Beyond Trauma Informed Ca re Rachel Fuller
Introduction About me ► 20 years in this field (starting as a DSP and moving to current role) ► Education in ABA ► Journey towards my BCBA
The Issue ► Maine has many trainings required
for new direct support workers and none of these required trainings include Trauma Informed Care.
► Unfortunately the trainings
available are just a brief overview of the prevalence and effects of Trauma
► Epidemic of treating behavior
symptoms without treating trauma
Project Overview ● I wanted to provide understanding and tools ● Help Decrease problematic behavior ● Essentially I built a training through resources I have found, interviews and other trauma informed resources.
● This training is provided to all new employees now, but initially was used to train current employees
● Placed strategically before training on behavior supports and interventions.
Barriers ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
First: Training myself! ○ Professional Development Certificate in Trauma-informed care. Trauma and past abuse is almost taboo to talk about. It’s a sensitive subject that people do not openly share Talking about past trauma is traumatizing There were so many gaps that I identified I then overloaded myself with information. Narrowing it down and tabling the rest
Key Findings and Outcomes ● ● ● ● ●
We currently utilized a trauma-informed care training But after this training staff did not fully understand how to help Holes in training were identified through research and training developed to bridge that gap. Training well received ○ seen a decrease in problematic behaviors in 3 months ○ 2 PBS plans discontinued ○ 1 other was modified for less restrictive measures Build preference plans that outline areas of intimate care
Leadership Reflection ● ● ● ●
Growth and Change is uncomfortable Habits die hard (saying no, not doing for, letting things sit) Change is evolving and with that comes it’s own chaos. It’s slow and sometimes so gradual you don’t realize you have grown at all.
Impact and Future Direction ●
The lives of the individuals are changing for the better
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More empathy and understanding of the challenging behavior
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The future: Perhaps a training for how to help staff who have trauma of their own help others. I would like to take some of the research I set aside and use it in other areas
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Thank you for the Journey!
Questions?