TCI EDITION 7. WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHANGES?
TCI continues to be a system that helps residential childcare organisations provide the best care and help to children and young people. The system involves a training programme that teaches knowledge, skills and attitudes to help children who have suffered trauma and adversity. This includes ideas and skills to prevent and manage troubling behaviour.
The 2020 7th edition of the TCI programme has now been launched by Cornell University. It will be introduced to Britain in April. Here is a summary of the main changes:
1. A fully trauma informed approach.
A recognition of the effects on children of suffering trauma and adversity is now a thread that runs through the entire programme and every training activity. The course is grounded on an understanding of the effects on the brain and on behaviour of suffering a difficult start in life. It addresses how trauma can lead to an overactive survival brain. This in turn can lead to an easily triggered fight, flight or freeze response and to pain based behaviours.
2. TCI as a system.
TCI is a system, not just a training course. TCI7 provides more guidance to agencies on implementing the system. A sixth implementation domain is introduced: Child and Family involvement.
3. The therapeutic milieu.
There is more guidance on creating an environment suitable for children who have had a difficult start in life; an environment with a sense of safety, respect, belonging, care and accountability.
4. The use of self.
More guidance on how staff should use themselves in their work through developing self-awareness, self-regulation skills, relationship and attunement skills, and self-care.
5. Empathy.
New skills on developing empathy. This involves tuning in to what a child is experiencing and reflecting this through the use of the empathic response.
6. Improved Emotional First Aid skills.
Better guidance on helping children struggling with strong emotions. Being a calm “Source of Strength” for the child. (See Feeney and Collins 2015.) Using improved Emotional First Aid strategies:
7. Guidance on avoiding power struggles.
Better guidance on what we previously called the Conflict Cycle. Understanding how a child’s behaviour can trigger the adult’s survival brain. This survival brain then hijacks the adult’s thinking brain. The adult then behaves in a way that escalates the child’s behaviour resulting in a power struggle. Strategies to understand what’s happening, stay calm and avoid confrontation.
8. Reflective practice.
The TCI Post Crisis Multi Level response is now introduced in the main curriculum. Reflective practice has always been central to the TCI approach. TCI7 now gives it a central position in the primary TCI programme. The multi-level response following an incident is:
9. A revised Life Space Interview (LSI)
The conversation with the child after an incident (the LSI) is now updated in line with our increased knowledge of the effects of trauma and adversity. It now focuses on helping a child with an overactive survival brain and therefore an easily triggered fight or flight response. The LSI now helps children learn and use emotional regulation skills.
10. An updated approach to the professional, ethical and organisational issues in using physical intervention.
TCI has always been an approach that helps organisations avoid having to use restraint. The changes to TCI edition 7 will strengthen this, giving staff more knowledge, skills and attitudes to understand and calm aggressive behaviour. But the course does contain an optional module on restraint techniques and clearer direction on the issues involved in making a decision to restrain.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT CHANGE affecting TCI is that the programme was accredited by the Restraint Reduction Network in December 2019. TCI is one of the first programmes to achieve the new stringent criteria for accreditation. This will involve a closer relationship with agencies that use the TCI approach.
TCI continues to be a system that helps residential childcare organisations provide the best care and help to children and young people. The system involves a training programme that teaches knowledge, skills and attitudes to help children who have suffered trauma and adversity. This includes ideas and skills to prevent and manage troubling behaviour.
The 2020 7th edition of the TCI programme has now been launched by Cornell University. It will be introduced to Britain in April. Here is a summary of the main changes:
1. A fully trauma informed approach.
A recognition of the effects on children of suffering trauma and adversity is now a thread that runs through the entire programme and every training activity. The course is grounded on an understanding of the effects on the brain and on behaviour of suffering a difficult start in life. It addresses how trauma can lead to an overactive survival brain. This in turn can lead to an easily triggered fight, flight or freeze response and to pain based behaviours.
2. TCI as a system.
TCI is a system, not just a training course. TCI7 provides more guidance to agencies on implementing the system. A sixth implementation domain is introduced: Child and Family involvement.
3. The therapeutic milieu.
There is more guidance on creating an environment suitable for children who have had a difficult start in life; an environment with a sense of safety, respect, belonging, care and accountability.
4. The use of self.
More guidance on how staff should use themselves in their work through developing self-awareness, self-regulation skills, relationship and attunement skills, and self-care.
5. Empathy.
New skills on developing empathy. This involves tuning in to what a child is experiencing and reflecting this through the use of the empathic response.
6. Improved Emotional First Aid skills.
Better guidance on helping children struggling with strong emotions. Being a calm “Source of Strength” for the child. (See Feeney and Collins 2015.) Using improved Emotional First Aid strategies:
- Co-regulate emotions – Be a calm presence
- Maintain the relationship and lines of communication
- Plan and anticipate – Be a coach.
7. Guidance on avoiding power struggles.
Better guidance on what we previously called the Conflict Cycle. Understanding how a child’s behaviour can trigger the adult’s survival brain. This survival brain then hijacks the adult’s thinking brain. The adult then behaves in a way that escalates the child’s behaviour resulting in a power struggle. Strategies to understand what’s happening, stay calm and avoid confrontation.
8. Reflective practice.
The TCI Post Crisis Multi Level response is now introduced in the main curriculum. Reflective practice has always been central to the TCI approach. TCI7 now gives it a central position in the primary TCI programme. The multi-level response following an incident is:
- The immediate response
- The LSI for the child
- Documentation
- The incident review with staff
- The incident review with the team
9. A revised Life Space Interview (LSI)
The conversation with the child after an incident (the LSI) is now updated in line with our increased knowledge of the effects of trauma and adversity. It now focuses on helping a child with an overactive survival brain and therefore an easily triggered fight or flight response. The LSI now helps children learn and use emotional regulation skills.
10. An updated approach to the professional, ethical and organisational issues in using physical intervention.
TCI has always been an approach that helps organisations avoid having to use restraint. The changes to TCI edition 7 will strengthen this, giving staff more knowledge, skills and attitudes to understand and calm aggressive behaviour. But the course does contain an optional module on restraint techniques and clearer direction on the issues involved in making a decision to restrain.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT CHANGE affecting TCI is that the programme was accredited by the Restraint Reduction Network in December 2019. TCI is one of the first programmes to achieve the new stringent criteria for accreditation. This will involve a closer relationship with agencies that use the TCI approach.