Loving being invited to work more with mental health professionals on ensuring family caregivers receive trauma-sensitive care—not just youth! Here's an idea: Don't assume you are the first provider to work with a family unless they say that. Ask, "What makes things worse?" And, try not to do that.
We've got women sending another woman safely 'round the moon, which is really something. Meanwhile, I'm over here wondering if this is a week when I'll need duct tape on my skin to keep my HRT patch on—or not—since health insurance is legally killing us all.
Join me next month at the Spring IA Play Therapy Association Conf. on 4/17/26! My 3-hour keynote will teach you how to support youth in better understanding their attachment needs in relationships and build their skills for understanding others too. Register today!
iowaa4pt.org/annual-sprin...
You know you're in rural Iowa when driving halfway across the state before a blizzard day in a spontaneous moment of self-care to pick-up a shelf you'll redo. The vintage piece cost less than the gas to get there, and the seller gave me landmarks about where to meet instead of an address. Love it!
Trauma-informed practice isn't just for youth. It's for families too. Parents who care about their kids are supposed to be dysregulated when loved ones aren't okay, especially if their children are unsafe. Please acknowledge these grounded-in-reality fears and offer support instead of judging folks.
Presenting tomorrow at 1:45 Eastern at @attachtraumanetwork's 2026 conference. My session is Are You Ready For It? Structuring Classrooms to Prevent Big Behavior. Our power to stop nervous system overwhelm is before it happens. Learn all about how to do that with youth of all ages in my session!
We don't provide enough opportunities for teachers to share their questions, curiosities, anxieties, fears, regrets, and wonderings about how we do this important work. Moments matter. Sharing them in a safe space matters too.
Let's stop playing hangman at school, please. The game is rooted in violence and murder. What's your favorite word-game alternative? Also, ICE doesn't belong in our communities or schools either.
Educators who support ICE aren't safe for any of our children.
Trauma-informed mental health professional and educator here. Letting you know that as people experiencing or witnessing the harm being unleashed on both children and adults, our bodies' don't need grounding, gentle movement, or a release of stress-induced energy as much as we need the harm to stop.
My January Substack gives you PD suggestions and sends you to this month's blog post about anger. Learn what anger is, why so many folks are feeling it right now, and what you can do as an educator to honor anger and the needs that go with it.
Here's the link!
open.substack.com/pub/msjenale...
One of my favorite things to do is stroll into an independent bookstore and listen to one of the booksellers give book recommendations to strangers! Also fun when it’s me, but either way, it’s a love language!
Reading Virginia Roberts Giuffre's Nobody's Girl. It's gut-wrenching and leaves me feeling an extreme tussle between sitting with her story and the beautiful, painful way she's telling it—wishing to honor her. And... Holding space for how many other children and adults carry stories of their own.
Last day to enter to win a great education book by donating to your local food shelf!
When health insurance companies take in billions each year by denying necessary care and then publicly make small-to-them donations of food or supplies to the same communities they're harming, we're being played. They get more palatable social media posts + huge profits while people suffer and die.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Sad we need this and happy to put BUILDING TRAUMA-SENSITIVE SCHOOLS and DISRUPTING AND PREVENTING RACIAL TRAUMA USING UDL (co-authored with @fritztesha.bsky.social) with these great reads as prizes. Donate to your local food shelf. Then fill out the raffle form for a chance to win! #EduSky
Trauma on repeat can lead to helplessness. Positive change is possible, though, and more important than ever. It's why @fritztesha.bsky.social and I wrote DISRUPTING AND PREVENTING RACIAL TRAUMA USING UDL. Read it for tips that can make schools safer.
products.brookespublishing.com/Disrupting-a....
Working on some do-it-yourself projects, and I'm reminded of how hands-on, multi-sensory experiences can be good for the nervous system. Using a nail pry bar adjacent to all the horrors in the nation is therapeutic too! Side note: Feeding one another shouldn't be controversial.
I'm presenting at Iowa Head Start's conference on Nov. 5, 2025. If you're concerned about big behavior in early childhood settings, we'll unpack what works and why! It's a hands-on, interactive day-long session. Leave with tools you can use right away. :-)
www.iowaheadstart.org/events/
The year is rolling, and if you need to communicate with families about concerns or progress, I have trauma-sensitive tips to help you in this month's Substack! Please read and share. :-) msjenalexander.substack.com/p/trauma-sen...
Telling the truth about injustice matters more than ever, and educators are worried about what they can and can't say at school. I've got trauma-sensitive tips, new check-ins that are easy to implement, and a free lesson plan too. Check it out! open.substack.com/pub/msjenale...
There's so much to be stressed about these days, and... It's still the best feeling in the world to run into a former student or their fam and hear about their grown-up lives—all while picturing a little one in your mind.
In case you missed it, I created a *free* game that families and educators can use to help learners process how the start of the year is going on. Find it over on the Institute of Child Psychology's blog.
instituteofchildpsychology.com/start-of-the...
If we're trauma-informed *enough* to teach the hand model of the brain but aren't reckoning with the consequences of unchecked injustice, we haven't mastered the material. People who suffer don't usually cause harm, and trauma on repeat without accountability is bound to escalate violence in groups.
While there is no quick fix for shame, I do think it can help a smidge sometimes to imagine a friendly dog noticing your presence and excitedly running toward you—even when you feel awful. That’s how worthy you are of connection. Also, get a real dog if you want to and can.
Big thanks to Wilson Elementary! It was evident from the start the trauma-informed practices you have already put into place. Thank you for what you do for students!
It was great to see familiar faces at Titan Nation! Thank you for your openness and commitment to students and families. See you soon!
Children shouldn’t be shot, and they also shouldn’t be interviewed by the press after shootings.
A great big thanks to Deckerville Schools for having us be a part of your back to school professional development. We appreciate your engagement and questions as you grapple with new paradigms. Have a wonderful start to the year and we look forward to working with you again this fall!