ISMHI Whole Child Summit

In this presentation, we will explore how our nervous systems are impacted by adversity, trauma, and experiences of resiliency through deepened connections and sensory regulation. Behaviors are only signals or indicators that the brain and body are struggling in survival states of functioning. In our time together, we will explore how we get out in front of the behavior through our procedures, routines, and transitions. We will also explore the differences between co-regulation and coercive regulation which is the foundation of discipline practices that move us through challenging moments while attending to our emotional, social, and physiological health.

You can also hear Dr. Lori discuss Educator Nervous System States Through the Lens of Applied Educational Neuroscience during one of our morning breakout sessions.

Dr. Lori Desautels has been an Assistant Professor at Butler University since 2016 where she teaches both undergraduate and graduate programs in the College of Education. She was also an Assistant Professor at Marian University in Indianapolis for 8 years where she founded the Educational Neuroscience Symposium. Currently, the Symposium is in its 10th year, and now sponsored by Butler University College of Education. Through these conferences and symposiums, educators, parents, and the community learn deeply about how adversity, trauma and resiliency impact the developing nervous system, helping our students to feel a sense of autonomy and purpose along with social, emotional, and cognitive well-being. Because of her work, Dr. Desautels has been able to attract the foremost experts in the fields of developmental, relational and the social neurosciences which significantly grow the conference each year.

Dr. Desautels has created a nine-hour graduate certification at Butler University in Applied Educational Neuroscience / Brain and Trauma. This certification has grown from six graduates in its pilot year in 2016, to over 400 graduate students in its now 7th cohort. The certification is open to students around the world as it has transformed into a virtual platform and format. The Applied Educational Neuroscience Certificate, created by Dr. Desautels in 2016, is specifically designed to meet the needs of educators, counselors, and administrators who work beside children and adolescents who have, and are, experiencing adversity and trauma.

Dr. Desautels’ passion is engaging her students through the application of neuroscience as it applies to attachment, regulation, educator brain state, and teaching students and staff about their neuroanatomy thus integrating Mind Brain Teaching, learning principles and strategies into her coursework at Butler. Dr. Desautels has conducted brain institutes and workshops throughout the United States, Canada, Costa Rica and Dubai on Mind Brain Teaching and Learning. She has created webinars for educators, clinicians, and administrators illustrating how educators and students alike must understand their neuroanatomy to regulate behavior and calm the brain.

Dr. Desautels was a co-author of the Social and Emotional competencies for the state of Indiana published in January 2018. She has also authored a series of articles for “Inside the School,” an online publication providing strategies to administrators and educators alike. Her articles are published in Edutopia, Brain Bulletin, and Mind Body Spirit international magazine. She also was published in the Brain Research Journal for her work in the fifth-grade classrooms during a course release partnering with the Washington Township Schools in Indiana. Dr. Desautels continues her work in the Pre-K – 12 classrooms and is currently co-teaching in the 7th grade at Belzer Middle School. She has met with hundreds of school districts across the country, equating to more than 100,000 educators with much more work to be done!

Dr. Desautels taught emotionally troubled students in the upper elementary grades, worked as a school counselor in Indianapolis, was a private practice counselor and was co-owner of the Indianapolis Counseling Center. Dr. Desautels was also a behavioral consultant for Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis on the adolescent psychiatric unit where she learned that emotional and mental illness can be so challenging for youth, but the brain can repair and heal and resilience rests at the core of human nature and our well-being.

You can find Dr. Desautels’ work, presentation videos, and latest research on this website www.revelationsineducation.com. Her first book, “How May I Serve You, Revelations in Education” was published in March of 2012. Her second book, co-authored with educator Mr. Michael McKnight, entitled “Unwritten, The Story of a Living System” had been shared and used as a foundation to create curriculum across the country. Her third book, “Eyes Are Never Quiet” was published in January of 2018 and a new book, “Rewiring Our Perception of Discipline” was published in Late 2020. Her new book, “Intentional Neuroplasticity: Moving Our Nervous Systems and Educational System Toward Post-Traumatic Growth” was released in 2023.

Dr. Desautels graduated with a BS in Special Education from Butler University, an MS in counseling education from Indiana University and earned her Ph.D. in philosophy with an emphasis in early adolescence/ thought formation from Indiana University and American Institute of Holistic Theology. Dr. Desautels resides in Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband, Michael. She has three grown children, Andrew, Sarah and Regan and four rescue fur babies.