Together, they unpack how unresolved trauma, old family dynamics, and emotional triggers can collide during the holiday season, and how to approach it with intention, regulation, and resilience.

Youll learn trauma-informed strategies to protect your peace, break patterns, set boundaries, and create healthier moments of connection, without losing yourself in the process.

 Because healing before you holiday isnt optional...its essential.

From classrooms to homes to communities, this conversation challenges us to move beyond safe-looking spaces and start creating safe-feeling ones because safety isnt about dcor, routines, or rules; its about peace, trust, and presence.

Because behavior isnt defiance,its communication. And when we learn to look beyond the actions, we begin to see the experiences that shaped them.

Because you cant teach a child whos fighting to survive; you have to help them feel safe enough to learn.

Many of us grew up believing that emotions are weakness. But the truth is what we dont release emotionally, our bodies hold onto physically. In this episode of Through the Eyes of Trauma, Dr. Salena Smith unpacks why you have to feel to heal, weaving in Danielles story from OutDaughtered, the science of psychosomatic stress, and practical strategies for safe emotional release.

Because tears arent weakness, theyre medicine.

Listen now on the Alive Podcast Network or wherever you stream podcasts.

Youll also hear practical ways families can reinforce learning at home without traditional homework, from cooking and grocery store math to bedtime stories and board games. Because learning should build confidence, not hardship.

In this episode of Through the Eyes of Trauma, Dr. Salena Smith unpacks how trust, built through small, consistent acts, can calm the nervous system, restore safety, and open the door to connection. With real stories from the classroom and everyday life, Dr. Smith explores what it looks like to offer trust as medicine to others, and how to begin rebuilding self-trust after trauma.

In this episode of Through the Eyes of Trauma, Dr. Salena Smith explores how trauma tries to steal purpose and how healing creates clarity. Joined by special guest Derrick Smith, Clarity Life Coach, this conversation dives into the connection between trauma, clarity, and discovering purpose.

Through real stories, strategies, and practical steps, listeners will learn how to move beyond survival mode, reclaim their identity, and take steps toward uncovering their why.

 Tune in now on the Alive Podcast Network or wherever you stream your favorite shows.

In this episode of Through the Eyes of Trauma, Dr. Salena Smith unpacks how the Circle of Couragebelonging, mastery, independence, and generositycan guide teachers and families in creating safe, healing-centered spaces for students returning from uncertain summers.

Dr. Smith brings her professional insight and lived experience to help listeners recognize the importance of empathy, validation, and trauma-informed interactions. This episode invites you to pause, reflect, and reframe how we understand the experiences of those around usbecause healing begins with being seen and heard.

Drawing from personal experience, cultural observations, and spiritual insight, we explore:

• Why panic attacks are becoming more common

• How modern chaos impacts your nervous system

• What the Bible says about peace in the storm

• Practical tools to manage anxiety without shame

• Why acknowledging the chaos is the first step to overcoming it

If youve ever felt like the weight of the world is crushing your chest or that you're spiraling with no way out, this conversation is for you. Whether you're a believer trying to hold onto faith or someone just looking for peace in the madness, this episode offers clarity, comfort, and a call to deeper trust.

Essential question: What happens when you have trauma that is not your own?

"How can we identify and rewrite the limiting beliefs that keep us stuck, so we can step into the life we were meant to live?"

How can cultivating gratitude improve mental health and transform the way we approach challenges in life?

How can we recognize and manage anxiety effectively so it doesnt interfere with our ability to live fulfilling lives?

How can trauma-informed education create safer, more supportive learning environments that promote mental health and well-being for students?

How can creating moments of silence and reflection in the classroom support emotional growth and learning for students dealing with trauma?

Essential Question: Who is running your relationship?

This episode aims to help listeners understand the nature of anger, recognize its barriers to success in school and personal life, explore healthy ways for students to express their anger, and provide practical strategies for supporting students with anger issues.

This episode aims to help our listeners develop the skills necessary to process their emotions in a healthy and constructive way.

This episode seeks to explain how trauma doesn't just affect students, but it can also affect teachers, creating an environment of stress and anxiety that can be difficult to navigate.

This episode seeks to help listeners understand how workaholism is a trauma response and how it affects your professional life.

This episode seeks to help listeners understand how our emotions are a byproduct of what is going on within the hidden cortex of our subconscious.

This episode seeks to understand how intentional parents have to be with the level of support that is needed for children exposed to trauma.

