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Risking Connection™(RC) is a foundational trauma training curriculum and training program for professionals who work with trauma survivors. Rooted in relational and attachment theory, it provides a mechanism for individuals and organizations to implement trauma-informed care in their practice.
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The Restorative Approach® (RA) is a trauma-informed alternative to traditional "point and level" systems for child congregate care settings. Based on the principles of restorative justice, it translates what we know about trauma and how children heal into specific treatment strategies.
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Upcoming Events
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May 22nd Webinar for RC Trainers -- The Impact of Trauma on Neurodevelopment
DATE: May 22TIME: 3:00 pm
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Risking Connection Train-the-Trainer -- July 18-20, 2012
DATE: Jul 18TIME: 12:00 am
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May 22nd Webinar for RC Trainers -- The Impact of Trauma on Neurodevelopment
Building healing relationships with children and families by promoting excellence in trauma-informed treatment.
The Traumatic Stress Institute is a division of Klingberg Family Centers
Clinical Implications of Neuroscience
Clinical Implications of Neuroscience
Research in PTSD
BESSEL A. VAN DER KOLK
Boston University School of Medicine, The Trauma Center, 1269 Beacon Street,
Brookline, Massachusetts, USA Q1
ABSTRACT: The research showing how exposure to extreme stress affects brain function is making important contributions to understanding the nature of traumatic stress. This includes the notion that traumatized individuals are vulnerable to react to sensory information with subcortically initiated responses that are irrelevant, and often harmful, in the present. Reminders of traumatic experiences activate brain regions that support intense emotions, and decrease activation in the central nervous system (CNS) regions involved in (a) the integration of sensory input with motor output, (b) the modulation of physiological arousal, and (c) the capacity to communicate experience in words. Failures of attention and memory in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) interfere with the capacity to engage in the present: traumatized individuals “lose their way in the world.” This article discusses the implications of this research by suggesting that effective treatment needs to involve (1) learning to tolerate feelings and sensations by increasing the capacity for interoception, (2) learning to modulate arousal, and (3) learning that after confrontation with physical helplessness it is essential to engage in taking effective action.