Building a Trauma Informed System of Care Toolkit

Building a Trauma Informed System of Care Aim High to Reach All

Trauma Responsive Faith Community

In 2017, both Dr. Andi Clements and Becky Haas were invited to join numerous community leaders on the steering team for the Holy Friendship Summit. This two-day summit was designed as a gathering of clergy, clinicians, and congregants to produce networks and share resources seeking to reduce opioid addiction in South Central Appalachia. With nearly 500 in attendance at the summit and approximately 100 church leaders responding to the call to action, a non-profit called the Holy Friendship Collaborative (HFC) was born and engagement from the faith community continues to grow at a rapid pace. Along with her role on the psychology faculty at East Tennessee State University, Dr. Clements now serves as the Executive Director of HFC and Becky Haas serves on the Board of Directors. In order to better equip faith community leaders to join efforts to reduce addiction and its effects, a trauma informed care training for the faith community was developed titled Key Principles of Trauma Informed Care and Developing a Trauma Informed Approach for Faith-Based Organizations. This training has been conducted for individual churches, groups of churches, and within hospital settings for their faith partners. It is listed as one of the available trainings endorsed by the Holy Friendship Collaborative as a way to equip churches that are addressing addiction in the region.

Learning objectives for this training include: • What is Trauma Informed Care (TIC)? • How to Identify Trauma • Effects of Trauma on Brain Development • Understanding and Using ACEs • Principles of Trauma Informed Approaches • Scriptural Basis of Trauma Informed Care

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