Resources

A Call to Action

A Trauma-Informed Care ‘Call to Action’ from the President and CEO of the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.

A Call to Arms

Registration Form for Consultation Groups for Risking Connection Trainers

Consultation Groups Info and Registration Form 2011[1]

Destroying Sanctuary New Book by Sandra Bloom and Brian Farragher

 In their new book, Destroying Sanctuary, (Oxford University Press, USA; 2010) Sandra Bloom and Brian Farragher present an insightful and sobering exploration of the current state of service delivery in human services agencies.

They postulate that organizations are living organisms, and are subject to the same trauma symptoms that people exhibit. They examine the stressors on the modern social service organization and demonstrate how trauma symptoms, parallel to those seen in people, manifest in organizations.  These include such things as loss of emotional management, ethical dilemmas, authoritarian hierarchies, a workforce crisis, conflict, overuse of punishment, poor decision making, inability to learn, lack of safety, problems in communication, learned helplessness, and unresolved grief. These  contribute to an unhealthy work environment where little attention is paid to the physical and mental health of the people actually delivering the services. 

Bloom and Farragher give many examples of their thesis. Here is one. 

In the human response to stress, fear often becomes a way of life resulting in a person being in a chronic state of hyperarousal with serious negative consequences for the body and mind.  Similarly, human service systems in chronic crises also function in a hyperaroused state where there is little safety and stress is cumulative.  Employees display impairment in emotion management and cannot learn well when is this state.  Communication, the life blood of every organization, is besieged resulting in miscommunication, one-way communication, conflict, secrecy, narrowing of focus, and control measures which eliminate complex team discussions.

The authors suggest that, for indiviudals and organizations, attachment is the human operating system, the basic underlying process which makes it possible for all the other functions to work (like Windows on a computer). Trauma is a virus, like a computer virus, that attacks the human operating system resulting in impaired individual and group attachment.

The book identifies many processes that are familiar to those working in social services settings. Readers will find themselves thinking, “Aha, so now I understand what is going on! Now I can identify the problem I am experiencing!” While the problems are often daunting, understanding the dynamics of trauma organized systems can help organizations to deal with the pressures more effectively, adapt without becoming cruel, and promote love and care in the system even in the face of great difficulties.  Like individuals, organization can understand that much of the problem is not their fault, but they still must take responsibility for making different choices to create a compassionate setting for staff and clients.

Through the Sanctuary Foundation Bloom and Farragher aim to create a new operating system to restore a sense of sanctuary in human service organizations. They promise to offer more detail about this process in their next book.

For a more complete summary of Bloom and Farragher’s theories, click here. Destroying Sanctuary TSI

Summary of a Trauma Informed Milieu

Presents the elements of a trauma informed treatment program in graphic format

Beyond Point and Level Systems:Moving Toward Child-Centered Programming

Beyond Point and Level Systems: Moving Toward Child-Centered ProgrammingWanda K. Mohr, PhD, APRN, FAAN, University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey

James N. Olson, PhD, University of Texas–Permian Basin

 Andres Martin, MD, Yale University

Andres J. Pumariega, MD, Temple University

 Nicole Branca, MSN, APRN, University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey

 In this article, the authors critique point and level system programming and assert that continuing such programming is antithetical to individualized, culturally, and developmentally appropriate treatment, and the authors explore the resistance and barriers to changing traditional ways of “doing things.” Finally, the authors describe a different approach to providing treatment that is based on a collaborative problem-solving approach and upon which other successful models of treatment have been based.

The Impact of Trauma on Learning and Behavior

The Impact of Trauma on Learning and Behavior

Hubie Jones, Chair, Citizen Commission on Academic Success for Boston Children; Dean

Emeritus, Boston University School of Social Work

John Mudd, Senior Project Director, Boston School Reform Project 

This article describes a trauma-sensitive school environment can benefit all children, not only those who are traumatized but also those impacted by their traumatized classmates.

Innovations in Implementation of Trauma-Informed Care Practices in Youth Residential Treatment

Innovations in Implementation of Trauma-Informed Care Practices in Youth Residential Treatment: A Curriculum for Organizational Change

Victoria LathamHummer University of South Florida

Norín Dollard University of South Florida

John Robst University of South Florida

Mary I. Armstrong University of South Florida

This article reviews the literature on trauma and children in the child welfare system and discusses a study of trauma-informed practices in OOH treatment programs and the curriculum Creating Trauma-Informed Care Environments, which resulted from study findings.

Directions to Hartford Training Location

Directions to our new Hartford Training Location

Trauma and Juvenile Justice

THE JUSTICE POLICY INSTITUTE RELEASES BRIEF THAT EXAMINES RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHILDHOOD TRAUMA AND JUVENILE JUSTICE INVOLVEMENT

The Justice Policy Institute has released “Healing Invisible Wounds: Why Investing in Trauma-Informed Care for Children Makes Sense.”

The brief examines the relationship between childhood trauma and involvement in the juvenile justice system. According to the brief, while research shows that up to 34 percent of children in the United States have experienced at least one traumatic event, between 75 and 93 percent of youth entering the juvenile justice system annually are estimated to have experienced some degree of trauma.

Resources:

“Healing Invisible Wounds: Why Investing in Trauma-Informed Care for Children Makes Sense” is available online at www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/10-07_REP_HealingInvisibleWounds_JJ-PS.pdf.

For further information about the brief, see the Justice Policy Institute’s press release at www.justicepolicy.org/content-hmID=1811&smID=1581&ssmID=102.htm#press

Closing Rituals for Risking Connection© Training

Five options for closing ceremonies to be used at the end of Risking Connection© training.