Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) ® as the primary program model for our programs. TBRI was developed by Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross at the Child Development Institute at Texas Christian University. It is an evidence-based model with over a decade of research behind it.

TBRI® is an attachment-based, trauma-informed intervention that is designed to meet the complex needs of vulnerable children. TBRI® uses Empowering Principles to address physical needs, Connecting Principles for attachment needs, and Correcting Principles to disarm fear-based behaviors. While the intervention is based on years of attachment, sensory processing, and neuroscience research, the heartbeat of TBRI® is connection.

TruLight believes that God built us for relationships. Healthy and nurturing relationships and when relationships that are closest to our hearts are broken it creates a gap in development of trust of ones self, others, and God. TBRI is a holistic intervention that meets the needs of the whole child. It is an approach to caregiving that is developmentally respectful, responsive to trauma, and attachment-based. TBRI has equipped our staff and foster families to meet the child where they are mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and not where they assume they should be based on age and grade.

All of our staff and foster families utilize TBRI in order to build healthy connections with our children. Because our youth have such complex histories of trauma, we believe that even the smallest improvement in a therapeutic connection with a healthy adult is still improvement. Every child is unique, and TBRI focuses on meeting each child where they are. Each child has various needs and desires for connectivity, and TBRI allows us to interact with them in a way that fosters individualized growth.

Trulight127 has been utilizing TBRI since 2015. All of our staff and our foster parents go through TBRI training, and receive coaching on a regular basis on how TBRI can help them better work with and connect with their kids.

All trulight127 staff and foster parents are also trained in Satori Alternatives to Aggression (SAMA). SAMA is meant to be used in conjunction with TBRI, specifically for when a child is severely deregulated and needs help regulating themselves. 75% of SAMA teaches de-escalation techniques, and the remaining 25% teaches containments and other defensive maneuvers should a child act out aggressively.