{"id":179197,"date":"2020-07-07T16:36:13","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T20:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/?p=179197"},"modified":"2020-07-08T08:12:48","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T12:12:48","slug":"alumna-helps-guide-watauga-county-into-a-trauma-informed-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/news\/alumna-helps-guide-watauga-county-into-a-trauma-informed-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumna Helps Guide Watauga County into a Trauma-Informed Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

Merriam-Webster defines trauma as a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury. With current events like the COVID-19 pandemic and racial injustices across the country, <\/span>our brains and emotions are on overdrive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recent NC State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences graduate Hayley Bayne is helping to guide her town in becoming a more trauma-informed community through her work with Watauga Compassionate Community Initiative (WCCI).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a volunteer nonprofit with over 200 members from different organizations throughout our county whose mission is to turn Watauga County into a trauma-informed community. Everyone who is a part of this is here because they truly care about WCCI\u2019s mission,\u201d Bayne said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bayne graduated from NC State in spring 2020, earning her master\u2019s degree in Youth, Family and Community Sciences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI picked NC State because the program looked really interesting and broad enough to provide me with a lot of potential options coming out of it,\u201d Bayne said. In fact, the 23-year-old is still deciding where she wants to focus her career, but for now, it\u2019s on educating people about trauma and techniques that can be applicable in a variety of situations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Understanding Our Brains<\/h3>\n

One of the techniques she\u2019s learned and now teaches to parents and children is the <\/span>hand model of the brain<\/span><\/a>, created by Dan Siegel.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe hand model of the brain is a way of explaining how your brain operates in a super simple way that even children can understand,\u201d Bayne explained. \u201cThe model explains the different parts of the brain by relating it to the parts on your hand. The wrist is your brain stem and is responsible for everything you do without thinking \u2014 your breathing, talking and walking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen you fold in your thumb, which is like the amygdala, and that’s your emotional response center. That part of your brain is pretty much in charge of fight or flight. It’s your survival brain. Then you fold your fingers down over it and that’s your frontal cortex or the part of your brain that is in charge of higher thinking and understanding,\u201d she added.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, what happens when people \u201cflip their lid?\u201d Bayne said thinking becomes more of an emotional response. It\u2019s as if your brain has either shut off or has blinders up.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone’s operating out of their emotional brain, you can sit there and tell them all day long, \u2018Calm down, calm down, calm down,\u2019 but until their brain truly turns back on, they can’t hear anything you’re saying,\u201d Bayne said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In her role with WCCI, Bayne deals mostly with parents and adults more than children; however, she\u2019s also the coordinator for an afterschool program at one of the local schools in Watauga County.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of children in my program that have trauma backgrounds or something that affects their school learning or some type of trauma family structure issue. I take the things we\u2019ve developed in WCCI and I apply them to children,\u201d Bayne said. \u201cAnd for kids who experience or witness abuse, it can be hard for them to achieve higher functioning. That\u2019s why all the work we do in WCCI is so important.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people are operating in a trauma brain or survival brain because something is going on in their lives, they\u2019re operating out of only one part of their brain,\u201d Bayne said. \u201cIt can be hard for them to stay emotionally regulated in school and to focus on schoolwork without the additional skills to help.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember to Breathe<\/h3>\n

Bayne\u2019s favorite calming technique for someone who might be operating with a survival brain is breathing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest thing is breathing \u2014 really deep breaths. And if someone can’t take deep breaths, taking deep breaths beside them, so that you’re breathing for them, will eventually help their brain calm down because you’re calm right beside them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bayne says everything she has learned through her work with WCCI can be applied to various traumatic and stressful situations, including issues that come with dealing with a pandemic and with racial injustice.<\/span><\/p>\n

