Type of services:
A brief psychoeducational and supportive early intervention to reduce posttraumatic stress reactions and prevent the onset of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among traumatized children by increasing communication and family support.
Program setting:
Mental health/clinical setting
Type of provider:
Master- and doctoral-level clinicians
Length of program/number sessions:
4 to 6 sessions
Type(s) of trauma addressed:
Multiple types of potentially traumatic events (single event or chronic) including sexual abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence, community violence, rape, assault, and motor vehicle accidents
Additional information:
CFTSI focuses on two key risk factors, poor social or familial support and poor coping skills, to reduce traumatic stress reactions and PTSD among children.
To reduce these risk factors, the CFTSI intervention works to:
- increase communication between the child and caregiver about the child’s feelings, symptoms, and behaviors with the goal of increasing the caregiver’s support of the child
- provide specific behavioral skills for the caregiver and the child to better cope with symptoms
The adult caregiver and provider meet for the first session which uses a psychoeducational approach and includes assessment for PTSD and parent trauma history. In session two, the provider meets with the child alone and then the caregiver and the child. The provider meets with the caregiver and the child together during the third and fourth sessions.
Unique/Innovative Characteristics
Brief, early intervention strategy to prevent PTSD in children who have experienced recent trauma.
Information for this summary was abstracted from the NCTSN publication, Trauma-Informed Interventions: Clinical and Research Evidence and Culture-Specific Information Project and other publications.
