For nearly 25 years, Risking Connection has been at the forefront of the trauma-informed care movement. Over the past decades, the Risking Connection foundational trauma training has evolved into the Risking Connection Change Model , a multi-stage intervention that supports trauma-informed, organizational culture change. Now the Traumatic Stress Institute (TSI) is pleased to introduce its newest update to the Risking Connection Change Model, which acknowledges and affirms that racism and...

Exciting News! Authors Anita B. Rankin, MA, ATR, CPT, and Mary Michola Fibich, MA, ATR , introduce their newest book, published by the Traumatic Stress Institute /Sidran Press: Transform Stress, Crisis & Trauma through Creativity: An Art Therapy and Writing Workbook to Activate Wellness Strategies . Our new blog post, written by the authors themselves, introduces you to their creation: We developed and refined this workbook over seven years during which political upheaval and division,...

Join us on December 5, 2024 from 2-3 p.m. For nearly 25 years, Risking Connection has been at the forefront of the trauma-informed care movement. Over the past decade, the Risking Connection foundational trauma training has evolved into the Risking Connection Change Model , a multi-stage intervention that supports trauma-informed, organizational culture change. In recent years, our hearts and minds have grown to embrace a more socially just view of the world. Now, we are pleased to announce...

Ariel Clinical Services , a Colorado agency that provides services across the state, participated in the Traumatic Stress Institute's IDD-centered Learning Collaborative (LC) in 2021 with three other client agencies. Ariel saw this LC as an opportunity to cement, deepen, and embed previous TIC efforts into the very fabric of their organization. Jesse Padilla-Goryl, the BCBA Program Manager for Ariel, was an essential leader of Ariel’s TIC change effort and has written a blog post about his...

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. This was no small thing. It was the back-end of the pandemic, all still had many open positions, the needs of people they supported post-COVID were vast – AND they were considering joining an 18-month initiative aimed...

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). While...

This year SAMHSA released a Practical Guide for Implementing a Trauma-Informed Approach, which cites the Traumatic Stress Institute’s Whole-Systems Change Model to TIC as one of several frameworks used to develop their guide. It focuses specifically on tools and strategies for implementing a trauma-informed approach.

Program evaluation using an empirically-validated instrument like the Traumatic Stress Institute’s Online ARTIC (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.

Early Head Start/Head Start American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act grant recipients are facing challenges regarding how to spend down ARP funding by March 31, 2023. While initial funds were a critical lifeline to child care programs during the worst of the pandemic, there's still plenty that can be done to create stability in programs for the long-term; grant recipients know the importance of building workplace environments that are safe, equitable, trustworthy, and that support healing. At the...

Elaine Liberato Jenkins, M.S. , Program Coordinator for the Traumatic Stress Institute (TSI) , reflected that her experience with the Office of Head Start programs began in 2015 as an Early Childhood Mental Health consultant. She learned in that role just how vital it is for Early Childhood programs to provide quality early childhood services that promote school readiness, encourage family and community engagement, and – most importantly – build resilience in families, children, and staff.

Under the direction of the Associate Director of TSI, these two full-time positions entail providing virtual and in-person training, consultation, and coaching related to trauma-informed care (TIC). The largest portion of responsibilities involves managing a portfolio of client agencies in a variety of sectors implementing TSI’s Whole-System Change Model to Trauma-Informed Care, which includes Risking Connection training. One position will be cross-sector and one will have primary...

As part of its initiative to help organizations and systems supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) move toward trauma-informed care (TIC), the Traumatic Stress Institute (TSI) recently held two webinar sessions. Entitled "Is Your IDD Organization or System Ready Yet for Trauma-Informed Care?" the webinars reviewed the benefits of TIC, discussed the progress of its 2021 pilot learning collaborative, and provided a framework for readiness assessment. Over 350...

Dr. Karyn Harvey , noted expert on trauma with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) argues, “Trauma in people with IDD is the elephant in the room.” The statistics are harrowing: People with IDD are 2.5 times more likely to be victims of violent crime compared to people who are not disabled (Harrell, 2017) 31% of children with IDD suffer child abuse compared to 9% of non-disabled children (Sullivan & Knudson, 2000) 14% of direct care staff admitted to acts of...

Dr. Karyn Harvey , noted expert on trauma with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) argues, “Trauma in people with IDD is the elephant in the room.” The statistics are harrowing: People with IDD are 2.5 times more likely to be victims of violent crime compared to people who are not disabled (Harrell, 2017) 31% of children with IDD suffer child abuse compared to 9% of non-disabled children (Sullivan & Knudson, 2000) 14% of direct care staff admitted to acts of...

In 2015 the Traumatic Stress Institute (TSI), in partnership with Dr. Courtney Baker of Tulane University, noticed a research-to-practice gap in the trauma-informed care (TIC) field. In short, TIC interventions of all sorts were trending, while at the same time there was limited empirical evidence to quantify the impact of TIC. This is what inspired the development of the ARTIC (Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care) Scale , a measurement tool that assess staff attitudes towards...