Traumatic experiences during pregnancy and birth can have lasting effects on maternal and infant wellbeing, impacting everything from breastfeeding, bonding and attachment to maternal mental health. While the body of research on the consequences of birth trauma is vast and still growing, literature regarding vicarious trauma in healthcare providers who witness birth trauma is limited.
This year marks a new era in the history of the Risking Connection (RC) training model. The Traumatic Stress Institute (TSI) completed the most comprehensive revision of the training model since its inception in 2000. The revisions over the course of RC’s 24-year history have aspired to remain faithful to the principles of the original curriculum while reflecting advancements in the always-evolving trauma field, as well as ensuring the training is relevant to a wide variety of sectors serving trauma survivors.
LaVerne Baker Hotep is a Program Coordinator with the Traumatic Stress Institute (TSI). She was part of the team that just spent the last year revising our Risking Connection curriculum, which now incorporates racial trauma and healing work. LaVerne sent the content below as an email to her TSI coworkers in honor of Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S.
She consented to sharing it with our wider community as a moment for reflection. A note: In her piece she refers to working on Juneteenth. It is a paid vacation day at our agency, Klingberg Family Centers, but LaVerne is running an RC Train-the-Trainer for a newer client agency this week; she will take her rest another day.
To everything there is a season. I know that intellectually. But I get anxious sometimes.
Phew, this is a hard one for me: It is with profound appreciation, sadness, and good wishes that we announce the retirement of Mary Jo Harwood, LSW, DNCCM from the Traumatic Stress Institute (TSI). Her last day will be June 10th.
A safety-related blog post to promote awareness: Fidget toys made with water beads have become popular, but they pose significant dangers. We are spreading the word amongst our Risking Connection® organizations participating in the Traumatic Stress Institute Whole System Change Model with the hope they can share and help protect their staff, the clients and families they serve, as well as their wider communities.
My name is Jesse Padilla-Goryl. I am a BCBA (Board Certified Behavioral Analyst) working in adult services in rural, Western Colorado with Ariel Clinical Services, an agency that provides therapeutic foster care to youth, and residential, vocational, and therapeutic services to adults with IDD.
In December 2022, three Connecticut-based Arc organizations embarked on a journey together to implement trauma-informed care (TIC) – not just with clinicians, not just a one-time training – but each as a whole organization aspiring to embed TIC into the fabric of their culture.
It is widely accepted that the roots of trauma-informed care (TIC) as a concept and as a movement grew in the soil conceived and nurtured by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a bureau of the US federal government. In the years since the Dare to Vision conference in 1994, SAMHSA has produced three seminal publications that have defined, outlined, and tracked the evolution of the theory and practice of a trauma-informed approach (TIA).
In my new role as a Program Coordinator with the Traumatic Stress Institute of Klingberg Family Centers, I facilitated a workshop entitled A Treater’s Approach to Building Healthy Attachment with Trauma Survivors that focused on how our attachment styles influence treaters when working with trauma survivors.
Program evaluation using an empirically-validated instrument like the Traumatic Stress Institute’s Online ARTIC Scale (ARTIC stands for Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care) gives you insight into whether the training modality you choose is effective for your staff/agency. “Trauma-informed care” has become a commonly-used term in healthcare settings as research further supports the impact that past trauma has on an individual’s ability to cope with stress (Gokhale et al., 2020).