REAL LIFE HEROES FUNDAMENTALS
RLH Fundamentals Training Programs were developed to expand engagement
and inclusion in evidence-supported complex trauma treatment and provide therapists
with easily accessible tools that combine creative arts, improv, yoga, movement, and
storytelling with the imagery of the ‘hero’s journey’ in a flexible format that can be easily
adapted for diverse youths and families. Tools and activities link youths and
parents/caregivers to strengths in their families and cultural heritage, promote
development of affect modulation skills, strengthen (or build) emotionally supportive
relationships, and promote trauma memory re-integration.
RLH Fundamentals provides therapists with a trauma and resiliency-focused toolkit,
demonstrations, guided practice, consultation groups, and supervisory and directorlevel
consultations. These are ‘how-to’ training programs that enable therapists and
program leaders to implement evidence-supported treatment for complex trauma and
Developmental Trauma Disorder with youths and families who have experienced abuse,
neglect, family violence, historical traumas, losses, illness, or placements into foster
families, juvenile justice, refugee, residential, hospital or school-based programs.
Participants typically receive copies of RLH books and tools and have an opportunity in
workshops to practice use of the RLH developmental, trauma and resiliency-focused
assessment and service plan, session structure, and the Real Life Heroes Life Storybook,
3rd ed., including developing implementation plans for use with youths and families they
are working with. Workshops also include discussion and development of strategies for
managing challenges often encountered as well as adaptations to engage diverse youths
and families and implementation in a wide range of programs.
RLH in-person and video-streamed training programs are adapted for each organization
to match priorities, available time, previous training, and organizational objectives.
Training programs utilize learning collaborative principles for effective training
implementation endorsed by the NCTSN. RLH Fundamentals Training Programs1
typically involve 18 hours of workshops scheduled at optimal times for each
organization, 10 hours of small group consultation (4-8 participants per group meeting
once a month), and 5 hours of supervisory and organizational consultation for program
directors and supervisors. A 6-hour advanced workshop is also available and is focused
on organizational needs and goals.
Looking for a self-paced curriculum for expanding engagementand inclusion of high-risk youths and families, a cost-effectivemeans for infusing and sustaining evidence-supported complextrauma therapy in treatment centers, a crash course in Real LifeHeroes, or an easily accessible toolkit with video guidance forsession preparation? Please check out RLH On Demand below.
RLH ON DEMAND
RLH On Demand was developed to provide training on complex trauma treatment for
treatment centers experiencing high turn-over and challenges freeing therapists for
scheduled training programs. This program includes the RLH Fundamentals curriculum
and is available for beginning and advanced practitioners at times that best match their
schedules through-out the year on a laptop or mobile device. RLH On-Demand allows
therapists to focus their time on learning how to use the RLH framework and tools that
will be most helpful for their work. This is a practice-focused training program that
helps therapists build on previous training in trauma treatment and begin planning
implementation from the first training module.
RLH On Demand draws from implementation and adult learning research and builds
sequentially beginning with a theoretical and research foundation for attachment and
resiliency-focused complex trauma therapy followed by initial messages to youths and
parents/caregivers, assessments, service planning, fidelity checks and chapter-bychapter
implementation of the RLH Life Storybook. The curriculum is matched to
NCTSN’s recommended ‘best practices’ for child welfare and phase-based complex
trauma treatment and can be used to supplement other evidence-supported trauma
treatment models, e.g., ITCT, ARC, SPARCS, TST, TF-CBT.
Each RLH On-Demand training module includes video and slide presentations, brief
quizzes, therapist reflections and practice activities designed to help therapists become
comfortable implementing tools and activities so they can focus in therapy sessions on
adapting material to increase and sustain engagement. Reflections are designed to
promote therapist growth, use of self in therapy and prevention of secondary PTSD.
