The Risking Connection® Approach

Many served by today’s mental health, child welfare, and victim assistance systems have experienced betrayal by parents or treatment providers. Those traumatized as children often become skilled at pushing away relationships to avoid further distress and disappointment. As adults, they may continue to avoid relationships and any connection with a troubled past.

To reach a place of healing, traumatized children and adults need to form connections with caregivers who are different from their past experiences. They need relationships that are RICH™ – Respectful, Informative, Connected, and Hopeful. Forming such relationships is no easy task because of the extreme behavior that many survivors display.

Working with traumatized children and adults can pose risks to those trying to provide assistance. Connecting with survivors of abuse requires sharing their suffering and hearing stories detailing the darkest sides of humanity. Caregivers often invest in people who may not truly desire or appreciate their help, and who consistently return to abusive environments, treatment programs, and the criminal courts.

Risking Connection®

• provides a philosophy and method for working with survivors of childhood abuse
and trauma

• empowers clinicians, frontline staff, advocates, and survivors in any support, residential, or treatment setting

• assists you and your staff in effectively responding to the most challenging children, adolescents, and adults served by your program