Building Resilience at Schools: Emotional and Biological Assessment and Treatment of Traumatic Stress

The Start with the Heart curriculum includes psychoeducation, lessons, and activities, on mindfulness, neurobiology, meditation, positive thinking, movement, and nutrition to promote well-being. The curriculum will be taught in the classroom to students for 15-20 min per day for 6-8 weeks.

Pure Edge Inc will train teachers to deliver the Start with the Heart curriculum. The training emphasizes the neuroscience of stress and educator self-care. The teachers will implement the training in their respective classrooms for 6-8 weeks.

The Early Life Stress and Resilience Program team members will train school counselors on Cue-Centered Therapy through self-paced online modules, virtual and in-person live training, and office hours as needed. Counselors will implement the intervention with eligible students for 15-18 weeks.

Students who report a threshold of PTSD symptoms will be offered participation in Cue-Centered Therapy with their school counselors. They will have one-on-one therapy that targets trauma experiences through cognitive behavioral tools, narrative therapy, exposure therapy, psychoeducation, and more. Their caregivers will be involved as needed. They will enroll in treatment for 15-18 weeks.

Eligible students will give DNA buccal swabs at 2-3 time points for later analysis of genetic markers.