TBRI® is an attachment-based, trauma-informed intervention designed to meet the complex needs of vulnerable children. It was developed by the late Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross at Texas Christian University and is based on years of attachment, sensory processing, and neuroscience research. TBRI® is listed on the California Clearinghouse for Evidence Based practices.
TBRI® is designed for children from “hard places”. These “hard places” may have included neglect or abuse, in utero or birth-related trauma, early hospitalization, exposure to domestic or community violence, and/or other relational trauma. Because of their histories, children from hard places have changes in their bodies, brains, biology, behaviors, and belief systems. They may find it difficult to trust the loving adults in their lives, which often results in perplexing behaviors. While a variety of parenting strategies may be successful in typical circumstances, children from traumatic backgrounds need care-giving that meets their unique needs and addresses the whole child.
TBRI® offers practical tools for parents, caregivers, teachers, or anyone who works with children, to see the “whole child” in their care and help that child reach his or her highest potential. TBRI® uses Empowering Principles to address physical needs, Connecting Principles for attachment needs, and Correcting Principles to disarm fear-based behaviors. It is used in homes, residential treatment facilities, group homes, schools, court rooms, camps, medical practices, international orphanages, etc. TBRI® is taught and utilized across 45 states and 14 countries.
The TGCC is an effort to train professional care providers, parents, and community members who interact with children in the TBRI® model and to assist organizations involved in child welfare in the implementation of trauma-informed best practices. The resulting network of trauma-informed partner agencies and individuals will dramatically increase the quality of life and prospects of our children who have experienced trauma.
The TGCC effort is grounded in an evidence-based intervention (i.e. TBRI®) and informed by collective impact, whereby all community sectors in contact with children are targeted. Although writing trauma-informed policies are valuable, they are only helpful when coupled with and carried out through action. Furthermore, they are most effective when consistently reinforced throughout the child welfare system. State-wide, cross-sector, trauma-informed care is the culture we desire and TBRI® provides the research, information and action steps needed to get there, as it addresses all major issues linked with complex developmental trauma in a holistic manner and is applicable across diverse cultures and continents. It is not a clinical model, but a care-giving model, so any nurturing caregiver can be trained. This makes TBRI cost-effective, as caregivers are equipped with tangible strategies and tools that provide healing from the impacts of trauma.
