The Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles sees a steady flow of people coming through their doors, but was as surprised as we were by the number of service providers flocking to the launch of the Trauma Informed Nonviolent Standards of Care on October 30th. Having booked a room for 50 people, Echo Parenting & Education staff were hurriedly putting out more chairs as the participants continued to stream in.
All seats filled at the TINSOC launch
Why all the fuss? Well, for the last year and a half, the TINSOC collaborative, led by Echo Parenting & Education, have been working to develop guidelines for any service provider wanting to make their services more trauma informed and adopt a nonviolent approach to child raising. Those two things have not previously been spoken about in the same breath, but it makes sense: preventing developmental trauma in a large part depends on using kinder, more compassionate parenting practices to avoid the toxic stress that is more prevalent than previously believed.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/30/protecting-children-from-toxic-stress/
In addition, we now know that a safe, stable nurturing relationship can not only heal a child who has been exposed to trauma but can also create resilience for life.
Many TINSOC collaborative members aside from Echo staff participated in the event (Adriana Molina, from Children's Institute Inc, Elizabeth Eastlund from Rainbow Services, Katie Tyler from Angel Step Inn, and Elvia Valdes from the Downtown Women's Center), including Eve Sheedy from the LA City Attorney's Office who talked about the importance of this work and how she would like to train all the prosecutors in her department. Ruth Beaglehole, the founder of Echo Parenting & Education, illustrated the principles of nonviolent child raising and answered questions from the audience. If not time-outs then what? "Time in!" encouraged Ruth. When a child (or an adult!) is acting in a disruptive or hostile way, it is usually when they most crave connection. Can we overcome our triggers and respond with compassion? Or are we going to punish, adding to the suffering and making the situation worse?
Ruth Beaglehole, founder of Echo Parenting & Education, responds to questions
The event concluded with a panel of domestic violence shelter staff, who talked about the practicalities of implementing TINSOC - the challenges and the successes. Their experience confirmed that becoming trauma-informed and supporting nonviolent child raising empowered participants and hastened both the parents' and children's recovery.
If you are interested in learning more about TINSOC, please visit the Resource Center on this site to view the document. If your agency is interested in receiving training on how to implement TINSOC, please contact Glenda Linares at Echo Parenting & Education (glinares@echparenting.org).
Echo leadership photo op!
(Left to right, Solina Kwan, Board member, Louise Godbold, Co-Interim Executive Director, Diana Ayala, Co-Interim Executive Director, Corinne Taylor-Cynginser, Board member, Carol Melville, Co-Board Chair and Ruth Beaglehole, founder of Echo Parenting & Education.)
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