What Is TBRI and How Can It Help Your Family in San Angelo?

Trust-Based Relational Intervention — TBRI — is an evidence-based caregiving model developed by Dr. Karyn Purvis and Dr. David Cross at Texas Christian University. It was designed specifically for children who have experienced early adversity: neglect, abuse, prenatal stress, multiple placements, or other forms of trauma that affect development.

TBRI is built on a simple but profound insight: children who have been hurt by relationships can only be healed through relationships. The intervention is not primarily about managing behavior. It is about building the kind of safe, consistent, attuned connection that allows a child's nervous system to regulate and their capacity for trust to grow.

The framework has three sets of principles. Empowering Principles address the physical and sensory needs that, when unmet, make self-regulation nearly impossible. Connecting Principles build felt safety and attachment — the foundation everything else rests on. Correcting Principles provide a way to redirect behavior that does not rely on fear, shame, or punishment.

TBRI is used by foster and adoptive families, residential care facilities, schools, and child welfare professionals around the world. It is one of the few interventions with a substantial research base specifically focused on children from hard places.

In San Angelo, I offer TBRI training as a certified TBRI Practitioner. Sessions are individualized — we work through the principles in the context of your specific family, your specific children, and the specific challenges you are navigating. This is not a lecture series. It is a practical, relational process.

If you are a caregiver, educator, or professional who works with children who have experienced trauma, TBRI may be one of the most valuable tools you can add to your practice. I would be glad to talk about what that looks like.