Building Resilience to Trauma: The Trauma and Community Resiliency Models

After a traumatic experience, survivors often experience a cascade of physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and spiritual responses that leave them feeling unbalanced and threatened. Building Resilience to Trauma explains these common responses from a biological perspective, reframing the human experience from one of shame and pathology to one of hope and biology. It also presents alternative approaches, the Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM) and the Community Resiliency Model (CRM), which offer concrete and practical skills that resonate with what we know about the biology of trauma.

In programs co-sponsored by the World Health Organization, the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, ADRA International and the department of behavioral health of San Bernardino County, the TRM and the CRM have been used to reduce and in some cases eliminate the symptoms of trauma by helping survivors regain a sense of balance. Clinicians will find that they can use the models with almost anyone who has experienced or witnessed any event that was perceived as life threatening or posed a serious injury to themselves or to others. The models can also be used to treat symptoms of vicarious traumatization and compassion fatigue.

"My enjoyment of this book grew the further I got into it. The opening chapters aim to educate the reader in the body’s biological response to trauma… What I like most about this book is that it goes beyond the one-to-one framework of therapeutic intervention and explores the benefits of community work. It also flags up the fact that, with simple education about the body’s response to trauma, individuals can be empowered to help themselves and others."– Emma Bell,Private Practice

"Body-based trauma interventions, combined with psychoeducation about the biology of trauma, dramatically expand the options for trauma symptoms’reduction and healing―especially when ‘the story’ is inaccessible or difficult to tell. This superbly written book clearly explains these interventions so that clinicians and lay people alike can benefit. Practical, clear, compassionate . . . a major contribution to the trauma and resilience literature!" Glenn R. Schiraldi, PhD, LTC (USAR, Ret.), founder of Resilience Training International and author of The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook and The Complete Guide to Resilience

"Finally, a sober voice breaks through the agony of armchair approaches in a trauma-filled culture. A first of its kind, this book translates cutting-edge neuroscience into the latest practical tools for trauma treatment. Elaine Miller-Karas deftly presents the TRM and CRM models in an engaging way that can be immediately applied in community and clinical settings. The author shortcuts needless jargon and includes real-life cases tested from her work in the trenches―the Haiti earthquake, combat veterans from Vietnam and Iraq, Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, and the aftermath of the Boston marathon bombing. Without a doubt, the examples, techniques, illustrations, cases, and exercises included in this breakthrough book make it a lively, one-of-a-kind read that all trauma-healing professionals will want to have in their personal libraries." Bryan E. Robinson, PhD, professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, a licensed psychotherapist, and author of Chained to the Desk: A Guidebook for Workaholics, Their Partners and Children, and the Clinicians Who Treat Them, 3rd edition

"In this book, Elaine Miller-Karas combines her rich global experience in implementing TRM with the latest research on the brain, nervous system, and trauma to offer practical tools and applications for building resilient individuals and communities. Building Resilience to Trauma will be instrumental to clinicians worldwide in truly helping those who have experienced or witnessed traumatic events." Peggy Rowe Ward, MEd, EdD, senior dharma teacher in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, director of the Mindfulness and Education Project at the American School of Bangkok in Thailand, and author of Love’s Garden and Making Friends with Time.

Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW, is the executive director and co-founder of the Trauma Resource Institute and is adjunct faculty at Loma Linda University’s School of Social Work and Social Ecology.