Send us a textIt is said that a human body that has been traumatized or overwhelmed by stress can feel helpless, reactive, angry, impulsive, raging, numb and leaning towards avoidance. AND the same is true for schools! Institutions, public or private, that serve the needs of children, learners and families from distressed communities can also feel helpless and drained with an ongoing crisis or seemingly unmanageable chaos. These places and its people too can become reactive, angry or riddled with avoidance and the necessary skills may be lacking in dealing with overstressed schools and classrooms.On this episode, trauma expert, licensed social worker, the Co-Director of Outpatient Services at NFI, Vermont, and former fellow at Child Trauma Academy (CTA), Dave Melnick, returns to discuss the distinction between trauma-informed vs. trauma-transformed schools and the best practices involved in the effortful redirection that cultivates this deep and wide knowledge that helps make trauma-transformed schools. In these challenging times, psycho-social and emotional trauma experienced by learners, learning communities, and all communities around the globe is far more common than ever before. Those who are trained and trauma-informed approaches to care, shift the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” This is a journey we all take together.About Dave MelnickDave Melnick, LICSW is the Co-Director of Outpatient Services at NFI, Vermont, a statewide mental health agency primarily serving children, adolescents and families. For the past 35 years, Dave has worked in a variety of settings including outpatient, residential treatment, and in public and day treatment schools. Along with his focus on Developmental Trauma, Dave has expertise in family therapy, adolescence, attachment, Reflective Practices, and Trauma-informed Systems.  He is trained in EMDR, DDP, and a variety of family systems models.  In 2015, the ChildTrauma Academy (CTA) acknowledged that Dave had completed NMT Training Certification through the Phase II level, and between 2017-2021 he was a Fellow at the CTA.Dave received his master’s in social welfare from UC Berkeley in 1988 and is licensed in both the state of Vermont and New York as a clinical social worker.  Dave teaches graduate classes for the Vermont Higher Education Collaboration, and is a presenter and consultant in Vermont, New York and Canada.Course: Transforming Trauma (Level 1): The School as a Healing Community | VT-HECAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textThe violence in the United States this past month has brought up raw emotions in all of us.  The killing of Asian seniors as they were worshipping in their church, African-American elders as they went about their everyday tasks such as shopping for groceries, and the violent deaths of 19 small children with their two teachers who came to their elementary classrooms for a day of learning—all of this leaves us in a state of deep grief and pain. For some, this might elicit feelings of fear, anger, rage, sadness, numbness, or even resentment. For others, this may invoke a renewed determination to try and make the world a better place. But for most, this might be the ultimate point of exhaustion. On today’s podcast, trauma expert, licensed social worker, the Co-Director of Outpatient Services at NFI, Vermont, and a previous fellow at ChildTrauma Academy (CTA), Dave Melnick, discusses the impact of developmental trauma on childhood learning and the distinction between trauma-informed and trauma-transformed schools. Helping children cope with childhood traumas and setbacks requires effortful redirection and educators as well as leaders must cultivate this deep and wide knowledge to help build better schools.About Dave MelnickDave Melnick, LICSW is the Co-Director of Outpatient Services at NFI, Vermont, a statewide mental health agency primarily serving children, adolescents and families. For the past 35 years, Dave has worked in a variety of settings including outpatient, residential treatment, and in public and day treatment schools. Along with his focus on Developmental Trauma, Dave has expertise in family therapy, adolescence, attachment, Reflective Practices, and Trauma-informed Systems.  He is trained in EMDR, DDP, and a variety of family systems models.  In 2015, the ChildTrauma Academy (CTA) acknowledged that Dave had completed NMT Training Certification through the Phase II level, and between 2017-2021 he was a Fellow at the CTA.Dave received his master’s in social welfare from UC Berkeley in 1988 and is licensed in both the state of Vermont and New York as a clinical social worker.  Dave teaches graduate classes for the Vermont Higher Education Collaboration, and is a presenter and consultant in Vermont, New York and Canada.Course: Transforming Trauma (Level 1): The School as a Healing Community | VT-HECAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textOur commitment to multitasking in everyday life is unwavering and ubiquitous; a strong indicator of how our perceptions deceive us. We are not as smart as we think we are, neither are we as attentive as we think we are because the cluttered and distracted mind fragments our attention disrupting thinking, intentions, and follow through.On this episode, neuroscientist, researcher, John R. Park professor and head of the Cognitive Neuroscience Area in the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah, David Strayer, discusses the role of attention, multitasking in real-world, and the serious cognitive challenges posed by various kinds of multitasking. As we find ourselves continually being drawn to technology, we might want to strengthen our insight and self-awareness so we change our ways and improve our productivity and wellbeing. About David StrayerDavid Strayer is the John R. Park professor and head of the Cognitive Neuroscience Area in the Department of Psychology at the University.  