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Any one who has taken the Risking Connections â training knows that a key element is that the path to healing is through a RICH relationship- one that includes Respect, Information, Connection and Hope. This is such a central point that the publisher, Sidran, has copy write protected the concept independently. In our training we ask participants to share ways in which they are currently demonstrating RICH with the clients, and also with each other in their team. Because amazingly it turns out that what the clients need in a relationship is the same as what we need for ourselves. For the next four weeks or so I am going to right about the dark side of RICH- by which I mean the difficult and complex aspects of creating RICH relationships. These are the areas where we struggle, stumble, and sometimes become less than helpful to our clients and each other. Let’s look at each part of RICH and discover what is hard about it and how we can overcome the challenges. The first week I will start...

Sonia and Ralph were talking on their break. “These kids.” Sonya says. “They are just not grateful. Here we have done all these extra things for them this summer. And they do not seem to appreciate it at all!” “I know,” replies Ralph. “Very few of them even say thank you. We have taken them to the beach, to Six Flags, to go-carts and mini-golf. And they are just as obnoxious as ever when we get back!” “Just yesterday” Sonia chimes in, “I took the girls out for ice cream. I didn’t have to do that. We stayed for quite a while- it was so hot out. And then when we got back, I asked them to go to their rooms and chill out for a while. Several girls had the nerve to talk back to me, and Lisa and Tanika started to get into a fight with each other!” “You’d think after all we do for them they could at least respond to a simple request. It makes me not want to do any extra activities at all.” “Yeah. Maybe if they see what it is like to stay on campus all the time they will be a little more grate...

Please pardon the shameless self promotion, but I would love for people to read my new book Trauma Informed Care: The Restorative Approach ( www.nearipress.org ) and let me know your thoughts.So to inspire you to do so I am sharing some reactions from people I admires and respect: From Laurie Anne Pearlman, Ph.D. Co-author, Risking Connection: A Training Curricu lum for Working with Survivors of Childhood Abuse: “Trauma-Informed Care: The Restorative Approach is a solid contribution to clinical work with children and youth in congregate care and their families. Patricia Wilcox offers a smart relational approach grounded in trauma theory and brain-behavior research. She presents the theoretical basis for the restorative approach, describes the approach clearly and succinctly, and illustrates its application lavishly with clinical examples. Her style is conversational and collaborative. Wilcox’s vast experience with this population shines through in both the examples and the comfortable ...

  I am thinking of developing a training series for therapists who are working in trauma-informed congregate care programs. This would not be a training to learn about trauma, how it affects people and how they can heal. Risking Connection â and other curriculum do that. This is to teach therapists to be the most effective treaters and leaders within a team program that believes that every staff member is actively involved in the treatment process. How can the therapist be the best leader, and be the flag bearer for clinical thinking? Often such programs hire therapists right out of graduate school or with limited experience. And if the therapist has worked mainly in outpatient settings he or she will discover that the congregate care setting is quite a different role. There are many tensions, traps and dilemmas. What do you think a good therapist in congregate care needs to know? What have you wished that people hired into your program had been taught? Click on “comment” and tell...