The Wright Institute School-Based Collaboration (SBC)

The goal of the SBC is to foster academic achievement and healthy development by providing trauma-informed, culturally competent, evidence-based psychological services to youth and their families in public school settings. SBC focuses on small, high-need schools in the Oakland and West Contra Costa Unified School Districts. Clients vary on the spectrum of socioeconomic status, but most fall on the lower end of this spectrum. Clients are predominantly youth of color and all are attending schools in neighborhoods with differing degrees of exposure to community violence. Experiences of discrimination and racism and the residuals of these experiences impact many of our clients.

In addition to providing mental health intervention, SBC aims to promote healthy development, foster resilience in the face of trauma and other stressors, and build a positive classroom and school culture. The SBC's clinical approach in the schools is informed by the recognition that traumatic stress is one of the most important non-academic barriers to learning faced by clients. The Attachment Regulation and Competence (ARC) (Blaustein & Kinniburgh) intervention framework is based on the research of Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, and applies an understanding of traumatic stress to work with individual clients and the entire school. Group interventions focus on prevention by enabling students to build life-enhancing skills, such as forming positive relationships, resolving conflicts, and making positive life decisions.

Wright Institute graduate students provide a range of services, including individual and group work with youth, family consultation, parent/community engagement, and teacher/staff engagement and consultation. SBC also provides teacher psycho-education and support on topics such as: the impact of trauma and vicarious trauma on learning; the need for teacher self-care; and peer consultation regarding classroom behavioral issues.

SBC is providing services at Life Academy, Urban Promise Academy in Oakland, and Greenwood Academy in Richmond.

Fees

The SBC provides its services to clients free of charge and without requiring Medi-Cal eligibility. This allows SBC to serve all children who are in need of services, regardless of their financial situation, immigration status, or other demographic factors.

Clinic Staff

Tracy Smith, Psy.D.
School-Based Collaboration Director
The Wright Institute
1918 University Avenue, Ste. 3D
Berkeley, CA 94704

Contact

tsmith@wi.edu
510-705-8503 x112

Testimonials

"I am very grateful that I was placed in SBC my first year. Through their training, I was able to embark on my journey to become a multiculturally sensitive, compassionate, and thoughtful clinician who is able to work effectively and confidently with diverse populations. I hope to take all my training and experience from SBC and use the skills and newly acquired knowledge to serve underprivileged populations and bring justice to those who do not have a voice."

"I appreciated the opportunity to dive into counseling within a school setting, and especially the chance to practice my skills at working with the children, their parents, and the team of teachers and staff within my clients' educational world. I valued the emphasis that was placed on gaining proficiency in working with families coming from very different backgrounds from my own... I am grateful for the foundational training and experience it afforded me."