Community Resiliency Model (CRM) 4-Day Training

I was incredibly fortunate to be able to attend the 4-day Community Resiliency Model (CRM) training. Our trainers were amazing!  The knowledge, insight and personal experiences they each shared those days, made all the difference in how I approached what I learned during the training. Going into the training, I knew the basics about the Community Resiliency Model.  After the 4 day training, I walked away with a greater understanding of the core skills for self-help and several new and effective strategies that I now feel confident using with our students, staff, families and myself.

I gained greater insight about the neuroscience of our brains and how it affects what we do and why we do it. This information will better help our students, staff, their families and myself get our bodies, minds and spirit into better balance.   It was eye opening and fascinating to learn about how our nervous systems can be regulated fairly quickly by implementing strategies like resourcing, grounding or gesturing, to name a few.   As an educator, I have seen the enormous impact and devastation that trauma and stress can cause for our students, staff, community and myself. 

I have seen first-hand the detrimental effects that stress, trauma and grief have on a person and how it can keep someone in a very emotionally unstable state and hinder us from being able to function within our resilient zone.  After tragically losing my own daughter Maddie, I have experienced being out of my resilient zone and being bumped into my high and low zones each day.  I spent most days thinking and telling myself that I was not “ok”!  How CRM defines being “ok” and staying in your resilient zone, was a huge turning point for me.  I lacked having specific strategies to use to help me better deal with those difficult moments.  During the training, I was able to self-reflect and come to realize that I am “ok” and that although I have immense sadness and teeter between varying emotions within any given day, that I am still able to think rationally and function enough to get through my day.  This realization was a key component in helping me on my continued path of healing.

There is still a negative stigma associated with how many view mental health issues. A lot of people don’t see the connection of how being “trauma-informed” and “resiliency informed” can change this mindset and move towards implementing strategies that can help individuals live a more stable, healthy and productive life.

 --Claudia Marini, Thomasville City Schools