Complex Science, Simple Method

Reflections on Trust-Based Relational Intervention Training, Part One:

I recently participated in a training course on Trust-Based Relational Intervention, a method for helping children “from hard places” heal. Children “from hard places” includes those who have been adopted, domestically and internationally, foster children, children with early medical trauma, or children who have experienced other traumas. TBRI was developed by Drs. Karyn Purvis and David Cross at TCU’s Institute of Child Development, and they have been teaching the course for the past four years.

TBRI training is intense. Homework packets mail out every two weeks, beginning in March, so all the participants have watched hours of video lectures and read reams of materials before ever stepping foot on the TCU campus. The on-site training itself is five eight-hour days of lecture and practice. Several presenters likened the flow of information to a fire hose, and it often felt like that. Much of the information was highly technical, ranging from the unique neurochemistry of kids from hard places to the psychological theories of attachment. There were graphs and charts and six syllable words galore. And all of it was fascinating, even to a science-phobe like me.

But the beauty of TBRI is that the method all of this complicated science explains is incredibly simple. Knowing the science behind it is helpful, tremendously so, but it is not necessary. Using TBRI is easy, and more than that, it’s fun. It makes interacting with children more joyful, more playful. It creates an environment in which caregivers and children are partners, not adversaries. And the rewards are instantaneous. I used it this past Sunday in a children’s ministry classroom, and got to see an upset, violent child visibly relax and smile within seconds. Implementing it consistently and long-term does take a committed investment by the caregivers; Dr. Purvis estimates a month of concentrated intervention per year of the child’s age in order to promote lasting healing. This gives enough time for the brain to literally rewire around better habits and thought processes. But the positive results come almost immediately.

I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to undergo the training, and the information I learned was invaluable. I am more fully equipped now to teach parents and caregivers how to use TBRI, and I believe it holds unlimited potential to bring healing and joy to countless families. Part of why it works so well is that it is so simple. Yes, the science behind it is complex. It connects with theology and the Gospel in so many ways that I could write a five volume set on how it displays the character of God. And to implement it, you will have to rethink a million things, many of them unconscious habits. But day to day, interaction to interaction, it is simple. It is fun. It is effective. And if there is one thing I have learned from my brief time in the world of adoption and foster care, it is that TBRI is, above all, desperately needed.

Drs. Karyn Purvis and David Cross (along with Wendy Sunshine) have written an excellent book for parents on how and why to use TBRI: The Connected Child.