Modules are accompanied by PowerPoint handouts that can be used as reference guides
as well as downloadable tools and worksheets that guide implementation. RLH On-
Demand can be used by professionals working alone or in teams. RLH On- Demand can
also be supplemented by small clinical consultation groups as well as
supervisor/director consultation to promote application in a wide range of programs
and with diverse children, adolescents, and families.
RLH On-Demand is now available at:
https://reallifeheroes.thinkific.com/courses/real-life-heroes-fundamentals-resiliencyfocused-
therapy-for-complex-traumas Applications for a limited number of
grant-funded registrations for program teams and individual therapists are
described below (see p. 13)..
Objectives
Participant & Organizational Objectives
After completion of RLH Training Programs, therapists working with youths and
families with complex trauma/Developmental Trauma Disorder (DTD) will demonstrate
increased understanding and abilities to:
¨ Access and implement an evidence-supported, trauma and resiliency-focused
treatment program with adaptations for diverse families and a wide range of
behavioral health, child and family service, school-based, justice-involved and
refugee programs.
¨ Assess feelings, self and co-regulation for youths and parents/caregivers within
primary relationships, levels of safety and emotional support in primary
relationships, uncover openings for engagement of youths and
parents/caregivers, increase skills for self and co-regulation of feelings, promote
safety for youths and families, strengthen youth and parent/caregiver attunement
and trust, promote coping skills to manage stressful events, reduce traumatic
stress reactions to reminders of traumas, help youths and parents/caregivers
overcome feelings of shame and develop a positive self-image for each family
member connected to their heritage.
¨ Engage and empower parents/caregivers to understand the impact of traumas on
their children and their own lives, to learn how to prevent or reduce trauma
reactions and to become the heroes youths need to restore safety and rebuild (or
build) emotionally supportive relationships.
¨ Match treatment interventions to a youth’s emotional and cognitive development,
level of self- and co-regulation, chronicity of traumas and level of security and
emotional support of primary youth-parent/caregiver relationships.
¨ Utilize life story work to help youths and their parents/caregivers to develop
stronger identities linked to their families and cultural heritage including lessons
learned from living through past and ongoing adversity e.g. , discrimination,
racism, community violence as well as relational traumas.
Organizational objectives include:
¨ High rates of therapist implementation of RLH core components, Life Storybook
chapters and Toolkit resources, e.g. Circles of Caring, My Thermometers, SOS
for Stress, Moving Through Tough Times, with 2-4 youths and families
beginning the first weeks after the initial workshop and optimally 10 youths and
families in the first year.
¨ Sustained implementation of RLH core components and NCTSN ‘best practice’
recommendations by therapists after completion of training programs with all
youths and families who have complex trauma/DTD.
¨ Sustained implementation of chapters from the RLH Life Storybook and RLH
Toolkit resources, e.g. Circles of Caring, My Thermometers, SOS for Stress,
Youth and Parent/Caregiver Power Plans, Moving Through Tough Times, after
completion of training with youths and families who have complex trauma/DTD.
¨ Continuation of learning communities initiated or involved in RLH training
including exploration of trauma and resiliency-focused treatment strategies,
adaptations for youths and families served and prevention of Secondary PTSD for
therapists and caregivers.
