Trauma-informed parenting is an approach to raising children that acknowledges and addresses the potential effects of past traumatic experiences on a child’s development, behavior, and emotional well-being. Trauma-informed parenting is especially relevant for caregivers who are parenting children who have experienced abuse, neglect, or loss – what many children in foster care have experienced.
What is TBRI?
One model of trauma-informed parenting that we love here at MARE is called Trust-Based Relational Intervention – or TBRI®. It is a well-known, well-respected, evidence-based, attachment-centered intervention designed for caregivers of children with a history of complex trauma, especially those impacted by foster care and adoption. It is often difficult for these children to trust the adults in their lives - justifiably so, considering what many of them have been through. This can lead to difficulty in family life, but TBRI® empowers caregivers to create family cultures of felt-safety, trust, attachment. Ultimately, this transformative culture can bring hope and healing.
TBRI® helps foster and adoptive parents better understand the complex needs of children with trauma histories and consider how trauma-informed caregiving can maximize their child's potential to experience healing and growth. Children who have experienced trauma have changes in their bodies, brains, behaviors, and belief systems. While a variety of parenting strategies may be successful in typical circumstances, children with histories of harm need caregiving that meets their unique needs and addresses the whole child.
TBRI® uses Empowering Principles to address physical needs, Connecting Principles for attachment needs, and Correcting Principles to disarm fear-based behaviors. Learning and implementing TBRI® is not a quick fix or overnight problem solver, but it has helped many families develop healing cultures in their homes and family life more like they may have imagined.
Looking to get more informed about trauma-informed parenting? Check out our complete guide to learn more!
Liz Joyal
