A compassionate, evidence-based framework developed for children from hard places, helping caregivers understand the roots of fear-based behavior and build relationships grounded in connection, safety, and trust.
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Alecia Brantingham, MA, MSW, LCSW is a certified TBRI Practitioner who offers caregiver training events throughout the year in the Indianapolis area. These two-day seminars are designed to give parents, foster caregivers, and adoptive families practical tools grounded in the TBRI framework — so they can apply what they learn at home, starting immediately.
Children who have experienced early trauma, neglect, abuse, or disrupted attachment often develop behaviors that can be confusing, exhausting, and even frightening for the caregivers who love them. Defiance, aggression, chronic lying, emotional shutdown, an inability to accept comfort—these are not character flaws or signs of a child who doesn't want to connect. They are survival strategies, developed in response to environments where basic needs for safety, nourishment, and nurturing relationships could not be counted on.
Trust-Based Relational Intervention, known as TBRI, is an evidence-based therapeutic framework developed at Texas Christian University specifically for children who have experienced adverse childhood experiences. Rather than addressing behavior through consequences and control, TBRI works from the inside out—using three sets of principles called Empowering Principles, Connecting Principles, and Correcting Principles to meet children's sensory and physical needs, build felt safety through relationship, and gently redirect fear-based behaviors toward healthier patterns. The approach recognizes that a child cannot learn, regulate, or connect until they feel genuinely safe in their body and in their relationship with their caregiver.
At Strengthening Families, TBRI is used in both therapy sessions and caregiver training to help families find hope, safety, and connection. It pairs naturally with Theraplay—a structured, play-based therapy that deepens the attachment relationship between children and caregivers through guided, joyful interaction. Where TBRI provides the overarching framework for understanding and responding to a child's needs, Theraplay brings that framework to life in the session itself, creating experiences of attunement, nurture, and delight that help rewire a child's expectations of what relationships feel like. Together, these approaches form a powerful foundation for families working to build secure, trusting bonds after early harm.
TBRI is a framework that many caregivers haven't heard of until they're already deep in the search for answers. These questions address what we hear most from caregivers who are just getting started—and if yours isn't here, we'd love to hear from you directly.
TBRI stands for Trust-Based Relational Intervention. It was developed specifically for children who have experienced adverse childhood experiences — including trauma, neglect, abuse, or early institutional care — and the caregivers who love them. While it is most commonly used with adoptive and foster families, its principles are relevant for any caregiver parenting a child who displays fear-based behaviors or has experienced significant early stress.
The TBRI Caregiver Training is a two-day seminar that introduces caregivers to the core principles of TBRI — Empowering, Connecting, and Correcting — and gives them practical tools they can begin using at home right away. Training sessions are presented by certified TBRI Practitioners in a supportive group environment. Alecia co-presents these trainings in the Indianapolis area twice a year.
Yes, attendance for both full days is required, as the training builds progressively and each day's content connects directly to the next. It is also strongly recommended that all caregivers involved in the child's life attend together. When both parents or primary caregivers participate, they develop a shared language and understanding of TBRI principles that makes a meaningful difference in how consistently the approach can be applied at home. The training is most effective when everyone in the caregiving relationship is on the same page.
Both have real value, and many families choose to do both — but the training offers something therapy sessions alone cannot match in terms of sheer volume of learning. At $365 per couple, the two-day training delivers 14 hours of hands-on TBRI instruction. Compare that to individual therapy sessions at $135 per session, and the training represents an exceptional return on your investment. You leave with a comprehensive framework, practical tools you can use immediately, and the experience of learning alongside other caregivers who understand what you are going through. For families looking to go deep on TBRI in a concentrated, cost-effective way, the training is an outstanding place to start.
