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Childhood experiences, whether positive or negative, have the potential to impact a person’s entire life course. As circus educators, we may come into contact with children or adults who may have experienced or may be struggling with traumatic or stressful events. These traumatic and stressful experiences often leave their mark in the form of challenging behavior or socio-emotional difficulties. In some cases, these adverse childhood experiences can even results in significant physical health problems in adulthood. How can we use what we know about trauma/stress and child/human development to create sensitive and responsive circus education programs to promote resilience in our trainees and overall community-at -large? In this workshop, Dr. Lau will present a lecture reviewing what we know from the literature about adverse childhood experiences, the neurobiology of stress, and the impact of toxic stress on child development. She will discuss how all these can ultimately influence behavior, socio-emotional development, and physical health. She will also present and facilitate discussions with participants on practical ways of incorporating this knowledge and ways of building a trauma-informed training program. Activities in this workshop will primarily involve: active listening during the presentation, participating in small group discussions with other participants, and potential experiential activities related to stressful events and ways of managing stress. This workshop is designed for teachers, managers, administrators of circus education programs, and/or anyone interested in understanding the multiple ways in which trauma and toxic stress affect individuals and anyone wanting to respond more sensitively and holistically to challenging behavioral or socio-emotional difficulties that may manifest in the classroom. Dr. Lau is a licensed clinical psychologist practicing in Southern California and specializing in infant and childhood mental health, family systems, stress/resilience, and trauma.