HopeAlight is a limited liability company that strives to empower adults with knowledge and strategies to bring hope and healing to the children they serve. Through comprehensive training regarding current brain research regarding trauma and adversity and Trust Based Relational Intervention®, adults can gain a better understanding of the children they serve, as well as strategies for leading these children back to a healthy developmental trajectory. For the adults who are willing to be fiercely honest about their own history, this experience can be an incredible catalyst for their own healing, as well, which allows them to be more fully present with not only the children they serve but everyone in their lives.
How did you choose the name HopeAlight?
Unfortunately, everyone has experienced situations that have left them feeling shame and fear, some on a smaller scale and some more significant and distressing. Research shows that adversity in childhood is extremely common; however, regardless of their history, I have incredible hope for all children. Alight means ablaze, illuminated, lit up, and through this work, I have personally and professionally witnessed hope alight across schools, families, and community agencies. When adults are functioning at their healthiest and using Trust Based Relational Intervention®, they have the ability to spark hope and ignite change both within and around them.
What is Trust Based Relational Intervention®?
TBRI® is an attachment based, trauma informed intervention designed to meet the complex needs of vulnerable children.
Who created Trust Based Relational Intervention®?
TBRI® was developed by Drs. Karyn Purvis and David Cross at the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at Texas Christian University.
Why did you become a TBRI® Practitioner?
After going through the international adoption process and adopting two of our sons, we attempted to parent them in a very traditional way. Over time, we came to understand the negative outcomes of that parenting style for our children with a history of trauma. After attending the Empowered to Connect simulcast, I finally understood how the development of my children's brains and bodies had been affected by their history. I also was faced with the reality of my own personal history and its impact on my parenting and relationships with others. This discovery led to a personal journey toward healing while completing my TBRI® Practitioner training.
Why is personal healing important to the process of bringing healing to children?
I firmly believe in the statement from Dr. Karyn Purvis that we cannot lead a child to a place of healing that we ourselves have not yet experienced. The freedom and healing I have experienced has not only helped make the implementation of TBRI® in my home effective, but it has positively impacted every area of my personal and professional life. I continue to be inspired by the adults who attend my trainings, as so many of them are taking the incredibly brave step to achieve healing from their own history of adversity. These trainings can be such a catalyst for positive change, not only in the lives of children from hard places but also the adults who are serving them.
How has TBRI® impacted your life?
When I began this journey, I believed that if completing the TBRI® Practitioner program only brought healing to my own family, it would be worth the investment. Within the first week of implementing this intervention in our home, we began to witness the effectiveness of its principles, and the results compounded over the weeks and months that followed. The healing that has taken place in the hearts of my sons from China leaves me with such deep gratitude for the work of Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross and the team that continues the work and research that supports TBRI®. After completing the TBRI® Practitioner program, I realized how much hope and healing this intervention could bring to others, which has led to the development of HopeAlight LLC. I want to help make our schools, homes, community agencies, and churches fields of compassion where children feel safe and can thrive in our care.
How can TBRI® help schools?
I have practiced as a school psychologist for the past 10 years. Our schools serve countless children from hard places, and most schools are attempting to manage emotional and behavioral challenges from a behavioral model that focuses on reinforcement and consequences to shape behavior. Research has shown that punishment is the least effective strategy to change behavior of children with a history of trauma. With the knowledge of Trust Based Relational Intervention®, a research based model of trauma informed care, administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, and other special teams can begin to meet the needs of children from hard places and shape behaviors in a connected way. Through the implementation of TBRI®, our children can experience hope and healing, positively affecting their relationships with others, their ability to self regulate, and their ability to learn and achieve to their potential.
How can TBRI® help community agencies?
The Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development desires everyone functioning in the mesosystem of a child to have training in Trust Based Relational Intervention®. Community agencies have an important role in the lives of children from hard places. Collaboratives of people trained in TBRI® exist around the world, allowing everyone working with children to operate under the same understanding of the neuroscience of adversity, as well as the language and strategies of TBRI®. When ours courts, CASA volunteers, DCS caseworkers, therapists, clinicians, religious organizations, etc. are seeing hurting children through the same lens and are using the same strategies to meet their needs, the results are that much stronger. In time, I believe we can achieve this goal right here in Indiana.
How can TBRI® help families?
If families are the backbone of our communities, then the health of our families will have a direct impact on the health of our greater communities. Parenting is challenging in general, and the challenges associated with parenting children from hard places are typically even more intense. Trust Based Relational Intervention® provides parents with a framework for meeting the physical and attachment related needs of all children while shaping behavior in a connected way. Although Trust Based Relational Intervention® was designed to meet the unique needs of vulnerable children, implementation of its principles has shown to be effective with all children. The children we adopted have most definitely benefited from the use of TBRI® in our home, but this intervention has also had a very positive impact on our biological children, as well. TBRI® has truly brought so much hope and healing to our family, and I am believing the same for yours.
What is the best way to contact you for support?
Please visit the Contact page for various ways to reach me.
