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Keywords

Trauma, resilience, wraparound, RENEW, teacher-student relationships, school mental health, school social work.

Abstract

It is well-documented that exposure to toxic stress in childhood can contribute to impaired social, emotional, behavioral, and neuro-biological development that often results in learning difficulties, poor emotional regulation, an inability to develop healthy relationships, and impaired problem-solving skills. Further, youth who grow up in unsafe environments or are subjected to structural inequality are faced with challenges over which they have no control. Using a positive, future-oriented, and trauma-responsive perspective while intentionally building resilience can effectively engage and support youth to overcome feelings of hopelessness and achieve positive outcomes. This paper includes a qualitative study of protective factors as identified by youth who participated in an intervention designed to support them to articulate, develop, and pursue their goals for transition from adolescence to adulthood. The paper includes a description of how a youth-driven planning and social support intervention can build resilience and promote a positive, future orientation. The study also emphasizes the need for further research about the impact of relationship-based, person-centered approaches on building resilience and improved outcomes for youth and young adults who have experienced significant trauma.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Author Biography

Dr. Malloy began working at UNH in 1992 and is a nationally-recognized expert in the field of adolescent mental health with particular expertise in school-to-career transition services for youth with emotional and behavioral disorders, school-based mental health services, dropout prevention, and family- and youth-driven wraparound. Since 2009, Dr. Malloy has facilitated a statewide Children’s Behavioral Health Network that includes 60 members across the education, mental health, substance abuse, community treatment, higher education, family support, and youth support sectors. Dr. Malloy has authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and teaches a course in adolescent behavioral health in the UNH Social Work Department. In 2018, Dr. Malloy received a $560,000, 4-year contract from the NH Department of Health and Human Services to develop and design workforce training for treatment and recovery and peer to peer providers, focused on youth with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders. Most recently, Dr. Malloy received a $4.3 million, 3 year contract to stand up a new center at UNH to support the delivery of high quality, evidence-based practices in children’s mental health.

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