For More Information:

Lesley Sternin, LCSW, Director; LesleyS@jfcs.org; 415-359-2476

Child Trauma Training Institute
Parents Place
Koret Family Resource Center
1710 Scott Street
San Francisco, CA 94115
415-359-2454

CTI Program Brochure (pdf)

Child Trauma Training Institute

The Child Trauma Training Institute provides state-of-the-art, evidence-based training for early childhood mental health professionals. Our mission is to enhance knowledge about the treatment of traumatized children ages birth through 5 years. Participants have the opportunity to develop or expand skills in relationship-based treatment for children and families, with an emphasis on the impact of trauma in early childhood.

Trauma and Young Children

Young children exposed to trauma are at risk for significant cognitive, social, and emotional problems. Trauma can negatively affect children's brain development, readiness to learn, and family relationships. Skillful intervention in the early years of a child's development requires special training in the foundations of early childhood mental health. Those foundations include:

• Stress-Trauma continuum
• Brain development
• Neurorelational model
• Forming attachments
• Typical and atypical child development
• Family and parent development
• Intersubjective/reflective use of self
• Child observation and assessment
• Case formulation
• Diagnostic Classification System 0 – 3
• Child-Parent Psychotherapy
• Mental health consultation to childcare

Alliance with UCSF General Hospital

The Institute is sponsored by JFCS' Parents Place San Francisco in collaboration with University of California / San Francisco General Hospital / Child Trauma Research Program.

The Program

Participants in the Child Trauma Training Institute may enroll in a one- or a two-year program. In the first year, CTI provides training in the foundations of Early Childhood Mental Health, trauma theory, and Child-Parent Psychotherapy as well as training in how to screen children with special developmental needs. In the second year, CTI provides in-depth training in Child-Parent Psychotherapy, an evidence-based, dyadic model of treatment for young children.

See more about Program Components

See Faculty

Apply online or contact program staff (see contact information in left column) for more information.

Eligibility and Fees

Clinicians who have an interest in Early Childhood Mental Health and who want to expand their knowledge of both the foundations in this field and the theory and treatment of trauma. Early childhood educators and occupational, speech, and language therapists will also be considered.

Subsidized tuition is $1,000 per year and is made possible by generous grants from the John and Lisa Pritzker Family Fund, the Ingrid D. Tauber Philanthropic Fund, other individual donations, fees, and corporate grants. These scholarships are available to encourage agency staff to enroll. For others, full tuition is $5,000 for each year of the program.

A certificate is awarded on completion of the program.  Continuing education units can be earned for LMFTs and LCSWs, and MCEP units for licensed clinical psychologists. Also offered are California competencies for Infant-Family and Early Childhood Mental Health clinicians.

Apply online or contact program staff (see contact information in left column) for more information.