Conway ConnectED: PD Palooza 2024

We've all been there. We just are not sure that we can face another day in the classroom hearing the stories of how our students and families face horrendous circumstances - much less see how those circumstances impact our students' academic and social functioning. Even more so, we are then expected to go home and fulfill all our personal roles well. This is just a glimpse into the daily life of an Educator. Educators and Administrators work with students and families that they are not only tasked with teaching, but also walking through life with. It is easy and desired to hold all the good that comes from these relationships, but it is difficult, and sometimes unhealthy, to carry the negative stories and circumstances that Educators are aware some of their students and families face daily. This often times leads to vicarious trauma. This session will address what vicarious trauma is and that it is an expected occupational hazard of working in the helping field. By the end of the session, participants will have knowledge of symptoms and behaviors related to vicarious trauma as well as ways to transform it into something positive and healthy in order to improve one's overall wellbeing and stamina to maintain in the profession. The content of this presentation addresses the challenges of vicarious trauma for those that are directly involved with students and families, but also for those that are supporting and in leadership positions within the education system.