Nicole Hunsaker, LCSW: TBRI- A Trauma-Informed Approach to Parenting and Caregiving
Nicole Hunsaker, LCSW
Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) is a type of therapy that was designed for “children who come from hard places.” This may include various types of childhood trauma, foster care, adoption, etc. TBRI is also an excellent intervention for any caregiver who wants to strengthen their attachment and connection with their child and/or learn more effective discipline strategies.
TBRI involves both the child and caregiver learning skills in three basic areas: connection, correction, and empowerment. The following is a brief summary of what is involved with each of these areas:
Connecting: Helping children build trust and meaningful relationships. Includes:
Engagement strategies, connect with kids nonverbally.
Mindfulness strategies, where caregivers are aware of what they bring to interactions with children, such as being aware of their own relationship histories.
Empowering: Help children learn important skills like self-regulation.
Physiological strategies, focus on the internal physical needs, like hydration, sensory needs, etc.
Ecological strategies, focus on child's external environment and guide kid toward self-regulation skills. Includes things like transitions, scaffolding, and daily rituals.
Correcting: Help kids learn behavioral and social competence so they better navigate the world.
Proactive strategies, designed to teach social skills to children during calm times.
Responsive strategies, provide caregivers with tools for responding to challenging behavior from children.
Connection is the foundation of TBRI, and a common saying in TBRI is “connection before correction.” This means that to effectively redirect or discipline a child (especially a child who has experienced trauma), we must first connect. There are a few reasons behind this approach. First, punishment can reactivate trauma responses or lead a traumatized child to feel unsafe. Second, discipline is usually ineffective if kids or teens don’t care what we have to say. And third, connecting first can prevent discipline from damaging the relationship.
In TBRI, caregivers are empowered to improve their connection with a child by learning about attachment, understanding their own patterns, and developing a skill set tailored to their unique child. In TBRI, caregivers also learn skills to empower their children; this often includes learning about what makes your child tick. Empowerment involves recognizing a child’s needs (such as bodily or sensory needs) and learning and implementing emotion regulation skills together. TBRI also empowers caregivers to improve their correcting or discipline skills by discovering what is most effective for their child and what methods have proven effective for others. Caregivers also learn specific skills to redirect concerning behaviors.
If you are interested in learning more about TBRI, the following is a list of resources:
The Whole Brain Child by Siegel
The Connected Child by Purvis
Implementing TBRI can lead to stronger attachments and more effective discipline strategies, fostering a nurturing environment for both children and caregivers, and is one of my core modalities when working with children.
Written by: Nicole Hunsaker, LCSW