This episode seeks to help adults realize how unprocessed childhood trauma can reveal itself in their current relationships.

This episode seeks to show transparency when it comes to trauma in schools and the difficulty of educators to be supportive to staff and students while also meeting their own social/emotional needs.

How can we welcome wellness in the workplace, especially when trauma and toxic stress meet us there and follow us home?

This episode seeks to empower individuals to pull up to the relaxation station and welcome wellness in every area of their lives.

What can we do to help the body reset so that we can relax in stressful times?

This episode seeks to empower individuals to pull up to the relaxation station and reset our bodies so that it houses positive energy and not stress and tension.

Bessel van der Kolk, MD., is a physician, researcher, and teacher who specializes in trauma and toxic stress, and the overwhelming affects that these experiences have on the mind, body, and society.

This episode seeks to empower individuals to take back control of their busy lives and provide opportunities to increase their mental and physical wellness by scheduling time to pull into the relaxation station.

This episode seeks to help parents and teachers to support their children with their emotional development by checking in with their emotions.

This episode seeks to help listeners understand that positive self-talk can improve self-esteem, stress management, and well-being.

With the video release of the police brutality towards Tyre Nichols, curious minds will be seeking to witness the tragic event.  This episode discusses how constant trauma exposure causes Compassion Fatigue and impacts your mental health.

This episode seeks to help listeners understand the benefit of having a mindset shift to understand how and why individuals act, react, and respond the way that they do.

This episode seeks to help individuals identify when their body's alarm system is blaring and what to do about it.

This episode is dedicated to the memory of Stephen "Twitch" Boss and seeks to bring about awareness of the mental health misconceptions to better support those who are struggling.

Teaching Through the Eyes of Trauma podcast is brought to you by the Inner Ear Agency, providing professional development and consulting services to balance the healing and education of children exposed to trauma. For services, visit innerearagency.com. 

This episode seeks to help parents and teachers to support their children with their emotional development by checking in with their emotions.

This episode seeks to help those who have experienced trauma to seek ways to find support for their exposure and not use it as an excuse to behave poorly.

This episode seeks to see what children perceive SEL to be and what they would like to see more of in school.

This episode seeks to help parents and educators understand the importance of providing a warm, supportive environment free of chaos.

This episode seeks to help educators and parents to understand their role in co-regulation to help support children.

This episode seeks to bring awareness to the need for mental health supports in schools.

This episode seeks to show parents and educators how to be curious and use what they observe to support students needs.

Essential question: What happens when you have trauma that is not your own?

Essential question: What are some benefits, barriers, and ways to retain teachers of color?

Essential question: What do black male educators need to thrive in education?

Essential question:  Could your unresolved childhood trauma be leaking into your adult life?

Essential question: How can you resist being a source of trauma as a parent or care taker?

Essential question: How can educators and parents identify signs and symptoms of trauma exposure in students as they head back to school.

Special guest: Samantha Brathwaite (Educator)

Essential Question: How can you start off the school year positively in a way to connect with students in hopes of building nurturing, buffering relationships that protect them from the impact of trauma and toxic stress?

This episode seeks to give parents and teachers tools and strategies to be proactive regarding the potential for triggering or retraumatizing experiences during and after the summer break.

This episode seeks to give parents and teachers tools and strategies to identify needs that are not being met and what circles are broken in order to support children on their journey towards healing and resiliency.

This episode seeks to educate listeners on the impact of stress and trauma in the body, and how it responds when in a state of constant stress.

This episode seeks to foster wellness within individuals exposed to trauma and toxic stress; mind, body, and emotions.

This episode seeks to support educators and parents to change the frequency of the room by pouring into a child's need for mastery by speaking to their potential.

This episode seeks to be a resilience guide for parents and educators to support their children through adversity.

This episode seeks to provide parents, educators, and community leaders with tools and strategies to provide space and opportunity for students to practice coping mechanisms and experience resilience.

This week we are joined by our special guest, Ebony Robinson, a licensed clinical social worker in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  The goal of this episode is to remove the stigma of mental health challenges that we all face and normalize the healing process, including therapy. Listen in to the conversation!

This episode seeks to help you understand that you yourself, your students, children, or young adults can experience trauma in different ways. Validating those traumas will allow you to begin the healing process for yourself and/or your children.

The ACE Study is the most important public health study that most people have never heard of. This podcast's mission is to change that.

The essential question we will answer in this episode is "When educating the whole child, should schools focus on student's mental and emotional health, or Pedagogy, first?