He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois@ Urbana-Champaign in 1989 and worked at GTE laboratories before joining the faculty at the University of Utah.  Dr. Strayer’s research examines attention and multitasking in real-world contexts and for the last 20 years has focused on understanding driver distraction stemming from multimodal interactions in the vehicle.  About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textLife without struggles is no life at all and what accompanies these struggles is ambiguity, uncertainty, and disruptions. Coping under these tenuous conditions means deciphering new goals, weighing options, and being future-forward while responding with adaptive mental and emotional flexibility; all made possible by one’s evolving Executive Function. However, individuals who have experienced adverse childhood experiences develop a lifelong style of being mistrustful which poses its unique challenges, raising issues in the domain of personal health and interpersonal cooperation. On this episode, award-winning psychologist and elected fellow of the US National Academy of Medicine, British Academy, UK Academy of Medical Sciences, and Association of Psychological Science, Professor Terrie E. Moffitt, discusses how activating strong Executive Function to think clearly and systematically under highly stressful conditions is truly hard and it affects all types of decision making including the decisions to vaccinate. By improving Executive Function such as self-control, emotional agility, and perspective taking, individuals can approach complex decision making in interesting and fruitful ways.About Professor Terrie E MoffittTerrie E. Moffitt’s expertise is in the areas of lifelong aging, mental health, and longitudinal research. She is the associate director of the Dunedin Longitudinal Study, which follows a 1972 birth cohort in New Zealand. She also founded the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study (E-Risk), which follows a 1994 birth cohort in Britain. Moffitt is a licensed clinical psychologist.She is an elected fellow of the US National Academy of Medicine, British Academy, UK Academy of Medical Sciences, and Association of Psychological Science.Moffitt is recipient of the Stockholm Prize, the Klaus Jacobs Prize, the NARSAD Ruane Prize, and the 2022 Grawemeyer Prize for her work on mental health, and the Maltilda White Riley Award from the NIH for her recent work on aging processes in midlife adults.Dr. Moffitt received her PhD in psychology at the University of Southern California, and completed her postdoctoral training at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. She enjoys working on her poison-ivy farm in North Carolina. Book:The Origins of YouResearch:Vaccine resistance has its roots in negative childhood experiences, a major study findsDeep-seated psychological histories of COVID-19 vaccine hesitance and resistanceWebsite:www.moffittcaspi.comAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textResearcher Diane Halpern says, “When people think critically, they are evaluating the outcomes of their thought processes – how good a decision is or how well a problem is solved.” Metacognition on the other hand is thinking about one’s own thinking and discovering how best to control our thinking to facilitate learning. Both require strong attentional and emotional recourses channeled as mental effort into new learning. Students who reflect on their own thinking are positioned to learn more than their peers who are not metacognitive.On this episode, award-winning professor of psychology at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama and chair of the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, Stephen L. Chew, discusses barriers in cognition and learning that create a disconnect between self-knowledge and the approaches to new learning. Metacognition is a critical component of building students’ executive function and education must include this science in designing learning strategies for all students.About Stephen ChewStephen L. Chew is a professor of psychology at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He also serves as chair of the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology. Trained as a cognitive psychologist, one of his primary research areas is the cognitive basis of effective teaching and learning. His research interests include the use of examples in teaching, the impact of cognitive load on learning, and the tenacious misconceptions that students bring with them into the classroom. He is the creator of a groundbreaking series of YouTube videos for students on how to study effectively in college (http://www.samford.edu/how-to-study/) which have been viewed over three million times and are in wide use from high schools to professional schools. His most recent work is on the cognitive challenges of effective teaching. He is the recipient of multiple national awards for his teaching and research, including named the 2011 Outstanding Master’s Universities and Colleges U.S. Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.Book:Teaching Psychology: A Step-by-Step Guide (3rd Edition)Website:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz2tkFnv6GNdNyeoq0W4XWgAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textOn October 16, 1843, while on a stroll along the Royal Canal in Dublin, mathematician William Rowan Hamilton had an aha moment which led to his famed discovery of the algebraic equations known as quaternions which is now etched on the bridge. Research shows that although creative insight and analytical thinking are distinct modes of thought, they do complement each other. These aha or eureka moments are typically considered the manifestation of creativity in a few creative geniuses; however, having access to one’s own creative process can be different for different people. On this episode, professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Drexel University, Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and the Psychonomic Society, and international best-selling author, John Kounios, Ph.D., discusses the process and science of creative insight and analytical thinking that marks our discovery of a brilliant solution for small or big problems. We all need strong Executive Function mastery to counter the effects of a lack of insight and a lack of immersive experience into “problematic” components which can take away the focus needed for solving one’s own problems.About John KouniosJohn Kounios, PhD, is a professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Drexel University. He has published cognitive neuroscience research on insight, creativity, problem solving, memory, and Alzheimer’s disease and coauthored (with Mark Beeman) the international Amazon Bestseller, The Eureka Factor: Aha Moments, Creative Insight, and the Brain (Random House). John's research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation and has been reported by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Times (London), National Public Radio and was featured in BBC Television and Discovery Science Channel documentaries. His work was profiled by The New Yorker and The Saturday Evening Post and is part of a permanent exhibit at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. He is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and the Psychonomic Society.Book:The Eureka Factor: Aha Moments, Creative Insight, and the BrainWebsite:https://sites.google.com/site/johnkounios/ About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textAs the United States becomes a land of the diverse, conversations are shifting from "how do we excel in spite of our differences" to "how we come together and thrive because of our differences." The K to 12 educational spaces are also shifting the focus from helping develop skills in academic areas to the best ways to help children develop their sense of agency and sense of identity. In order to propel such cultural transformations, we have to address the relentless and commonplace occurrences of unfavorable, negative, or even traumatic experiences associated with the insidious racial tension and racialized marginalization experienced by minorities.On this episode, author, professor at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky and, Dr. DeDe Wohlfarth, discusses the idea of cultivating cultural humility against the backdrop of systemic and structural racism and the work that must be put in by the dominant group to create racially harmonized experiences for all. As we think about raising and educating children to master their Executive Function and demonstrate self-sufficiency, we need to prioritize thinking about racial inequalities and perspective shifts so that empathic support is extended to the marginalized individuals whose experiences of injustices may be hidden.About Dr. DeDe WohlfarthDr. DeDe Wohlfarth earned her bachelor’s degree from Earlham College, master’s degree from Ball State University, and doctorate degree in clinical psychology from Spalding University. DeDe is a full professor at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. She is also a clinical psychologist in Indiana and Kentucky who specializes in treating children and families who are affected by intergenerational poverty, abuse and neglect, and trauma.Her focus on cultural humility (Tervalon & Murray-Garcia, 1998) intensified over the last decade as she saw the many ways racism, sexism, and heterosexism were traumatizing people.  She has since published several articles on diversity, trauma, and cultural humility, and presents regularly on the topic. Despite all this, DeDe knows she makes mistakes every day on her own diversity journey and tries to learn from them.Book:Case Studies in Child and Adolescent PsychopathologyAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textWe are wired to be social and socializing and connecting depends on theory of mind, perspective taking, and being able to sympathize or empathize with others. Empathy, one of the vital ingredients for social and interpersonal success, facilitates prosocial behaviors, promotes social understanding and helps us to regulate ourselves in the complex social world. However, antisocial behaviors in others such as aggression, callousness, and other unemotional traits can wreck havoc in our social success.On this episode, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University and Director of the Marsee Aggression and Delinquency Lab (MADLab), Dr. Monica Marsee, discusses the nature of reactive and