Hi, I’m Toni Bankston.
I am a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana where I was formally trained as a Clinical Social Worker with an interest and specialization in children and families impacted by trauma. Most recently, my work over the last decade has centered on children and their caregivers, who have been victims of violent crime. As both a direct service provider then an administrator, I’ve developed expertise in how multiple systems can effectively work together to develop trauma-informed systems of care for children. In this arena, I have qualified as an expert witness in criminal and family courts to assist court officers and jurors in understanding the complex dynamics underlying victimization of children.
During my career of 35 years, I’ve accumulated various experience working community traumatic incidents and disasters, including the Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Horizon Oil Spill Disasters in Louisiana. In my service as a Faculty and Global Trauma Relief Team with the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, I’ve had the privilege of working in communities and indigenous populations impacted by collective and historical trauma. Some of these communities include the Broward County School District in the Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, the people of Haiti after the earthquakes, the people of Israel and Gaza, and Puerto Rico as they addressed violence and natural disasters respectively. I also worked with the communities in Western Maryland (opioid crisis) and California (wildfires) as they addressed devastating loss and grief. And, now, this work has made it to my own community in Baton Rouge Louisiana where over 150 participants in our initial cohort are learning the science of mindbody medicine and resiliency across many different professions and service populations.
No matter where my path has taken me, my philosophy and approach has been to show up with humility, working with people where they are and with whatever readiness they present. This often means experiencing vulnerability, recognizing my humanity, and, most of all, remaining respectful.
This is my greatest joy is to learn from people while also helping them get where they want to be in their life journey. To be able to plant seeds and watch them grow – sometimes slowly over the course of years – and feel the reward of having been some small part of a person or a community’s capacity for healing.
I’m a wife and mother, avid gardener, dancer, and kitchen cook. Finding balance is one of my biggest challenges. And, I rely on a wonderful community of support to maintain that.
Let me know if I can work with you on whatever dreams or goals you have. It would be an honor to be considered to help you.