide support for orphanages all over the world. This job continues to inform her work on attachment and trauma needs in children. After serving in that capacity, she worked as a school therapist and served on the charter school board. She is currently the director of programs for the Attachment & Trauma Network. She co-anchors the podcast “Regulated and Relational” and speaks nationwide on trauma-informed schools, therapeutic parenting, and community engagement. Ginger is also the author of Regulation and Co-Regulation: Accessible Neuroscience that Brings Calm into the Classroom.
Kimberly Smathers brings over two decades of experience in strategy, research, system design, policy, and communications across the health and human service, education, and nonprofit sectors. As Principal and Owner of Flourishing Spark LLC, she collaborates with organizations striving to create supportive systems and environments for human flourishing, especially for those whose experiences are shaped by sociodemographic disparities, trauma and toxic stress, neurodiversity, complex health conditions, and functional limitations.

Kimberly serves as the Vice President of the Attachment and Trauma Network Board of Directors and as the Parent Education Programming Chair for the Family Association at Bennett Day School. She holds an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and a human-centered design certificate from Ideo U. She resides in Chicago with her husband and son.

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Join us for "What is EMDR, and how can it help in the treatment of complex trauma?" with Sidney McGillicky.

Sidney is an Approved EMDR Consultant and also a Certified EMDR therapist who specializes in the treatment of complex and developmental trauma with 20 years of experience working as a therapist. Sidney also is a Certified NMT(c) Level One Practitioner utilizing advanced knowledge and understanding of neurological development resulting from adverse and traumatic experiences throughout the lifespan. Sidney is client-centered and integrative, with an understanding of the consequences of trauma and developing interventions that focus on healing and recovery.

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An interview with Liora Schwartz: Trauma-informed and neuro-developmentally sensitive approaches for parents and professionals.

Liora Schwartz (she/her) has over two decades of experience in the trenches of the New York City public school system and is a parent of a complicated, brilliant, neurodivergent teen. As such, she has a unique perspective that has broadened outside many traditional boxes. Liora's work with parents and professionals aims to be trauma-informed and neuro-developmentally sensitive and is informed both by current research and the lived experiences of autistic advocates.

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Author McAlister Huynh joins us to talk about: "Listen, Learn, and Grow: A Whole Body Listening Larry Story."

McAlister Greiner Huynh is an educator, also known as The Neurodivergent Teacher.

McAlister Greiner Huynh is a National Board Certified special educator, behavior support specialist, consultant, and international speaker who calls North Carolina, USA home. She has been working with and learning from Neurodivergent individuals professionally for twelve years, steadily growing in her passion for neurodiversity, disability culture, and radical acceptance. McAlister is the educator behind “The Neurodivergent Teacher” on Facebook and Instagram, where she connects with families, professionals, and neurodivergent folks worldwide to share philosophies around teaching, self-advocacy skills, accessibility, and coping strategies.

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Interested in learning how to advocate for federal legislation prohibiting the use of restraint and seclusion in schools? Join us for a virtual training by two experts in federal advocacy on how to engage in this advocacy on Capitol Hill. All skill levels are welcome!

As a Partner at Stride Policy Solutions, Laura Kaloi provides strategic policy, advocacy, partnership-building, and communications expertise to nonprofit clients and is a leader in the education, disability, and child advocacy communities. She advises clients on policy and advocacy issues impacting children and families. Laura has a deep passion for improving access to education, career training, and independent living for all individuals. She has written and spoken extensively on federal education, special education, and workforce laws. Prior to becoming a consultant, Laura led the public affairs teams for nonprofit policy and advocacy organizations, including the National Center for Learning Disabilities, the American Health Quality Association, and HealthInsight. She worked in the U.S. Congress early in her career as a legislative assistant to the late U.S. Congressman James V. Hansen. Laura holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and a master’s in public administration from Brigham Young University.

Cyrus Huncharek is the Policy and Advocacy Director for the National Down Syndrome Congress. Before joining NDSC, Cyrus was a Senior Public Policy Analyst at the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) where he oversaw several policy areas impacting people with disabilities. Prior to his work at NDRN, Cyrus worked as a Government Affairs Coordinator for the National Parent Teacher Association (National PTA), taught high school English in South Dakota through Teach For America, and served as a Learning and Development intern for the White House Office of Administration where he developed e-learning courses for executive office employees. He holds a B.A. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. Cyrus’ experience as a classroom teacher and prior work on special education policy motivates him to now work toward an improved world for individuals with Down syndrome.

