Training Content: The training primarily covers the skills needed to effectively teach the 3-Day Basic RC training. At the training, there will be some time spent on reviewing RC concepts. However, the majority of time will be spent learning to teach RC. Trainers will be expected to practice teach to their peers and the Faculty Trainers in a supportive learning environment. Particular focus is placed on helping participants learn to exemplify in their work as a trainer the relational concept of RICH (Respect, Information, Connection, and Hope) so central to the RC approach. Participants will learn and practice a variety of teaching techniques including didactic lecture, small group activities, large group discussions, and role plays. Because the material in RC challenges the treatment approaches used in many mental health and school settings, the training addresses how to teach and model a paradigm shift as well as how to field challenging questions and comments. Preparation for Train-the-Trainer: Before attending the training, participants are expected to have a working knowledge of the basic concepts in RC. Participants will need to pass a knowledge test in order to gain entrance to the Train-the-Trainer. The content for the test will be drawn from Risking Connection: A Training Curriculum for Working With Survivors of Childhood Abuse and the powerpoint slides that were used in the 3-Day Basic RC training. Advance preparation IS necessary for people to pass the test. Participants will have two chances to pass the test. We will send detailed instructions for taking the test when we receive your registration. All RC Associate Trainers must have a copy of the Risking Connection curriculum (blue book). To order, go to www.sidran.org or contact Marci Marciniec at marcim@klingberg.com.

Resource Materials:  For the Train-the-Trainer training, each RC Associate trainer must purchase the following materials which will be passed out at the Train-the-Trainer: 1) Relational Teaching, Experiential Learning: The Teaching Manual for the Risking Connection Curriculum (Saakvitne, 2001); 2) The Supplement to Relational Teaching, Experiential Learning for Child Serving Agencies; 3) CD with Master Outline, Power Point slides, handouts, and other materials. These resource materials are built into the training fee.

Click for full brochure:  Freestanding TTT Brochure 7-12

Presenter: Patricia Wilcox, LCSW. Creator of the Restorative Approach and author of Trauma Informed Care: The Restorative Approach (NEARI Press) due out in June 2012.

 Restorative Approach Brochure 4-2012[1]

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The release of RC for Foster Parents comes at an opportune time. Across the nation, states are relying less on residential treatment to treat their most stressed children and youth. Instead, they hope to develop foster families for these youth. The key to the children being able to heal is offering the foster families enough support that they can keep the child in their home and limit disruptions. This curriculum would also be appropriate for teaching biological or kinship parents.

Read for more details. RC Foster Care for newsletter final

When we first met Juan, he was living in and thriving at NAFI Connecticut’s Dover Road therapeutic group home.  NAFI had fully embraced the Risking Connections model, and Dover Road and Juan were living proof.  Through their hard work, Jose had made friends, had healthy relationships with staff, was engaged in school, and was working on his relationships with his family. For probably the first time in his life, he belonged. 

But systems are systems.  Despite all of his progress and his potential, Juan was forced to move – he was too old for Dover Road.  He was moving to our group home — Connecticut Junior Republic’s Winchester House.  

Juan was now facing an important life lesson, several in fact – things change, life is filled with hellos and goodbyes, and relationships evolve whether we want them to or not.  And Juan did not want these changes or life lessons.

 How could we help Juan with this transition – honoring all that was accomplished at Dover Road and look toward the future? 

Truly Trauma Informed Transition

Exciting news! TSI announces the completion of the Risking Connection© (RC) Training Curriculum for Foster Parents. This curriculum is consistent with Sidran and TSI’s philosophy of adapting the original RC model for various professional populations. Following publication of the original RC for professionals working with adult trauma survivors, RC has been adapted for use with child-serving providers, faith leaders, domestic violence professionals, and primary care physicians.  

