The Trauma of Summer Break: Meeting Needs and Mending Broken Circles

or some students, summer break is a season of rest, joy, and family vacations. For others, its two long months of instability, loss of structure, and survival mode. When these students return to school, they bring more than backpacks, they carry the emotional weight of what theyve experienced.

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.