The classroom is a primary setting for connecting with community, engaging with the mind, and making meaning of the world and our place in it. As such, classrooms and those that facilitate them have the unique opportunity to significantly contribute to student wellbeing.
Those engaging with systems of higher education regularly will not be surprised to learn that modern college students face significant daily challenges. In addition to the unique adverse experiences that each student carries with them to our campuses, they are collectively navigating increasing levels of stress, anxiety, grief, and financial strain. All this while continuing to feel the effects of a global pandemic and the instability wrought by the current sociopolitical climate (Abrams, 2022; Bistricean, C., & Shea, 2021; Robb, 2017; Swedo et al., 2024). Research conducted by The Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) over the last decade indicates that university counseling centers (UCCs) in the United States have seen increasing numbers of students cite traumatic experiences as a primary driver for pursuing counseling services. In 2025, UCC clinicians identified trauma as the primary presenting concern for approximately 5% of students seeking treatment. 20% of students said that trauma was a contributing factor to feelings of distress, even if not the main focus of treatment (Center for Collegiate Mental Health, 2026). By comparison, WCU Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) data indicates that 24% of our students present to CAPS with acute or historic trauma as a primary presenting concern. This data suggests that WCU students are seeking treatment for trauma at higher rates than the national average. We can hypothesize from there that many more of our students carry unreported trauma histories.
So, what is trauma?
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2026), trauma is an event or circumstance that results in physical, emotional, or life-threatening harm. Trauma often impacts one’s mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being and causes a sense of broken connection – within the relationship with the self, within relationships with others, and within the spirit. Trauma can be caused by a variety of circumstances including:
- Single events such as an accident, assault, or violent attack.
- These may also include commonly overlooked experiences such as surgery, childbirth, the sudden death of a loved one, natural disasters, the conclusion of a significant relationship, or experiencing deliberate cruelty at the hands of another person.
- Ongoing events or relentless stressors such as living in a crime-ridden neighborhood, navigating a life-threatening illness, bullying, domestic violence, identity-based threats, or childhood abuse or neglect (Robinson et al., 2026).
Trauma can also be caused and/or augmented by systemic variables. When considering the intersection of racism, ableism, and sexism with the history of higher education, it is clear that academia has (unfortunately) been a primary cause of broken connection for a variety of communities within the United States (Wilder, 2014).
How does trauma impact learners?
Trauma activates the amygdala and causes survival instincts to disrupt nervous system functioning, diverting energy from cognitive centers (such as the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex) needed for critical thinking, problem-solving, organizing new information, and memory (Bremner, 2006; Pitman et al., 2012). When traumatic events occur, this process is designed to protect the brain and body against harm. However, when this activation remains constant, it can cause long-term impacts.
What is trauma-informed care?
If trauma is the impact of broken connection, trauma-informed care is a framework for restoring connection. Trauma-informed care upholds infusion of principles of safety, trustworthiness, choice, empowerment, collaboration, and consideration of historical and gender contexts (SAMSHA, 2014).
