Program Goals

The goals of Developmental Trauma and Attachment Program (DTAP) are:

For children and adolescents:

• Recover from traumatic experiences
• Develop the ability to form trusting, secure relationships with caregivers
• Learn how to regulate emotions and behaviors that are often disrupted by trauma, such as fear-based responses or attachment-related difficulties
• Achieve better outcomes across emotional, behavioral, social, and cognitive domains
• Improve overall well-being and success in life​

For caregivers and families:

• Rebuild healthy dynamics
• Support healing within the family unit
• Learn how to use tools and strategies to manage behavioral challenges and repair relationships

Logic Model

View the Logic Model for Developmental Trauma and Attachment Program (DTAP).

Essential Components

The essential components of Developmental Trauma and Attachment Program (DTAP) include:

• Individualized Therapy for each child:
• Personalized treatment plan
• Range of therapeutic approaches
• Attachment-Based Interventions:
• Focus on:
• Building secure attachments
• Addressing early relationship ruptures
• Helping children learn:
• Trust
• Emotional safety
• Healthy relational skills
• Techniques emphasize creating secure connections with:
• Caregivers
• Family members
• Peers
• Experiential and Expressive Arts:
• Incorporates nontraditional methods such as:
• Healing Touch, an energy-based therapy
• Partnering with the community providers for:
• Yoga
• Theater
• Art
• Allow children to process trauma in a supportive, nonverbal context with a goal of helping them access and express emotions
• Psychoeducation:
• Children, families, and caregivers receive training to:
• Understand trauma's impact
• Learn practical tools for:
• Managing behaviors
• Regulating emotions
• Fostering positive interactions
• Family Involvement:
• Includes family therapy and caregiver support designed to:
• Strengthen family systems
• Improve communication
• Create a safe environment for healing
• As a general outline, the following people may be identified as caregivers participating in treatment:
• Biological parent(s)
• Foster parent(s)
• Adoptive parent(s)
• Fictive kin foster placements
• Aunts/Uncles
• Grandparents
• Teachers
• Caregiver Coaching:
• Includes:
• Support groups
• Workshops
• One-on-one coaching sessions
• Used to educate families on the effects of:
• Trauma
• Attachment disruption
• Sessions include practical techniques for:
• Managing trauma-related behaviors at home
• Enhancing caregiver capacity to create a supportive, trauma-sensitive environment
• Multi-Disciplinary Team Support:
• Team includes:
• Therapists
• Nursing
• Educators
• Trained caregivers
• Collaborate to ensure comprehensive care
• Allows for holistic treatment addressing all aspects of a child’s development
• Trauma-Informed Environment:
• Intentionally designed to be a safe, nurturing space where children feel:
• Supported
• Respected
• Understood
• Involves every aspect of the program, from therapeutic interactions to daily routines
• Reflects a trauma-sensitive approach that promotes healing
• Crisis Intervention and On-Call Support:
• Available for crises
• Ensures that children and caregivers have immediate access to trained professionals
• Provided by clinicians with trauma-specialized training
• Includes:
• Emergency interventions
• Safety planning
• Therapeutic Milieu and Residential Care for children requiring higher-level care:
• 24 hours a day, 7 days a week trauma-informed care provided in a therapeutic living environment designed to reinforce stability and security
• Consists of:
• Consistent routines
• Structured activities
• Therapeutic interventions
• Daily interactions by trained residential care staff who receive ongoing trauma- and attachment-focused training
• Community Integration and Transitional Support:
• Services designed to help children integrate into school and community settings
• Coordinated transitional planning for smooth movement from residential care to family- or community-based living
• Collaboration with school districts:
• Service providers engage in:
• School collaboration
• Individualized education planning
• Community resource connection
• Aims to ensure long-term support outside of the therapeutic setting
• Skill-Building Groups and Social-Emotional Learning:
• Group-based sessions focused on:
• Emotional regulation
• Conflict resolution
• Social skills
• Aims to improve:
• Interpersonal interactions
• Self-regulation
• Professional Development:
• Ongoing training and learning opportunities designed to provide the DTAP team with:
• The latest research
• Innovative therapeutic techniques
• Proven interventions
• DTAP professionals refine their expertise in areas like:
• Trauma-sensitive intervention
• Attachment theory
• Family dynamics

Program Delivery

Child/Adolescent Services

Developmental Trauma and Attachment Program (DTAP) directly provides services to children/adolescents and addresses the following:

• Primary diagnosis of moderate to severe psychiatric difficulty or serious emotional disturbance (SED) and has not shown significant responses to less intensive therapeutic interventions:
  • Exhibits behavior that indicates a disturbance of a severe or persistent nature or is at risk of developing a disturbance due to mental illness or a history of sexual, physical, or psychological trauma
  • Difficulties are seen across multiple environments
  • Attachment is disturbed due to early disruption or interruption of the relationship with a primary attachment figure, and/or early trauma, abuse, and neglect issues

Parent/Caregiver Services

Developmental Trauma and Attachment Program (DTAP) directly provides services to parents/caregivers and addresses the following:

• The parent’s own attachment issues and relational patterns alongside their child

Recommended Intensity:

Intensity: Typically, one 50-minute session per week for individual and dyadic therapy, with daily skill-building activities and group therapy sessions in the residential milieu. This approach is flexible and can be applied in various settings.

