Lynch School of Education

Abstracts from Teaching Exceptional Children (TEC)

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TITLE:
Becoming a Therapeutic Teacher for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

VOLUME 38 ISSUE 2

AUTHOR(S):
Brian J. Abrams

DOCUMENT TYPE: Article

Link to Article: Becoming a Therapeutic Teacher for Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

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ABSTRACT:

Teachers who work with students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) know that their job is often challenging. High levels of stress and burnout are common among these teachers. This paper will identify the characteristics of therapeutic teachers, and discuss why they are necessary to be effective in teaching students with EBD. Therapeutic teachers exhibit positive expectations of self and students, and are able to manage the stressors of working with these students.

Areas addressed in this paper are a) why teaching students with EBD is so stressful, b) what are therapeutic teachers, c) how do these teachers create a therapeutic environment for students with EBD, d) how do these teachers manage the stressors of students with EBD, and e) what are the benefits for students with EBD? Becoming a therapeutic teacher is a process. You can not be a therapeutic teacher without continually maintaining positive attitudes towards yourself, your work, and your students.