Using the Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma to Strengthen Clinical Knowledge in Evidence-Based Practitioners

Abstract

The high prevalence of trauma exposure in mental health service-seeking populations, combined with advances in evidence-based practice, competency-based training, common-elements research, and adult learning make this an opportune time to train the mental health workforce in trauma competencies. The Core Curriculum on Childhood Trauma (CCCT) utilizes a five-tiered conceptual framework (comprising Empirical Evidence, Core Trauma Concepts, Intervention Objectives, Practice Elements, and Skills), coupled with problem-based learning, to build foundational trauma knowledge and clinical reasoning skills. We present findings from three studies: Study 1 found that social work graduate students' participation in a CCCT course (N = 1,031) was linked to significant pre-post increases in self-reported confidence in applying core trauma concepts to their clinical work. Study 2 found significant pre-post increases in self-reported conceptual readiness (N = 576) and field readiness (N = 303) among social work graduate students participating in a "Gold Standard Plus" educational model that integrated classroom instruction in core trauma concepts, training in evidence-based trauma treatment (EBTT), and implementation of that EBTT in a supervised field placement. Students ranked the core concepts course as an equivalent or greater contributor to field readiness compared to standard EBTT training. Study 3 used qualitative methods to "distill" common elements (35 intervention objectives, 59 practice elements) from 26 manualized trauma interventions. The CCCT is a promising tool for educating "next-generation" evidence-based practitioners who possess competencies needed to implement modularized, individually tailored trauma interventions by strengthening clinical knowledge, clinical reasoning, and familiarity with common elements.

Predicting adolescent posttraumatic stress in the aftermath of war: Differential effects of coping strategies across trauma reminder, loss reminder, and family conflict domains

“…Studies of the determinants of posttraumatic adjustment can play a valuable role in identifying evidence-based intervention foci, including influential mediators and modifiable moderators (Layne et al, 2007). The resulting knowledge base can guide the development of interventions that strategically target these "evidencebased foci" as intervention objectives by prescribing practice elements that carry the best evidence for effectively preventing, interrupting, and/or attenuating key causal risk factors, mediators, and moderators, as well as enhancing promotive factors (Layne et al, 2014).…”

Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder Symptom Domains Relate Differentially to PTSD and Depression: A Study of War-Exposed Bosnian Adolescents

“…The inclusion of the Specifier invites much-needed scrutiny regarding the relative causal contributions of different facets of circumstances of death (e.g., predictability, duration, suddenness, malicious intent, mutilation, negligence) to different PCBD criteria domains, and by extension, regarding which types of death-related circumstances carry the highest risk for severe persisting distress and functional impairment (Kaplow et al 2014a, b). The fact that the highest-scoring group on all measures (including PTSD, PCBD, and depression) was characterized by both non war-related and warrelated deaths highlights the possibility that various types of deaths may act as vulnerability factors, if not causal risk factors, in relation to these outcomes (Layne et al 2014d).…”

Trauma is a public health issue

“…This intervention uses lay helpers supervised by skilled mental health professionals in communities exposed to adversity (Dawson et al, 2015). In addition to more general mental health workforce strategies, several important efforts are underway by leaders in the trauma field to develop trauma-focused competencies to help mental health professionals build foundational trauma knowledge and skills (Bisson et al, 2010; Cook, Newman, & The New Haven Trauma Competency Group, 2014; Layne et al, 2014). …”