Trauma & Society

A course for high school students and emerging adults

Trauma & Society (T&S) is an innovative intervention to fill the enormous gap in trauma-specific, targeted programs for youth working to surmount the adverse effects of trauma, including ACEs.  It is a tool that a “Tutor” or teacher puts directly into the hands of a learner and supports them to use. Training for youth-serving professionals and certified secondary teachers is short and experiential.

Trauma & Society is currently being used in small demonstration projects. If you are interested in offering T&S to youth you work with, contact Julia Seng (julia.seng@survivormoms.org)

At its heart and soul, T&S is a course for late teens and emerging adults that can be offered in schools for academic credit. Why shouldn’t youth get credit for tackling their trauma-related needs?! It is written so that any student can enroll and take the course from the standpoint of a person with trauma or the standpoint of a career explorer who wants to work with individuals or populations affected by trauma.

T&S can be used in 1:1 or small group “tutoring” situations. It serves youth in residential treatment, involved with the justice system, recovering from trafficking or addiction, aging out of foster care, or in community organizations addressing youth needs.

T&S is exciting because it teaches about individual and social responses to trauma from a western psychology perspective and from a human rights perspective.

In pilot and demonstration projects to date, T&S has a profile of safety, flexibility, and benefit for the learners. It also is an opportunity they enjoy and deeply appreciate.

Read our Policy Brief

I liked it. I didn't think I was going to, but I did.

It will help [you] with any management or
self-control issues [you] are dealing with.

T&S is a great resource for anyone who has gone through trauma or is even slightly interested in learning about it. There’s so much I didn’t know about how trauma can affect people and how important it is to find your flow.

T&S is really a stroke of genius. It flows beautifully…
—RMP, MSW, PhD

...a highly versatile yet meticulously-manualized intervention... can be delivered in diverse settings
—EAM, PhD, MPH

This [curriculum] could be life-changing for the students who get to learn this information and build these skills.
—EAM, PhD, MPH

I was blown away by the idea.
—TA, MD