Conscious Discipline is both trauma-based and trauma-informed. It emphasizes optimal brain development for all children and adults, regardless of life experiences like chronic stress and trauma. There are three types of trauma: acute, chronic and complex. Acute trauma results from a singular instance, like a natural disaster.

Alabama Pre-K teachers April Carr and Hillary Spratlin were faced with restoring safety after acute trauma when a major tornado struck the small community of Beauregard. Both teachers leaned on the powers and skills they had learned from Conscious Discipline to be of service, help children identify and regulate their emotions, and focus on empathy and helpfulness. In this podcast, April and Hillary share the steps they took to help young students and their families heal after a natural disaster.

Read more about April’s experience with Conscious Discipline and restoring safety after a tornado in her article “My Conscious Discipline Journey: Taming Anxiety and Healing After a Natural Disaster” (https://consciousdiscipline.com/my-conscious-discipline-journey-taming-anxiety-and-healing-after-a-natural-disaster/). In the “Important Links” section below, access free resources mentioned in the podcast, including a social story and ritual plans for Safekeeping and Wish Well.

Essential Takeaways

• The goals of Conscious Discipline include helping children experience a felt sense of safety and authentic connection, teaching and modeling the executive skills needed to achieve goals despite obstacles and distractions, and empowering everyone to give and receive empathy.

• Acute trauma results from a singular instance. Chronic trauma is repeated and prolonged, and complex trauma is exposure to varied and multiple traumatic events.

• In times of stress or turmoil, being of service to others can help balance and regulate our internal state.

• After experiencing a major tornado, April and Hillary utilized strategies like home visits, Feeling Buddies, heart cream, Wish Well, an expanded Safekeeper Ritual, and a focus on helpfulness and safety.

Important Links

• ConsciousDiscipline.com (https://consciousdiscipline.com/)

• Teaching Missing Skills: The Power of Social Stories by Dr. Becky Bailey (https://consciousdiscipline.com/teaching-missing-skills-social-stories/)

• Free Resource: I Can Handle Scared Social Story (https://consciousdiscipline.com/resources/i-can-handle-scared-english/)

• Free Resource: Safekeeping Ritual Plan (https://consciousdiscipline.com/resources/safekeeping-ritual-plan/)

• Free Resource: Wish Well Ritual Plan (https://consciousdiscipline.com/resources/wish-well-ritual-plan/)

Product Mentions

• CLASSROOM EDITION: Feeling Buddies Self-Regulation Toolkit (https://consciousdiscipline.com/product/classroom-edition-feeling-buddies-self-regulation-toolkit-english-only/)

• I Love You Rituals Value Pack (https://consciousdiscipline.com/product/i-love-you-rituals-value-pack/)

• S.T.A.R. Breathing Tool (https://consciousdiscipline.com/product/s-t-a-r-breathing-tool/)

• School Family Job Set (https://consciousdiscipline.com/product/school-family-job-set/)

Show Outline

0:21 What is Conscious Discipline?

0:50 Goals of Conscious Discipline

2:13 Three types of trauma

4:01 Introduction of guests April Carr and Hillary Spratlin

5:04 Conscious Discipline implementation in Alabama

6:40 How Conscious Discipline helped during and after a major tornado

11:03 “How can I be of service?”

12:25 April’s home visits after the tornado

17:13 Extended Safekeeper Ritual upon returning to school

22:26 How Hillary addressed the tornado with her students

26:36 Making “safety bags”

28:22 Focusing on helpfulness and being of service

32:23 What’s Becky up to?

34:13 What’s Becky celebrating?