The Trauma Recovery Center (TRC) provides assertive outreach, clinical case management, therapy, psychological testing, psychiatric care, and medication management to children and adults who have been the victims of crime, including individuals in DCFS and the justice system.
Our culturally competent staff, many of whom are bilingual, work with their clients to help improve the quality of their lives and reduce symptoms that interfere with their daily functioning.
The multidisciplinary treatment team strives to help members of our community who have suffered from trauma, violence, and loss. We are dedicated to support healing of both the physical and emotional wounds.
Assertive Outreach
Victims of crime are often hesitant to engage in mental health services due to fear, stigma, distrust of systems, embarrassment, shame, and so much more. Engagement can be extremely difficult for individuals who have survived such traumatic events. TRC is designed to take this into account and provide assertive outreach services. This can include phone calls, letters, home/hospital/community-based visits, all prior to someone being enrolled in TRC. By doing this, an individual is more likely to engage and remain engaged in services.
Evidence-Based Practices (EBP)
Evidence-Based Practices (EBP’s) are therapies that have been academically or clinically proven to be successful. The Trauma Recovery Center utilizes several different EBP’s to help reduce post-trauma anxiety and depression. Treatment includes, but is not limited to the following EBP’s: Seeking Safety, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Prolonged Exposure Therapy, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.
Clinical Case Management
When a violent crime occurs, individuals feel a lack of safety and control. Research shows that safety and stabilization are the first steps in treating trauma and that people cannot take care of higher-level needs until basic physiological and safety needs are met. Therefore, most individuals who are enrolled in TRC services can benefit from assistance with practical needs (food, shelter, medical assistance, entitlements, etc).
Trauma-Informed Psychotherapy
In early treatment, the Clinician provides information about the importance of self-care in coping with trauma. Trauma can destabilize people emotionally, physically, interpersonally, and cognitively (i.e., thinking). It can throw people off balance in many ways. In order to assist trauma survivors in feeling safe and comfortable in psychotherapy, clinicians will support and educate clients on how to address and decrease their own trauma related symptoms. Clinicians utilize evidence-based treatment in order to reduce trauma related symptoms. Treatment goals are collaboratively identified, and appropriate therapeutic interventions are identified. Psychotherapy is not only done in a traditional 50-minute session, but can be provided in the community, in-home, via telehealth, or in our offices. Psychotherapy can also be in conjunction with an individual’s clinical case management sessions.
Psychiatric Services
The TRC Psychiatrist provides a more hands-on and intensive way of providing services to the community. They have the capacity to devote more time to each individual client, to attend team meetings, and collaborate with amongst a multi-disciplinary team. They are an integral part of the team, and have the ability to provide services in home, in the community, in office, or via telehealth.
Many trauma survivors have never received mental health services before, have a fear of the societal stigma around psychiatric medication, and may also feel considerable anxiety and shame about meeting with psychiatrist to discuss medication. Having the ability to provide a more intensive approach, the psychiatrist can support clients reluctance to participate in services and to reduce trauma-related symptoms.
