Building Resilience: Trauma Identification Instrument©

What Is It?

Building Resilience: Trauma Identification Instrument© is an assessment tool that provides insight into the effects of traumatic experiences. Based on the research of the author's lived experience in organizations and the foundational use of Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (2001), the assessment captures possible trauma themes for children, adults, and management. In recent years organizations and health providers have focused on the psychological benefits of trauma-informed care. Trauma is the body's response to an event or number of events that produce emotional, physical, or life-threatening harm (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, 2014; Menakem, 2017; Yoder, 2001; Lipsky, 2009; Van Der Kolk, 1989, 2014). Trauma is not an emotional response but a physical one. Menakem (2017) states, "The body is where we live. It's where we fear, hope, and react. It's where we constrict and relax. And what the body most cares about are safety and survival. When something happens to the body that is too much, too fast, or too soon, it overwhelms the body and can create trauma" (p.7).

Trauma has long-lasting adverse effects on mental, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing (Felitti et al.,1997; Yoder, 2001, Van der Kolk, 2014). Experiences rooted in trauma show up in many forms—these adverse reactions affect the quality of life for individuals, including children. The assessment offers a way to identify focus areas to better support people in and outside of organizational systems. The instrument provides reports, assessment tools, and documents the wellbeing action steps and visual organization tools.

Research Links:

The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma Kindle Edition by Bessel van der Kolk

Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky and Connie Burk

Dr. Joy DeGruy authored the book entitled Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing, (revised 2017)

Academic Learning + Social-Emotional Learning = National Priority Roger P. Weissberg, Jason CascarinoFirst Published October 1, 2013 Research Article https://doi.org/10.1177/003172171309500203

Schools and the Enhancement of Children's Wellness Some Opportunities and Some Limiting Factors Emory L. Cowen S.l. : Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse 1997

Wellness promotion in the schools: Enhancing students' mental and physical health David N. Miller, Rich Gilman, Matthew P. Martens First published: 05 December 2007 https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20274

Crouch E, Probst JC, Radcliff E, Bennett KJ, McKinney SH. Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among US children. Child Abuse Negl. 2019 Jun;92:209-218. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.04.010. Epub 2019 Apr 16. PMID: 31003066.

The Effects of Trauma on First Responders https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/dtac/dialogue-vol14-is1_final_051718.pdf

Who Is It For?

Building Resilience: Trauma Identification Instrument© is intended for educational organizations, therapy centers, health care organizations and mental health providers.

Why Should You Use It?

Building Resilience: Trauma Identification Instrument provides organizations with an assessment to measure the effects of trauma, produce reporting and analysis documentation, and assessment building tools with data visualization.

In particular, the effects of the worldwide pandemic, COVID-19, can be uncovered, analyzed and explored for such elements as students' isolation levels, social well-being and emotional and physical regulation.

The assessments are designed to inform school administration and support services to provide for students' safety and well being.

How Does It Work?

Building Resilience: Trauma Identification Instrument© utilizes psychometrics to measure and identity themes of trauma experiences. The user answers questions that help to identify indicators of traumatic experiences.

The program is a set of assessments that range from elementary, middle and high school (typically for grades 3-12). Students complete the short assessments, which inform school adminstration and support services to provide for students' safety and well being.

Delivered through the UnitusTI electronic data records cloud

Access from any device, anywhere in the world

The Connecting In Rhythm (CIR)© curriculum is delivered to professionals via subscription to the UnitusTI electronic data records (EDR) cloud.  

Leading-edge data collection, staff and client management tools and program templates are built right into UnitusTI. 

• See instant data and quickly graph progress to make informed decisions
• Provide reports and share relevant data securely with others
• Track staff performance and give them collaboration tools to keep your practice on track
• Customizable data collection means you can track as much or as little as you need to keep business humming and your clients happy