Trust Based Relational Intervention

TBRI is a set of very effective strategies was developed by Karen Purvis who worked with vulnerable children. She has 3 basic sets of principles, Empowering, Connecting, and Correcting.

Empowering

  • Physiological strategies – attending to keeping vulnerable children’s physiological state just right with hydration, blood sugar (available water, food every 2 hours, protein at bedtime) & sensory “SI” activity every two hours

  • Ecological strategies to build felt safety  –  build daily rituals & routines

    • bedtime rituals that include touch

    • family dinners

    • family traditions

    • I love you rituals, secret handshakes, nicknames, special greetings

    • Make calendars

    • Prepare for changes in routine and role play what to is expected

    • Teach expected behaviors

Here is a webpage that dives deeper into empowering principles: https://jennaflemingcounseling.com/blog-post/tbri-empowering-principles/

Connecting

This set of strategies are about intentional affection and building relationship

  • Mindfulness Strategies - Build trusting relationships by mindfully interacting … examine your own past and any triggers to enable you to be calm and present

    • Based on the construct of mirror neurons … humans are social - we absorb other people’s emotional state, so to help someone regulate, we must regulate ourselves

  • Engagement strategies – attunement and behavioral matching (intentionally mirroring them), nurturing touch, warm eyes, voice quality & playful engagement

    https://jennaflemingcounseling.com/blog-post/tbri-connecting-principles/

Correcting

            teaching children to be self managers

  • Proactive Strategies – choices, compromises, sharing power

  • Responsive strategies – IDEAL = Immediate, Direct, Efficient, Action-based, leveled at the behavior (can watch Karen in video)

    • Immediate, address behavior within 3 seconds if possible

    • Direct, come close, use engagement strategies, tune in

    • Efficient, use the lowest level of response that is effective

      // Levels of response

      • Playful engagement – are you asking or telling

      • Structured engagement - give choices, may compromise

      • Calming engagement -

      • Protective engagement  -

    • Action-based, give the opportunity to redo & correct their mistake

    • Leveled at the behavior not the child

Watch Purvis video explaining correcting principles in link … https://jennaflemingcounseling.com/blog-post/tbri_correcting_principles/

TBRI is in some schools in Texas but would be such a great idea for helping teachers and school personell build strategies.