15-Minute Focus: Relationships and Belonging: Why Students Struggle in Isolation But Thrive in Connection

Creating a Culture of Belonging in Schools with Strategies for Connection, Student Support, and Schoolwide Impact

Do you know a student who is surrounded by people every moment of the day, yet feels completely alone?

In 15-Minute Focus: Relationships and Belonging, Amy Baltimore gives educators, counselors, and school leaders the neuroscience, practical strategies, and real-world tools to recognize student isolation, build genuine connection, and create school cultures where every student feels safe, seen, and supported.

When a student is struggling to connect, withdrawing from peers, or moving through the school day emotionally invisible, it is rarely a choice. Isolated students are often the quietest ones in the room: compliant, high-achieving, and easy to overlook. Most adults want to help but aren't sure what to look for or where to start. This book reframes disconnection not as a personality trait but as a neurological state, one that is identifiable, addressable, and preventable when adults know what to do.

You'll discover:

• How the brain treats belonging as safety and disconnection as danger
• The hidden masks of student isolation and how to recognize them
• Practical tools for building schoolwide belonging at every tier
• The SAFE Framework for weaving connection into daily interactions
• How to repair rupture, restore dignity, and rebuild trust after conflict
• Actionable strategies, resources, and more!

15-Minute Focus: Relationships and Belonging will ask you to look again at the students in your care, not only at what they are doing, but at what their nervous systems may be experiencing. When belonging becomes the system, not the exception, everything changes.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: National Center for Youth Issues
Published: 06/11/2026
ISBN: 9781965066393
Pages: 144
Weight: 0.52lbs
Size: 8.54h x 5.55w x 0.31d