RLH FUNDAMENTALS CURRICULUM
RLH FUNDAMENTALS CURRICULUM
RLH Fundamentals Training Programs cover:
I. Resiliency-Focused Therapy for Complex Trauma and Developmental Trauma Disorder
¨ The impact and experience of chronic complex trauma/DTD
¨ The challenge of engagement, retention & inclusion
¨ Recommended ‘best practice’ treatment components
¨ Using RLH core components, Life Storybook chapters and fidelity guides to address ‘best practice’ components
¨ Creating opportunities for parents/caregivers and youths to practice attunement and build or strengthen trust with drawing, rhythm, music, yoga and story-telling using the RLH Session Structure, RLH Toolkit Chapter by Chapter guides, Chapter Checkpoints, Pitfalls, Adaptations, Troubleshooting, assessment and chapter by chapter activity worksheets
¨ Clinic-based youth & parent illustrations
¨ Practice implications from RLH research
¨ Feedback from youths and parents/caregivers about RLH
II. Starting the Journey: Expanding Engagement and Inclusion with Resiliency-focused Assessments and Collaborative Service Planning
¨ Building on ‘the hero’s journey’ to restore hope and Transforming therapy into a journey
¨ Opening messages to create realistic hope and demonstrate respect for youths and parents/caregivers coping with adversity
¨ Looking for strengths and resources in the youth, family, their cultural heritage and community
¨ Avoiding shame-inducing messages and diagnostic terms
¨ Using the Circles of Caring and My Thermometers to assess youths and parents/caregivers’ relationships, emotional functioning and regulation within relationships
¨ Assessing attachments, arousal, and developmental levels
¨ Utilizing transference and countertransference as clues to unlock stuck relationships
¨ Multi-dimensional assessment of chronic complex trauma
¨ Youths as wounded angels guiding us to unresolved pain
¨ Prioritizing trauma & resiliency-focused treatment to increase engagement
¨ Utilizing RLH core components in assessments and service planning,
¨ RTC illustration; 17-year old youth and her family
¨ RLH Assessment & Service Plan for a youth and family identified by practitioner
¨ Option: application to 14-year old assessment
III. Developing Emotionally Supportive Relationships, Self- and Co-Regulation Skills to Manage Stressors: RLH Phase I Implementation (RLH Life Storybook Chapters 1-8)
Chapters 1-2
¨ Introducing the Life Storybook and session structure to youths and parents/caregivers
¨ Restoring hope and curiosity with a little magic
¨ Engaging and enhancing youth-parent/caregiver attunement and empathy with rhythm, music, yoga and movement activities
¨ Trauma and resiliency psychoeducation to empower youths and parents/caregivers: introduction to neural development, understanding traumatic stress reactions and how developing affect modulation skills, strengthening emotionally supportive relationships and changing interactive behavior patterns can help
¨ Changing trauma triggers into opportunities for emotional development with Four-Step Parent/Caregiver Responses to reduce or prevent traumatic stress reactions
¨ Learning and practicing SOS for Stress and using the Safety First Card
¨ Building capacity for recognizing and expressing emotions
¨ Utilizing three-chapter storytelling with feelings
Chapters 3-4
¨ Identifying heroes to inspire skill-building and relationships
¨ Understanding how heroes work together, seek help and help others
¨ Developing youth and parent/caregiver Power Plans to change trauma reaction patterns
¨ 17-year old RTC youth Power Plan & Action Cycles
¨ Using The Hero’s Challenge to promote skill-building and developing relationships
Chapters 5-6
¨ Identifying and strengthening primary family relationships over time
¨ Important people and resources; finding and building relationships with mentors, friends, educators, clergy, coaches and other skill-builders
¨ Using ‘improv’ to promote sharing and build or strengthen youth-parent/caregiver relationships
¨ Day treatment 12-year old building interactive support case example
Chapter 7
¨ Strengthening self and co-regulation with Mind Power (mindfulness skill-building)
¨ Creating Safe place/Safe relationship drawings and multi-modal stories including attachment-centered Resiliency Shields
Chapter 8
¨ Changing the Story (CBT moviemaking exercise for traumatic stress reactions)
¨ Day Treatment 14-year old Example of Abbreviated Case; Changing the Cycle
IV. Moving Through Tough Times, Building a Stronger Identity: RLH Phase II Life Story Integration (RLH Life Storybook Chapters 9-12)
Chapter 9
¨ Creating a Life Roadmap
¨ Organizing a Chronological Life Story including transitions and Timeline
¨ Understanding how trauma experience integration works
Chapter 10
¨ Applying resiliency-focused trauma experience integration principles
¨ Trauma experience integration with Five-chapter multi-modal storytelling
¨ Managing regrets and shame; apologizing and making restitution
¨ Integration of principles and strategies from CPP, TF-CBT, Progressive Counting & Nightmare
Rehearsal Therapy
¨ Application to RTC 17-year old
¨ Application to Day Treatment 12-year old
Chapter 11
¨ Highlighting a future building on talents and interests
¨ Enhancing a strength-oriented identity (pride) including how the youth and parents/caregivers help others, protect each other and manage stressors
¨ Identifying nurturing and supportive relationships to grow and maintain
Chapter 12
¨ Creating an integrated strength-based life story in words, art, music or videos
¨ Helping other youths and families going through hard times and traumas (sharing wisdom and skills learned)
Advanced workshop modules address developing strategies for challenges to trauma treatment along with critical issues in trauma treatment identified in each organization.
