Back to School During a Pandemic: Starr’s Expert Panel

At the culmination of Starr’s 2020 Trauma & Resilience Conference, our experts came together to directly address the questions of our attendees. Throughout the session, they discussed returning to school, staff self-care, balancing the myriad of considerations of COVID-19, and many other topics to inspire educators and child-caring professionals. Starr’s Experts: Dr. Caelan Soma Derek […]

Adapting Structured Sensory Interventions via Telehealth

In this episode, Jenny Sloan (Starr Commonwealth Senior Behavioral Health Clinician) lists 3 therapeutic activities that can be implemented via telehealth to engage each of the two branches of the parasympathetic nervous system, provides the reasons epigenetics is important to trauma practitioners, connects the implications of COVID-19 on epigenetics for children and future generations, and […]

Quick Tips to Start the School Year Right

Starr Commonwealth · Kathy Hart – Quick Tips to Start the School Year Right Kathy Hart and her team stand ready to help schools and organizations get the most out of Starr’s courses, resources, and materials. Schedule your organization’s training today by emailing info@starr.org. Prepare your school to support students, staff, and families as we […]

Promoting Resilience as Children Return to School

Resilience provides hope, an essential experience for not just students but all of the adults working with them. We may not be able to take away toxic stress and trauma a child has experienced during COVID-19 or will continue to experience in their homes or communities post-pandemic, but we can create new experiences of resilience. […]

Resilient Schools Starter Kit

Starr’s Resilient Schools Project model was born out of a growing need for schools to address students’ needs beyond academics. Schools must be equipped to provide nourishment, safety, structure, and social and emotional support for students. To help respond to these demands with a modern approach, Starr sought ways to offer assistance to school professionals—especially […]

Defusing Sessions Available through Starr Commonwealth

What is defusing, and where would these sessions fit in the crisis response timeline? Defusing is both supportive and educational. Its purpose is not to process or explore feelings, nor to allow for the ventilation of feelings (this happens 1:1 and after 4 weeks has passed). Why? This process prevents participants from revealing more about […]

Resetting for Resilience

SAVE 75% OFF FOR A LIMITED TIME! Pre-requisite Course: Trauma-Informed Resilient Schools (or Trauma-Informed Schools) Course Overview: Resetting for Resilience builds upon Trauma-Informed Resilient Schools, with a strong focus on understanding the link between a student’s private logic and their academic achievement and behavior deficits in the Circle of Courage’s universal needs. Participants will learn how […]

Brave Bart Returns

Brave Bart has been providing help to children, families, schools, and other helping professionals across the world since the first book, Brave Bart: A Story for Traumatized and Grieving Children. Since learning how to become a survivor, he used his new skills to help his friends with bullying in Brave Bart and the Bully. Now, […]

Works Cited

STARR’S TRAUMA-INFORMED, RESILIENCE-FOCUSED WORK IN SCHOOLS Levin, S. S., Strand, G., & Ray, M. (2021). The Resilient Schools Project: A systems approach to building trauma-informed, resilience-focused schools. Albion, MI: Starr Commonwealth. SITCAP Melvyn C. Raider PhD , William Steele PsyD , Margaret Delillo-Storey LPC , Jacqueline Jacobs MED & Caelan Kuban MSW (2008) Structured Sensory […]

2020 Trauma and Resilience Virtual Conference

$199 all-access | Purchase the on-demand recording today! Visit our store to purchase the conference full package Interested in our 2021 conference, but curious about what you’ll experience? Relive select sessions of our 2020 conference by clicking the button below! Starr Commonwealth’s virtual conference is designed for helping professionals who work with children, adolescents, and […]

Answering the Call

In response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Starr Commonwealth has donated tens of thousands of downloads of an online education courses to support trauma-informed care protocols for K-12 educators, clinicians, and other caring professionals around the country. “During this time of uncertainty, it’s important to support caring adults with tools they can use,” said Starr […]

What Do Tigers, Meerkats, and Owls Have to Do with Coronavirus?

What do tigers, meerkats, and owls have to do with the Coronavirus? Any experience that leaves you feeling scared, worried, and uncertain creates an involuntary stress response in your body. This means that despite logic, reason, and good coping skills, some of the reactions we have in times of crisis are largely out of our […]

National Trauma Campaign

While we know trauma is a fact, so is resilience. Despite the threat of an upcoming trauma tsunami facing our nation due to the Coronavirus pandemic, there is hope. We are seeing proof of the hope every day as parents, essential workers, and communities come together. We are calling on our nation’s congressional leadership, and […]

Executive Order no. 2020-35: Mental Health Services for Schools

Governor Whitmer’s executive order no. 2020-35, “Provision of K-12 education during the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year” was enacted the first week of April. In this order, schools are called on to provide plans for continuity of learning and COVID-19 response including: B. A Plan must include all of the following elements and be […]