She says the goal is to have everyone in the community understand the science behind how brains work, especially in traumatic or stressful situations. Bayne says it\u2019s really teaching a community to be resilient and compassionate to others. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"Merriam-Webster defines trauma as a disordered psychic or behavioral state resulting from severe mental or emotional stress or physical injury. With current events like the COVID-19 pandemic and racial injustices across the country, <\/span>our brains and emotions are on overdrive.<\/span>\r\n\r\nRecent NC State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences graduate Hayley Bayne is helping to guide her town in becoming a more trauma-informed community through her work with Watauga Compassionate Community Initiative (WCCI).<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s a volunteer nonprofit with over 200 members from different organizations throughout our county whose mission is to turn Watauga County into a trauma-informed community. Everyone who is a part of this is here because they truly care about WCCI\u2019s mission,\u201d Bayne said.<\/span>\r\n\r\nBayne graduated from NC State in spring 2020, earning her master\u2019s degree in Youth, Family and Community Sciences.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cI picked NC State because the program looked really interesting and broad enough to provide me with a lot of potential options coming out of it,\u201d Bayne said. In fact, the 23-year-old is still deciding where she wants to focus her career, but for now, it\u2019s on educating people about trauma and techniques that can be applicable in a variety of situations.<\/span>\r\n

Understanding Our Brains<\/h3>\r\nOne of the techniques she\u2019s learned and now teaches to parents and children is the <\/span>hand model of the brain<\/span><\/a>, created by Dan Siegel.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cThe hand model of the brain is a way of explaining how your brain operates in a super simple way that even children can understand,\u201d Bayne explained. \u201cThe model explains the different parts of the brain by relating it to the parts on your hand. The wrist is your brain stem and is responsible for everything you do without thinking \u2014 your breathing, talking and walking.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cThen you fold in your thumb, which is like the amygdala, and that's your emotional response center. That part of your brain is pretty much in charge of fight or flight. It's your survival brain. Then you fold your fingers down over it and that's your frontal cortex or the part of your brain that is in charge of higher thinking and understanding,\u201d she added.<\/span>\r\n\r\nSo, what happens when people \u201cflip their lid?\u201d Bayne said thinking becomes more of an emotional response. It\u2019s as if your brain has either shut off or has blinders up.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cIf someone's operating out of their emotional brain, you can sit there and tell them all day long, \u2018Calm down, calm down, calm down,\u2019 but until their brain truly turns back on, they can't hear anything you're saying,\u201d Bayne said.<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn her role with WCCI, Bayne deals mostly with parents and adults more than children; however, she\u2019s also the coordinator for an afterschool program at one of the local schools in Watauga County.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cI have a lot of children in my program that have trauma backgrounds or something that affects their school learning or some type of trauma family structure issue. I take the things we\u2019ve developed in WCCI and I apply them to children,\u201d Bayne said. \u201cAnd for kids who experience or witness abuse, it can be hard for them to achieve higher functioning. That\u2019s why all the work we do in WCCI is so important.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cWhen people are operating in a trauma brain or survival brain because something is going on in their lives, they\u2019re operating out of only one part of their brain,\u201d Bayne said. \u201cIt can be hard for them to stay emotionally regulated in school and to focus on schoolwork without the additional skills to help.\u201d<\/span>\r\n

Remember to Breathe<\/h3>\r\nBayne\u2019s favorite calming technique for someone who might be operating with a survival brain is breathing.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cMy biggest thing is breathing \u2014 really deep breaths. And if someone can't take deep breaths, taking deep breaths beside them, so that you're breathing for them, will eventually help their brain calm down because you're calm right beside them.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nBayne says everything she has learned through her work with WCCI can be applied to various traumatic and stressful situations, including issues that come with dealing with a pandemic and with racial injustice.<\/span>\r\n\r\nShe says the goal is to have everyone in the community understand the science behind how brains work, especially in traumatic or stressful situations. Bayne says it\u2019s really teaching a community to be resilient and compassionate to others. <\/span>"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recent CALS graduate Hayley Bayne is one of several volunteers helping her town become a more a more trauma-informed and compassionate community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2210,"featured_media":179198,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1177,1792,1181],"tags":[1263],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"coauthors":[1671],"class_list":["post-179197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-and-friends","category-cals-weekly","category-newswire","tag-department-of-agricultural-and-human-sciences"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179197"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179197"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179199,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179197\/revisions\/179199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179197"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=179197"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cals.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=179197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}