V. Caregiver Engagement, Power, & Resilience
¨ Principles, strategies and practice tips designed to engage parents/caregivers based on attachment, trauma and resiliency research, initial messages to demonstrate authentic respect
¨ Engaging parents/caregivers as heroes with authentic respect recognizing what they have done to help their families survive adversity
¨ Building on parents/caregivers’ caring and wishes for their children to re-attune, restore or strengthen positive interactions, and help youths and themselves co-regulate intense feelings
¨ Creating heroes teams including parents/caregivers as family leaders
¨ Using SOS for Stress with parents/caregivers
¨ Empowering parents/caregivers to restore safety and use an enhanced understanding of neurobiology, repeated family interactions and the power of attuned, committed parenting to change repeated trauma reaction cycles and testing of changes by youths
¨ Helping parents/caregivers understand and use what they have learned from their own experiences with adversity and traumatic stress
¨ Finding respectful ways for parents/caregivers to accept youths’ experiences, acknowledge their own mistakes, apologize when appropriate, and make lasting changes
VI. Prevention of Secondary Traumatic Stress for Caregivers and Therapists
¨ Assessment of practitioner and caregiver Secondary PTSD and compassion fatigue
¨ Principles, strategies, and practice tips to prevent secondary PTSD or burn-out by organizations, teams, therapists and caregivers
¨ Putting principles into daily action
VII. Adaptations
¨ Engaging and sustaining engagement with older youths, building on talents, passions and caring, promoting positive relationships and role transitions, rebuilding positive connections to youths’ cultural heritage
¨ Recognizing and building on strengths and reducing stress in highly stressed foster and adoptive families, building on caring and commitment, accepting loss and grief, preventing and reducing traumatic stress reactions
¨ Recognizing and building on strengths and finding ways to promote youths reaching their potential in families with neuro-atypical youths or youths with intellectual deficits
¨ Working with refugee youths and families, living with uncertainty, respecting cultural norms, building on strengths, connections and cultural heritage
Small group consultation sessions include:
¨ Practice strategies, tips, and checkpoints matched to each chapter, moving through the RLH Life Storybook
¨ Youth and family-focused consultation using the RLH Trauma & Resiliency-focused Assessment & Service Plan with practitioner families
¨ Identification of challenges for trauma treatment and development of strategies for model adaptation to overcome challenges
¨ Implementation by therapists and programs with diverse families and programs.
Consultation with supervisors and directors addresses:
¨ Pre-training assessments
¨ Development of training programs
¨ Coordination of workshops and consultation
¨ Trauma and resiliency-focused supervision
¨ Use of fidelity tools
¨ Identification of challenges for therapists and programs
¨ Development of strategies to overcome challenges
¨ Infusion of trauma and resiliency-focused treatment into organizational policies and procedures
¨ Sustaining implementation after training
Organizational consultation is also available including:
¨ Review of program and organizational challenges
¨ Identification of organizational priorities
¨ Creating a learning community
¨ Integration of resiliency and trauma-informed services
¨ Fidelity monitoring
¨ Development of strategies to overcome challenges
¨ Infusion of trauma and resiliency-focused treatment into organizational policies
¨ Sustaining resiliency and trauma-focused treatment