Trauma, Attachment, Educators, and Ted Lasso: The Importance of Relationships and Connection

2025

New England College Journal of Applied Educational Research. 2025 5:23-45.

The TV show "Ted Lasso" provided a unique and insightful lens into the importance of developing trust and relationships between teachers and students. This article underscores the importance of developing relationships and attachment in classrooms, particularly with students of trauma and various mental health challenges. I explore specific moments within the show that drew connections between Ted Lasso's personality, coaching style, and attachment style to those that exist within the classroom. Teachers can adopt these strategies to foster safe, supportive, and trauma-informed environments for their students while developing positive connections and trust. This article provides a look into how Ted Lasso builds connections through the employment of core counseling techniques such as empathy, patience, tone, cadence, and consistency to build connections. This article demonstrates that educators can utilize similar techniques to build trust with students who may struggle due to trauma or mental health issues. I examine the importance of developing trust and positive relationships with students that are crucial for social and emotional regulation and academic success. Schools must provide teachers with knowledge, tools, and training to better address the growing and complex emotional needs of students. By integrating core counseling concepts into practice, teachers will be better positioned to meet student needs. This article suggests that, like Ted Lasso, a blend of kindness, insight, and emotional intelligence, can provide teachers with skills to transform their classrooms to foster trust, understanding, and a trauma-informed approach to teaching and building relationships.

Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive

English

Trauma, Trauma Informed Approach, Attachment Behavior, Interpersonal Relationship, Teacher Student Relationship, Teacher Characteristics, Personality Traits, Coaching (Performance), Teaching Styles, Trust (Psychology), Counseling Techniques, Mental Health, Social Emotional Learning, Student Needs, Psychological Needs

2025