Evaluating TIC Trainings

I'm also interested in know this information.

I, too am interested in gauging the effectiveness and quality of TIC trainings and materials.

Hello! I am interested in this topic as well. Where can I learn more about ARTIC and TICOMETER? 

Thanks for bringing this up, Caitlin. It's pretty obvious to those of us who've been steeped in this subject for a while that an organization can't say it's trauma-informed if it's had only a one-day training, although I've heard of some that do so.

Also, doing trauma-informed training without explaining ACEs science (epidemiology of ACEs, i.e., the ACE Study; neurobiology of toxic stress; biomedical and epigenetic consequences of toxic stress; and resilience research), tells only part of the information necessary to make the mental mind shift that so many ACEs science pioneers talk about.

For example, If ACEs science isn't included in trauma-informed classes for parents, it can set them up for failure: If they don't understand that things people often regard as "normal" parts of childhood -- losing a parent to divorce, being verbally abused, living with a family member who's an alcoholic, etc. -- may have affected their ability to have a healthy relationship with their children, the first time they're triggered by their child's behavior (i.e., the parent loses it without thinking about it and doesn't understand why), they are likely to question their ability to adopt healthy parenting skills taught to them.   

All that said, Trauma Transformed in the San Francisco Bay Area, has developed a list of tools for agencies to do self-assessments.

That's one way of getting at how effective trauma-informed training is. Another is to provide a consumer guide to trauma-informed/resilience-building training. We're overhauling our resource center, and will have that guide, along with others by the Fall.

We'll also be adding an assessment tool to the Roadmap soon that addresses becoming trauma-informed in context of being part of a community initiative.       

Thank you so much for the information.  I'd also like to know if there is an assessment tool for acute care hospitals?  It seems like acute care facilities are at a huge disadvantage because of the focus on acute medical complexities. I've presented the information from the ACE study to many nurses and most have been receptive to learning, but unfortunately I haven't seen hospitals with a formal training program. 

There is also this handy assessment for use in schools from the Mass Advocates.  I have used it to help school districts assess where they are so they can develop a plan for where they want to go.

Melissa

Thanks, Melissa! I've posted this in the Videos & Downloads section of the ACEs in Education group as a resource in the Toolkit category.

Poetry for Personal Power has a tool related to resilience up on our website.

Hello,

At The Connect Group, we use self-compassion measures by Kristin Neff and/ or Paul Gilbert because there is an inverse relationship between suffering/traumatic responses and self-other kindness/happiness. 

Dr  Lee-Anne Gray

Please find a brief pre post survey we are using attached.

Thanks, Caitlin,  for your thoughtful question which I understand to be focused on evaluation of training events vs. assessment of an organization.  For a number of years I have been conducting training seminars and workshops for professional caregivers that address secondary trauma and caregiver resiliency.  How do I evaluate if a training workshop or seminar has been successful?  My approach is essentially qualitative and quite straightforward, as  I ask the group to voice or "shout out" at the end of the training event,  "what were the highlights for you?",  "what will you take with you into your life and work day?", "were there any difficulties or problems in the training event--and if so,how could the training be improved?"  I find that using this simple qualitative process provides a sense of closure and validation to the group-- it also gives me a useful perspective on the effectiveness of the training event.  Frequently host organization also provide a page of evaluative questions using a likert-type scale (e.g. relevance or effectiveness of the training, presentation, style, materials and resources, etc.).  By having the brief qualitative discussion first and writing these up on newsprint or an erasible board,  I believe that the quantitative process becomes more focused as well, which seems to be helpful for everyone.  Vic Compher, MSS, LCSW - Trainer and Director / Co-Producer of "Portraits of Professional CAREgivers:  Their Passion. Their Pain."  (www.caregiversfilm.com)

Hi, all.  I, too, evaluate my trainings with verbal plus written methods, but what I am most interested in hearing about is how WE evaluate the next trainings we're interested in taking.  The market is trend-driven, and 'TIC' is everywhere now, so my question is how are we to evaluate great TIC course additions to our 'toolboxes', in addition to how does the public or an institution evaluate which to add for their employees? Thanks for thoughts on this -

Hi All,  Great thread. I am one of the developers of the ARTIC Scale (Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care). You can get more information about the ARTIC at www.traumaticstressinstitute.org. 

While there are many org assessment tools of TIC, there are only 3 meaures of TIC that I know of that are psychometrically valid (have resulted from research and have proven reliability and validity). They are: ARTIC Scale; TICOMETER; Trauma-Informed Practice (TIP) Scales. As you probably know, there is still very little empirical evidence supporting TIC despite the fact it has taken the world by storm. Science is far far behind in part because there are few validated measurement tools. This is beginning to change. I hope this helps.

Steve Brown, Psy.D. Director, Traumatic Stress Institute of Klingberg Family Centers; Coordinator of the Risking Connection Training Program. steveb@klingberg.com

Most of these tools seem well-suited to human service or behavioral health organizations.  Are any better suited to medical practice? 

While the study leading to the ARTIC mostly involved human services and education professionals, we designed it with broader settings in mind. I know of people who are now using the ARTIC in medical settings. It is so new that we don't yet know results. If you email me, I can send you a review copy of the ARTIC. I don't think the TIP would work for you because it was specifically developed for DV settings. The TICOMETER might be helpful. You should take it online and see what you think. There probably are other tools but I know of none that are psychometrically valid. Steve