Recommended Duration:

Duration: Approximately 6-12 months, depending on the child’s needs and their involvement in a Residential Treatment Program.

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Adoptive Home
• Birth Family Home
• Foster / Kinship Care
• Outpatient Clinic
• Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
• Group or Residential Care
• School Setting (Including: Day Care, Day Treatment Programs, etc.)
• Virtual (Online, Smartphone, Zoom, Telephone, Video, etc.)

Homework

This program does not include a homework component.

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

Qualified Clinical Staff:

• Licensed Therapists: Specializing in trauma and attachment modalities to provide individual, family and group therapy
• Psychiatrists and Medical Professionals: Available for assessments, medication management, and mental health support
• Residential Care Staff: Trained in trauma-sensitive and attachment-based approaches, available 24/7 to provide structured care for children in therapeutic housing
• ducational Staff and School Counselors: Supporting school-based interventions, educational planning, and transitional support for reintegration into community and educational settings

Training and Development:

• Initial and Ongoing Staff Training: Regular, comprehensive training in trauma-informed care, attachment theory, crisis intervention, and specialized therapy techniques
• Professional Development: Access to continuing education for certifications in trauma-specific modalities (e.g., DDP, TF-CBT), ensuring staff can implement best practices

Therapeutic Milieu and Safe Physical Environment:

• Residential Facilities: Safe, nurturing living spaces designed with trauma-sensitive furnishings and layouts to create a calming, structured environment
• Therapy Rooms and Play Areas: Separate, dedicated spaces for one-on-one therapy, group therapy, and experiential therapies, equipped with child-friendly and sensory-sensitive furnishings
• Sensory and Calming Spaces: Specialized rooms or areas for children to de-escalate and self-regulate, outfitted with sensory tools, weighted blankets, and soft lighting

Therapeutic and Experiential Tools:

• Expressive Therapy Supplies: Tools for experiential therapy sessions
• Technology for Teletherapy and Remote Support: Secure, HIPAA-compliant platforms for telehealth sessions, particularly for caregivers or family members who cannot be present on-site
• A reliable Electronic Health Record for documentation of services

Family and Caregiver Resources:

• Caregiver Support and Training Materials: Psychoeducational resources, training manuals, and curriculum on trauma-informed caregiving to support at-home care
• On-Site and Remote Support for Families: Space for family therapy sessions, family workshops, and remote support options to maintain consistency between residential and home settings
• Crisis Support Services: Access to on-call therapists or a crisis response team for urgent needs, providing families with a reliable resource during times of heightened need

Case Management and Community Resources:

• Case Managers and Social Workers: Coordinating care between Chaddock, schools, healthcare providers, and other community services to ensure comprehensive support
• Transitional Support Tools: Resources for planning and executing transitions from residential care to community living, including collaboration with local schools, social services, and community mental health programs

Manuals and Training

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

Clinicians and/or mental health professionals with a background in trauma-informed care, attachment-based therapy, and child and family therapy can be trained in DTAP

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Program Manual(s)

Manual details:

• Morford, K. (2024). Embracing resilience: Nurturing attachment beyond trauma. Chaddock’s Developmental Trauma and Attachment Program. Chaddock Attachment and Trauma Services.

The manual is available to those who enroll in DTAP training. For more information, go to https://www.chaddock.org/

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact:

• Kelly Green
  www.chaddock.org
  kgreen@chaddock.org
  phone: (217) 592-0477

Training Type/Location:

DTAP Training is provided by Chaddock either on site at the Chaddock training facility or at another organization/other locations. Information about training in the DTAP model can be found at https://www.chaddock.org/

Number of days/hours:

DTAP training consists of approximately 30 hours of training:

• Prework = Completed prior to the virtual training days and consists of 3 chapters of reading and 3 prerecorded 1-hour webinars.
• Virtual Training Days = 2 days for 6 hour each day
• In person Training Days = 2 days for 6 hours a day
• Consultation = 6 hours of group consultation that occurs monthly after the in-person training days

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

Additional References