How we
work
At Trauma Recovery UK we partner with
the BdT Trauma Recovery Focused Model (TRFM®)
We licence the TRFM® clinical model from Trauma Recovery Global.
Trauma Recovery Global say:
We are trauma recovery focused rather than just trauma informed,
because we believe that recovery from trauma is possible.
We recognise that complex trauma recovery is not routinely taught in qualifying courses within the specialised professions that work within the mental health and psychological therapy sphere.
Each practitioner who works with the children and young people at Trauma Recovery UK is regulated by their own therapy board, and then as a team we also then work within the BdT Trauma Recovery Focused Model (TRFM®).
Betsy de Thierry's Trauma Recovery Focused Model (TRFM®) is a pioneering psychological model that facilitates trauma recovery.
Trauma
Betsy de Thierry explains that 'Trauma can be defined as any experience or repeated experience where the person feels terrified, powerless and overwhelmed, to the extent that it challenges their capacity to cope. It can leave an imprint on the person’s nervous system, emotions, body, behaviours, learning and relationships.' (de Thierry, 2021, p15)
Peter Levine and Maggie Kline explain trauma and the impact of it succinctly: ‘Trauma happens when any experience stuns us like a bolt out of the blue; it overwhelms us, leaving us altered and disconnected from our bodies. Any coping mechanisms we may have had are undermined, and we feel utterly helpless and hopeless. It is as if our legs are knocked out from under us.'
(Levine and Kline, 2006, p4)
Gabor Mate explains that ‘trauma is not the event that inflicted the wound. So, the trauma is not the sexual abuse, the trauma is not the war. Trauma is not the abandonment. The trauma is not the inability of your parents to see you for who you were. Trauma is the wound that you sustained as a result’.
(Mate, 2022, CBC Radio).
The Trauma Continuum
de Thierry (2014)
Type 1 Trauma
Type I trauma is usually defined as a one-off traumatic incident or crisis. Single incident trauma is difficult and painful and has the potential to cause injury to the child. This level of trauma, however, usually has less stigma associated with the experience; therefore other people are often responsive and supportive to those who have experienced these traumatic incidents and the person who has experienced it can speak about it. This would result in Type I trauma being placed at the beginning of the trauma continuum, especially if this was an experience within the context of a stable family where processing difficulties is a normal cultural expectation, as this could significantly limit the damage. The continuum progresses according to the degree of trauma experienced, the amount of different traumatic experiences, and the level of social support and family attachment a child has to enable them to process and recover.
Type 2 Trauma
Type 2 trauma involves repetitive experiences that are terrifying; these can rarely be spoken about due to the shock, possible threats, loyalty issues, confusion or a dissociative response due to the level of terror and powerlessness. We work effectively with dissociation (usually Type 2 & Type 3 Trauma).
Type 3 Trauma or Complex Trauma
Type III trauma is positioned at the furthest end of the continuum and involves multiple different traumatic experiences that are serious, repeated and often started at an early age. They could be experiences such as a child who suffers from multiple abuses and/or neglect over many years (pervasive), without a setting in which the traumatic experience could be processed or spoken about in a recovery-focused manner. This might be due to the primary caregiver’s absence, neglect or inability themselves to cope with the trauma. Complex trauma usually involves interpersonal violence, violation or threat and is often longer in duration. It is almost always an experience that causes a strong sense of shame due to stigma, and therefore silence, which can lead to the person feeling isolated and different. For example, repeated sexual abuse, trafficking, torture, organised abuse or severe neglect (de Thierry, 2015).
If our waiting list is full
If our waiting list is full, here's some information to help you find the best help for your child.
Lots of trauma informed services exist but here’s a little checklist to think through how to get the right help for your child’s specific needs:
1. What are the current symptoms or signs that your child is distressed? Try and make a note of those.
2. Is there any experience or experiences that the child has had, of terror, powerlessness and overwhelm, and have you seen the symptoms increase since that time or period of time?
3. Duration of the distress:
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How long has your child been distressed?
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Has your child always shown some symptoms of distress or lack of ability to display social norms?
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Or is it a post incident experience and/or developed over time?
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Do you notice any changes in the severity of symptoms and the setting?
4. The Trauma Continuum can be viewed above (de Thierry, 2014).
There are also a number of helpful books & films available here.