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Join us for “Protect the Children Project: An interview with Eliphaz Costus of The Satanic Temple.”

Eliphaz Costus is the Campaign Director of The Satanic Temple's Protect Children Project, working to protect all TST members in public schools from abusive punishments that violate their religious rights. He began his work with The Satanic Temple in 2021, when he organized the Bladensburg Satanic Peace Cross Ceremony with TST co-founder Malcolm Jarry, thus establishing the first Satanic monument on public grounds. Costus is also a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who wrote the infamous Satanic children's song "My Pal Satan.”

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Join us for “Balance Auditory Exercises; Patterned, repetitive, Rhythmic Movement for Everyone” with Meagan Baldwin.

Meagan is a Bal-A-Vis-X practitioner/trainer, a fierce advocate for her child with a disability, and an educator with 26 years of experience as a public educator in general and special education.

Bal-A-Vis-X stands for Balance, Auditory, Vision, and eXercises. The program consists of 200+ exercises, each rooted deeply in rhythm. They range in difficulty from one hand passing/receiving a single sandbag to both hands bouncing/catching four racquetballs in a specified sequence. Partner exercises may call for six balls to be simultaneously in motion. Others combine bags or balls with feet patterns.

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Join us for “Child-Teacher Relationship Training: Seven Skills for Building Meaningful Relationships” with Dr. Claire Cronin.

Dr. Claire Cronin is a licensed mental health counselor passionate about supporting resilient communities and training front-line care professionals on trauma-informed care approaches. Her first exposure to restraint and seclusion was while embedded in a public school for children with behavioral concerns, where she witnessed firsthand the significant impact these practices had on creating trauma and stress for children. Since then, she has had a mission to support teachers and other front-line professionals in trauma-informed care through shifts in the philosophy of working with children and adolescents.

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Join us for “Restraint and Seclusion in California Schools: Findings and Recommendations from the 2021-22 School Year Data” with Robert Borrelle

Robert Borrelle is a Supervising Attorney at Disability Rights California, California’s federally designated Protection & Advocacy Agency. He is part of DRC’s Investigations Unit, where he specializes in abuse and neglect investigations in facilities serving youth with disabilities.

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Closing the gap - Why cultural safety matters in promoting mental health, equity, inclusion, and resilient minds in education settings? - Unpacking culturally responsive teaching and trauma-informed care.

Balaji Somasundaram and Meera Balaji – We are husband and wife and were lawyers for 20 years in India in our past lives with a focus on children’s rights and family law. Currently, we are registered teachers/specialist educators in Aotearoa New Zealand and working as Learning Support Coordinators across 12 schools and 13 Early Childhood Centres in Wellington, the capital city of Aotearoa, New Zealand in an area of significant socioeconomic deprivation.

We believe we are in a distinctive position to recognize our students and their families' perspectives, narratives, and ongoing challenges as we strive to provide appropriate support services through timely actions to heal trauma and buffer its negative effects. We are passionate advocates for social justice, inclusion, and diversity both in our personal and professional lives. As educators from a minority culture in New Zealand, we firmly believe our children need to experience relationships around them with unconditional care, compassion, and commitment which will help to re-work their internal working models of themselves and the world around them. Despite barriers in different forms, the welfare of children has always been our utmost priority. Culturally responsive pedagogies and the work of Dr. Stephen Porges, the creator of Polyvagal Theory, underpins and is the foremost of the work we continue to do with the advocacy for our vulnerable children and young people who are at high risk.

We have a Bachelors in Law, Masters in Educational Psychology, and another Masters in Specialist Teaching with a specialty in Autism Spectrum Disorder. We recently completed the one-year graduate Applied Educational Neuroscience program under Dr. Lori Desautels from Butler University, Indianapolis, and also completed Neurosequential Model in Education with Dr. Bruce Perry’s Child Trauma Academy. We are also trained in evidence-based interventions and frameworks for autism - like TEACCH from the University of North Carolina, SCERTS, Early Start Denver Model, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), Hanen’s Four ‘Is’ to socialize, which are widely used in New Zealand to support the needs of children and young people with autism. We both are also qualified in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with Beck Institute, Philadelphia, and trained teachers in Dyslexia.

We have also been part of many advisory and research groups in New Zealand for culturally responsive pedagogies and recently were part of the advisory group for the new guidelines for minimizing physical restraints in New Zealand, which is a work in progress. Over the years, we have been working with and alongside neurodivergent learners, particularly autistic individuals, and are continuing to advocate/support their unique needs by embracing their strengths, voices, and perspectives both in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and India.

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