Building Resilience Through Connection with Dr. Gwen Bass, PhD

Building Resilience Through Connection: Tools for Repair, De-Escalation and School Success Dr. Gwen Bass is a foster parent, author, educator, researcher, facilitator, and collaborative consultant who works with caregivers, educators, and organizations. She graduated with a B.A from Mount Holyoke College in Psychology and Education, earned an MEd in School Counseling and her Ph.D in Special Education from UMASS Amherst. She began her career as a teacher and school counselor. While pursuing her doctorate she trained and mentored teachers on practical, evidence-based tools to nurture kids’ educational and emotional well-being. Dr. Bass has been an administrator in higher education and has developed graduate programs for teachers. She regularly provides professional development and mentoring for clinicians and educators in schools, government agencies, and non-profits. AND, still works directly with kids! Over years of practice and research, she identified particular approaches and strategies that best serve kids and improve the systems they move through. These best practices are trauma-informed, learner-centered, and consistently impactful which will be the focus of her training, “Building Resilience Through Connection: Tools for Repair, De-Escalation and School Success” Dr. Bass will utilize power point slides, group exercises, discussion and Q & A to address how trauma can show up at school and where repair, de-escalation and advocacy are often needed. Participants will learn about the purpose of repair, i.e.; regulation of the nervous system, attunement, building trust, and recovery from inevitable disruption. Dr. Bass will introduce prevention-intervention follow up strategies for de-escalation and repair and will describe how her 4-step repair process can be applied in schools as a means of collaborative problem-solving and advocacy.