Ten-step trauma intervention offers help for foster families

 

WASHINGTON – Trauma-Informed Parenting Skills for Resource Parents, a new intervention program, might be an answer to addressing trauma symptoms in foster homes, according to a presentation at the annual conference of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

Rates of trauma exposure range from 80% to 93% in child welfare populations. In light of those statistics, foster parents are left to deal with the effects of traumatic stress symptoms without proper preparation or tools. Trauma-Informed Parenting Skills for Resource Parents targets different aspects of the way in which trauma can affect both the foster child and other members of the family.

“This is an intervention that occurs in the context of the caregiver-child relationship,” said presenters Jessica Eslinger, PhD, and Ginny Sprang, PhD, both of the University of Kentucky, Lexington. “The foster caregivers are the ones who are the recipients of the intervention in service of their child. Basically, what we are doing is teaching foster parents the skills they need to interact and intervene with their children in real time during the day-to-day interactions in their homes in ways that they can effect positive change.”

The program is structured over the course of 10 weekly, 60- to 90-minute sessions for parents with foster children or those who plan to begin fostering. It is designed for caregivers of children aged 0-17 years. In addition, the intervention uses four key components: trauma awareness, caregiver relationships as the context for healing, trauma-informed parenting strategies, and creating physical and psychological safety, according to the program’s website.

 

“Trauma awareness is a large part of this intervention [in order to] help resource parents understand what’s happening,” Dr. Eslinger said. “There is trauma 101, orientation to what happens in the body when a child is exposed to a traumatic event, and this is followed by learning how to use the caregiver relationship.”

The intervention also teaches caregivers how to help children develop healthy coping methods for traumatic stress, and then create a psychologically safe space for the child.

The 10 sessions were structured carefully, starting by addressing end goals, moving to education on the effects of early childhood trauma, transitioning to relaxation and coping skills, followed by teaching how to deal with challenging behaviors, and finishing with a final session where participants have a chance to bring it all together.

Caregivers also are instructed on using the cognitive triangle to understand their children’s feelings and build the framework to develop healthy reactions to behavior caused by traumatic stress.

“We work to help parents learn how to instill safety messages that the child needs to hear, creating a sense of safety in the home, and operating in the relationship in such a way to create psychological safety for their child,” Dr. Sprang said. “For many of [the parents], they’ve never understood that their disappointment and their hopelessness were a danger to the child – that children pick up on this.”

Neither Dr. Eslinger nor Dr. Sprang reported financial disclosures.

[email protected]

 

WASHINGTON – Trauma-Informed Parenting Skills for Resource Parents, a new intervention program, might be an answer to addressing trauma symptoms in foster homes, according to a presentation at the annual conference of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

Rates of trauma exposure range from 80% to 93% in child welfare populations. In light of those statistics, foster parents are left to deal with the effects of traumatic stress symptoms without proper preparation or tools. Trauma-Informed Parenting Skills for Resource Parents targets different aspects of the way in which trauma can affect both the foster child and other members of the family.

“This is an intervention that occurs in the context of the caregiver-child relationship,” said presenters Jessica Eslinger, PhD, and Ginny Sprang, PhD, both of the University of Kentucky, Lexington. “The foster caregivers are the ones who are the recipients of the intervention in service of their child. Basically, what we are doing is teaching foster parents the skills they need to interact and intervene with their children in real time during the day-to-day interactions in their homes in ways that they can effect positive change.”

The program is structured over the course of 10 weekly, 60- to 90-minute sessions for parents with foster children or those who plan to begin fostering. It is designed for caregivers of children aged 0-17 years. In addition, the intervention uses four key components: trauma awareness, caregiver relationships as the context for healing, trauma-informed parenting strategies, and creating physical and psychological safety, according to the program’s website.

 

“Trauma awareness is a large part of this intervention [in order to] help resource parents understand what’s happening,” Dr. Eslinger said. “There is trauma 101, orientation to what happens in the body when a child is exposed to a traumatic event, and this is followed by learning how to use the caregiver relationship.”

The intervention also teaches caregivers how to help children develop healthy coping methods for traumatic stress, and then create a psychologically safe space for the child.

The 10 sessions were structured carefully, starting by addressing end goals, moving to education on the effects of early childhood trauma, transitioning to relaxation and coping skills, followed by teaching how to deal with challenging behaviors, and finishing with a final session where participants have a chance to bring it all together.

Caregivers also are instructed on using the cognitive triangle to understand their children’s feelings and build the framework to develop healthy reactions to behavior caused by traumatic stress.

“We work to help parents learn how to instill safety messages that the child needs to hear, creating a sense of safety in the home, and operating in the relationship in such a way to create psychological safety for their child,” Dr. Sprang said. “For many of [the parents], they’ve never understood that their disappointment and their hopelessness were a danger to the child – that children pick up on this.”

Neither Dr. Eslinger nor Dr. Sprang reported financial disclosures.

[email protected]

 

WASHINGTON – Trauma-Informed Parenting Skills for Resource Parents, a new intervention program, might be an answer to addressing trauma symptoms in foster homes, according to a presentation at the annual conference of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

Rates of trauma exposure range from 80% to 93% in child welfare populations. In light of those statistics, foster parents are left to deal with the effects of traumatic stress symptoms without proper preparation or tools. Trauma-Informed Parenting Skills for Resource Parents targets different aspects of the way in which trauma can affect both the foster child and other members of the family.

“This is an intervention that occurs in the context of the caregiver-child relationship,” said presenters Jessica Eslinger, PhD, and Ginny Sprang, PhD, both of the University of Kentucky, Lexington. “The foster caregivers are the ones who are the recipients of the intervention in service of their child. Basically, what we are doing is teaching foster parents the skills they need to interact and intervene with their children in real time during the day-to-day interactions in their homes in ways that they can effect positive change.”

The program is structured over the course of 10 weekly, 60- to 90-minute sessions for parents with foster children or those who plan to begin fostering. It is designed for caregivers of children aged 0-17 years. In addition, the intervention uses four key components: trauma awareness, caregiver relationships as the context for healing, trauma-informed parenting strategies, and creating physical and psychological safety, according to the program’s website.

 

“Trauma awareness is a large part of this intervention [in order to] help resource parents understand what’s happening,” Dr. Eslinger said. “There is trauma 101, orientation to what happens in the body when a child is exposed to a traumatic event, and this is followed by learning how to use the caregiver relationship.”

The intervention also teaches caregivers how to help children develop healthy coping methods for traumatic stress, and then create a psychologically safe space for the child.

The 10 sessions were structured carefully, starting by addressing end goals, moving to education on the effects of early childhood trauma, transitioning to relaxation and coping skills, followed by teaching how to deal with challenging behaviors, and finishing with a final session where participants have a chance to bring it all together.

Caregivers also are instructed on using the cognitive triangle to understand their children’s feelings and build the framework to develop healthy reactions to behavior caused by traumatic stress.

“We work to help parents learn how to instill safety messages that the child needs to hear, creating a sense of safety in the home, and operating in the relationship in such a way to create psychological safety for their child,” Dr. Sprang said. “For many of [the parents], they’ve never understood that their disappointment and their hopelessness were a danger to the child – that children pick up on this.”

Neither Dr. Eslinger nor Dr. Sprang reported financial disclosures.

[email protected]