Understanding Graduate Occupational Therapy Educators’ Use of Trauma-Informed Approaches in the Classroom

Traumatic events can alter the brain structure and affect cognitive capacities and academic performance. Educators at all grade levels are responsible for supporting students through trauma-informed approaches. Previous trauma-informed research focused on K–12 education levels. The experience of graduate-level occupational therapy educators who have applied trauma-informed approaches to improve student learning have not been explored. This general qualitative study explored the experiences of occupational therapy educators who used trauma-informed approaches. The conceptual framework was the trauma-informed care model. Ten graduate-level occupational therapy educators with at least 1 year of teaching experience were recruited and participated in semi structured interviews. Data were analyzed using open and axial coding to identify seven themes: learning environments, teaching approaches, occupational therapy integration, understanding and addressing student trauma experiences, educator well-being and balance, challenges in evaluating the effectiveness of trauma-informed approaches, and professional growth and adaptability. The findings could foster positive social change by giving administrators and universities insights into occupational therapy educators’ experiences, thereby guiding the creation of more supportive curricula and policies for trauma-informed approaches.