The release of RC for Foster Parents comes at an opportune time. Across the nation, states are relying less on residential treatment to treat their most stressed children and youth. Instead, they hope to develop foster families for these youth. The key to the children being able to heal is offering the foster families enough support that they can keep the child in their home and limit disruptions. This curriculum would also be appropriate for teaching biological or kinship parents.

One important element in that support is training. Understanding trauma, how it affects children, and how they can heal helps the family define problem behavior differently. They learn to see that the behavior is not about them, but instead an understandable adaptation to the child’s traumatic experiences.

For example, Chelise always had trouble at bedtime. She would not turn out her light, kept getting up, and often had her music on long after her foster mother Barbara told her to turn it off. Barbara viewed this as defiance; I am the adult, Chelise should respect me and do as I say. The more Barbara tried to show Chelise “who was boss” about this and other behaviors, the more Chelise resisted. Eventually, the foster placement disrupted. But when Chelise was placed with Lynn, Lynn immediately understood that if she tried to exert control over Chelise, Chelise would likely withdraw in fear and anger. When Chelise had trouble at bedtime, Lynn realized she was scared at night. She knew that Chelise’s biological mother would often leave Chelise at home at night when she left to buy drugs. Lynn established a nighttime ritual, provided a night light, encouraged her to listen to soft music, and stayed by her door until she fell asleep. This was the beginning of a long relationship.

If foster families are to care for children who have experienced trauma, both they and their support team need to pay attention to the vicarious traumatization (VT) they will inevitably experience. Foster care has unique features that contribute to VT. The child is in the family home and the family has no place to escape. Biological children and extended family may be affected by the child’s behavior and may not understand the parents’ actions. The parent is often handling crisis alone and without much back up. Therefore it is crucial that the family and their helpers learn about what VT is, how to recognize it, strategies for managing it, and ways to transform it. The Risking Connection curriculum covers these topics and gives the foster parents tools and techniques to manage this part of their jobs. One foster mother in a Risking Connection class said: “I have been a foster mother for sixteen years and this is first time anyone has asked me how the job affects me!”

Risking Connections for Foster Parents contains six two and a half hour sessions. These sessions can be taught once a week for six weeks or combined in other ways, such as on two Saturdays. The sessions cover the following topics:

Session 1: The Trauma Framework and Introduction to Vicarious Traumatization

Session 2: Symptoms are Adaptations

Session 3: Healing Through Relationships

Session 4: Managing a Crisis

Session 5: Responding When the Child Hurts Others

Session 6: Taking Care of Ourselves While Doing This Difficult Work

The sessions include engaging and participatory learning modalities such as video, application exercise, small group activities, and discussion, Every effort has been made to make the material accessible to parents such as using the word “child” instead of “client” and  to using real world examples from home situations.

If your agency is interested in the RC for Foster Parents training and you do NOT currently use RC at your agency, contact Steve Brown at steveb@klingberg.com.  If an agency already uses RC and current RC Associate Trainers want to train RC for Foster Care in their agency, the trainer will be expected to attend a short training that introduces them to the new materials. We will offer this training in person for RC trainers in the northeast and via webinar for trainers across the US and Canada. We hope to have some foster parents become  trainers of this curriculum, so agencies can establish training teams of a clinician and a foster parent.

Please join us in celebrating this exciting new expansion of our mission to change the treatment of children, teens, and adults who have experienced trauma.     

The Impact of Trauma on Neurodevelopment: What You Need to Know to Help Survivor Clients

Pat Wilcox, LCSW — Vice President, Klingberg Family Centers; RC Faculty 

Steve Brown, Psy.D. – Director, Traumatic Stress Institute of Klingberg; Coordinator, RC Training Program; RC Faculty

 Distance Learning Webinars — Brochure and Reg 2012(3)

Breaking the Cycle: Working with Trauma Survivor Parents

Pat Wilcox, LCSW; Vice-President, Klingberg Family Centers; RC Faculty member

Distance Learning Webinars — Brochure and Reg 2012(3)