CHAPTER 6: MINDFULNESS ON THE CUSHION • 125How does this look in practice? I will illustrate using the case of Jennifer, a student in the
ninth grade. I share it because it is a good illustration of how, for some students, mindfulness can
be a self-care practice that helps them replace dysfunctional and self-destructive approaches to
their stress, trauma, and emotions. It is also timely as schools move toward trauma-informed
practice in the classroom (Ahlers et al., 2016; Olson, 2014; Rechtschaffen, 2014).
Jennifer is currently 15 years old. Jennifer’s experiences can be described as complex
trauma (Ahlers et al., 2016). Her parents divorced when she was 3 years old. Jennifer readily
explains to anyone who asks that her parents never should have been together. Her mom
has not secured a long-term relationship since her divorce from Jennifer’s father 9 years
ago. Jennifer lives in an impoverished, underserved community. The neighborhood aver-
ages one fatal shooting every 6 weeks. One of her mother’s previous boyfriends sexually
abused Jennifer from age six to age eight. Jennifer was afraid to tell her mom what was hap-
pening because the boyfriend had told her it was her fault. He also told her that, if her mom
found out, she would be mad at Jennifer for trying to steal him and would kick her out of
the house. Jennifer told a school counselor who informed her mom. The situation was inves-
tigated. Jennifer went to live with her grandmother until the boyfriend was removed from
the house. There was a trial and Jennifer testified. Her mom did not show for court. With all
the stress, Jennifer’s mom was diagnosed with depression and began drinking heavily in a
misdirected effort to cope. When Jennifer was 11, she was removed from her mother’s care.
Although Jennifer doesn’t tell many people, her mom still drinks every day.
At her grandmother’s, Jennifer lives with 2 cousins, an 11-month-old and a 3-year-old.
Jennifer’s life can feel very chaotic. When she was going through the trial, she experimented
with cutting her arm. She had heard about it at school and thought that it was what kids
did who were from families like hers. She heard it helped them cope. She never thought it
would become a problem (Cook-Cottone, 2015). Now at 14, she thinks about cutting herself
all the time. If her grandmother and uncle start fighting, her mom gets drunk and texts her
all night, or things get chaotic with the kids, Jennifer sneaks off to her room and takes a pair
of scissors to her forearm. In summer, when her arms show, she takes the scissors to her
thighs, so that her shorts will conceal the cuts. Jennifer says that she feels like she has no
other options. She explains that cutting feels like something she can control when the rest of
her life feels very out of control.
For students who struggle like Jennifer, emotional experiences, even mildly uncom-
fortable situations, feel very distressing and intolerable (Cook-Cottone, 2015; Wupperman,
Fickling, Klemanski, Berking, & Whitman, 2013). Without other tools, students may rely on
self-destructive behaviors to cope (Cook-Cottone, 2015). By relying on self-destructive behav-
iors, they are looking for self-regulation and calm in the wrong place. Epstein (2001) tells an
old story of a seeker looking in the wrong places. The story told here was inspired by his story.
INSTRUCTIONAL STORy 6.3: SEEkING IN THE WRONG PLACES
A long, long time ago, a group of raccoons was walking after dinner. Raccoons like to be up at night.
It was a dark night, and they kept to the lighted path to find their way. Ahead of them on the walkway,
they noticed another raccoon, Rocky, digging in the ground underneath a lamppost. Rocky was digging
and sniffing, his face close to the walkway. He continued to dig and sniff as his friends approached.
(continued )