proactive aggression and ways to  expand emotional bandwidth so that complex situations can be handled with insight.About Dr. Monica MarseeDr. Monica Marsee graduated from the University of New Orleans in 2005 with a Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University and is the Director of the Marsee Aggression and Delinquency Lab (MADLab). Dr. Marsee’s research is generally focused on risk factors for antisocial behavior in children, adolescents, and emerging adults. Topics of interest include the forms and functions of aggression, bullying and victimization, Dark Triad and callous-unemotional traits, emotional dysregulation, and social-cognitive risk factors. Research is also focused on improving the measurement of these constructs. All research questions are grounded in a developmental psychopathology perspective, which allows for the study of the development of behavioral problems within the context of what is known about normal development.Website:https://marseelab.wixsite.com/mysiteAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textMany preconceived notions and misconceptions often create a barrier to attaining personal success. Here are some frequently unchallenged misconceptions: “Talent is innate and needs to be discovered”, “You either have talent or you don't” and “Just a few lucky ones have it and it only counts if you’re on top!” The growth mindsets captured by popular culture show us that our own fears and vulnerabilities set us up for social comparisons and only by challenging these myths and putting in the hard work, can one harness their personal power. On this episode, global keynote speaker, facilitator, and guide supporting leaders developing growth mindset cultures, Eduardo Briceño, discusses how mindsets work, why stress is a trigger for a fixed mindset and ways to promote a growth mindset and continuous improvement in ourselves, our children, and our colleagues. Well-cultivated growth mindsets, particularly in the area of challenge, is a mark of strong executive function crucial for personal growth, performance, and resilience.About Eduardo BriceñoEduardo Briceño is a global keynote speaker, facilitator, and guide supporting leaders developing growth mindset cultures.  Prior to that he was the CEO of Mindset Works, the pioneer in growth mindset development services, which he cofounded in 2007 with Stanford professor Carol Dweck and others, and which he led for over a decade.  Before that he was a technology investor with Credit Suisse’s venture capital arm and served on several for-profit and non-profit boards.Eduardo’s TED talks have been viewed by millions. He is a Pahara-Aspen Fellow, a member of the Aspen Institute’s Global Leadership Network, and an inductee in the Happiness Hall of Fame.Eduardo grew up in Caracas, Venezuela. He holds bachelor’s degrees in economics and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as an MBA and M.A. in education from Stanford University. Most importantly, he continues to enjoy lifelong learning every day.Website:https://www.briceno.com/About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textWhether it is enduring the process of untangling yarn, cancelling all your credit cards after losing your wallet, or waiting for months to hear back from a college admissions’ office, patience makes the experience more meaningful and less unbearable. As a quality that is considered morally good and desirable in a person, no wonder patience is a virtue as it offers a much-needed chance to maintain or regain our strength while seeing where we are and what we are made of. On this episode,  Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Baylor University and  Editor for Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Dr. Sarah Schnitker, discusses her research in the area of patience, why it is a virtue, and reasons why it’s a tough but worthy skill to master. Strong Executive Function skills help set goals, follow through and accomplish them over time, and learning to become more patient could be an excellent investment in such skill building.About Dr. Sarah SchnitkerDr. Sarah Schnitker is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Baylor University. She holds a PhD and an MA in Personality and Social Psychology from the University of California, Davis, and a BA in Psychology from Grove City College.  Schnitker studies virtue and character development in adolescents and emerging adults, with a focus on the role of spirituality and religion in virtue formation. She specializes in the study of patience, self-control, gratitude, generosity, and thrift.  Schnitker has procured more than $7 million in funding as a principal investigator on multiple research grants, and she has published in a variety of scientific journals and edited volumes.  Schnitker is an Associate Editor for Psychology of Religion and Spirituality and an Editorial Board member for Journal of Research in Personality. She is a dedicated mentor, having served as dissertation advisor for more than 20 doctoral students, whom she helps to cultivate intellectual virtues alongside scientific competencies. She is the recipient of the Virginia Sexton American Psychological Association’s Division 36 Mentoring Award and Student International Positive Psychology Association Mentor Award. Website:https://sites.baylor.edu/science-of-virtues/ Books:Acedia and Me by Kathleen NorrisPatience: How We Wait Upon the World by David Bailey HarnedAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show