Lehigh County Health & Medicine Fall 2019 - 24

us as children can stay with us well into adulthood. It can affect brain
development, cause cognitive and emotional delays, weaken the immune
system and impact the ability to form safe and trusting relationships with
others. The impact on children, while their brains are still developing,
can have the most lasting and harmful impact.

Dr. John G. Kuna & Associates

"If trauma is not dealt with in childhood, we see greater risk of chronic
health problems, substance abuse, depression, suicide and obesity. In
children, we'll also see problems in school. When kids don't do well in
school, they'll have a harder time succeeding in life," said Liang.

Listening,
Learning,
Understanding

"We can't control what happens at home or in the community, but
when educators create these environments in the school and focus on
strong teacher-student relationships, students will be able to develop
and flourish. All the negative effects we see on the brain can be repaired
through these nurturing relationships," he continued.

Psychological and Counseling services

Evening/Weekend Appointments Available
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12 Convenient Locations

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570.961.3361
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With training and support provided by United Way of the Greater Lehigh
Valley and Lehigh University, Bethlehem Area School District became
the first in the region to embrace and adopt trauma-informed practices.
"At United Way, we identified that the root cause of the difficult and
complex social problems we were addressing was exposure to childhood
trauma," remarked Beth Tomlinson. "So the best way to support our
families and our communities is really by addressing trauma early and
building trauma-informed systems to break the cycle of community
violence and build resilient communities."
United Way strives for all schools in the Lehigh Valley to be trauma
informed and to build resilience in all students.
"Schools in the Lehigh Valley area have heard the call to respond to
trauma and risen to the challenge. We've partnered with Lehigh and
Northampton counties to train educators on the impact of trauma on
students and school staff and how a trauma-informed school environment
creates a safe, supporting learning environment where all students can
thrive," said Tomlinson.
To become a trauma-informed school, Tomlinson recommends
educating staff on trauma's impact on the brain, behavior and learning,
helping students feel safe in their learning environment, teaching students
healthy social-emotional regulation skills and connecting students with
behavioral health services when needed.

Contact us today to learn more

G.A. Legg and Associates
5100 Tilghman St. #255 | Allentown | 610 .395.8516
leggassetmanagement.com | legggal@ptd.net
Serving Physicians in Lehigh Valley for over 50 years
10% TO 25% DISCOUNT AVAILABLE THROUGH OUR OFFICE
24 Lehigh County Health & Medicine | FALL 2019

"Our job as educators is not to cure trauma. Our job is to help students
through it," added Bailey.
Resilient Lehigh Valley is a multi-sector partnership of organizations
and community members dedicated to building a trauma-informed
and resilient community through education and collaboration.

For more information, visit www.resilientlehighvalley.org
http://www.DrJohnGKuna.com http://www.leggassetmanagement.com http://www.resilientlehighvalley.org
Lehigh County Health & Medicine Fall 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Lehigh County Health & Medicine Fall 2019
