Abstract
Events that cause trauma have been around for all of human existence. The acknowledgement and understanding of these symptoms has evolved from early attempts to understand war’s impact on the human psyche to a current understanding that more fully encompasses other traumatic experiences, such as childhood abuse and neglect, community violence, and the loss of primary caregivers. Trauma-informed care exemplifies important ideals for staff who work with those who have experienced trauma (Layne et al., 2011). The needs of youth who have experienced trauma can be extremely challenging for therapists due to the dangerous or aggressive behaviors that these youth exhibit. Attempts to help these youth frequently include placement in out-of-home care, such as residential treatment centers. Youth in these settings have high rates of trauma symptoms. This project combined trauma-informed care and residential treatment center programming to design a comprehensive model of residential care for youth who have experienced trauma. An agency staff with more understanding of trauma and the symptoms it can cause, as well as a greater understanding of youth’s behaviors, may be able to achieve successful treatment for the youth in residential care.