We received our award at the WISE Summit 2021

Esra Özsüer, our Founder & President, received the WISE award on December 8 at the WISE Summit 2021 in Doha, the capital of Qatar, which we won with our Trauma-Informed Schools Program.

We received the WISE Award 2021, which supports successful and innovative projects with our Trauma-Informed Schools Program that has reached more than 12,000 students in Istanbul and Şanlıurfa since 2016.

Esra Özsüer, our Founder & President, pointed out in her speech accepting the award at the WISE Summit in Doha, the capital of Qatar, that children experience profound psychological trauma from natural disasters, loss of family, migration, bullying, and more in these words:

“The 7- to 8-year-olds I met were too shocked to speak. We needed to give these children their voices back. Through Trauma-Informed Schools Program, we supported education and helped communities in their recovery. We empowered our educators, children, and youth through the knowledge of trauma- sensitive approaches and awareness about mental health care. We have shared a collective trauma due to the pandemic. We are aware that sharing our problems creates empathy within society and helps to guide us in recovery. When we give them their voices back, they no longer can be seen as a lost generation.” She concluded her acceptance speech as “heal trauma, educate and transform the world”.

Not seeing and not hearing a child is also trauma

Our Clinical Programs Coordinator, Gizem Konuş, shared the following assessments about our program in the panels she participated in as a speaker during the WISE Summit: “When it comes to trauma, we usually think of very major life events such as violence, harassment, loss, but it is not always the case. Not seeing and not hearing a child is also trauma. We are here to heal each other. We can heal with the interaction in community. Trauma –informed approach is a shift, and it is a healing process that brings people into the society. As a society, we should focus on reading and seeing each other’s stories correctly rather than focusing on what we lack in negative life experiences. It is essential that educators, healthcare professionals and therapists are knowledgeable about trauma and trauma-informed approach. We need to empower ‘’Trauma Informed Approach’’ in different disciplines in many institutions of the society, as well as in the school field.’’

Millions of children experience trauma every year

All over the world, children are exposed to psychological trauma for various reasons such as natural disasters, epidemics, migration, loss of family and violence. These traumas affect children’s behavior and education. If not addressed, the psychological trauma children experience is a major obstacle to learning and negatively impacts the school environment for every child.

Through our Educational Programs, we focus on eliminating the negative impact of trauma on learning and developing a trauma-sensitive approach in the school environment. Our Trauma-Informed Schools Program, which is the recipient of the 2021 WISE Award, one of the world’s most prestigious awards in education, has been implemented in Istanbul and Şanlıurfa since 2016 with the protocol of the Ministry of National Education. Since 2016, 12,649 children, 2,740 teachers, and 706 caregivers have benefited from our program.

WISE Award Ceremony Acceptance Speech by our Founder & President Esra Özsüer

Trauma-Informed Schools Program Promotion Film