For More Information:

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

Child Trauma Training Institute

CTI provides state-of-the-art, evidence-based training for Bay Area mental health clinicians. Our mission is to enhance knowledge about the treatment of traumatized children aged birth through 5 years. Participants will 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. Such experiences may include acute traumatic events or chronic traumatic situations. Traumatic stress results when exposure overwhelms a child's ability to cope with the experience. These experiences include:

• Exposure to family and community violence
• Sexual and physical abuse
• Loss or death of a parent
• Significant medical procedures and hospitalizations
• Natural disasters
• Serious accidents
• Terrorist attacks
• Wars and other types of political violence
• Intergenerational transmission of traumatic stress

New treatment strategies targeted to help resolve trauma responses and strengthen the parent-child relationship are key in helping to alleviate the impact of trauma on children.

Alliance with UC/SF General Hospital

The Institute is sponsored by JFCS' Parents Place San Francisco in cooperation with the University of California/San Francisco General Hospital Child Trauma Research Project. Seminars and case consultations are provided by Alicia Lieberman, PhD, Director of the UCSF/SFGH Child Trauma Research Project (CTRP), CTRP faculty and staff, and Child Trauma Training Institute Director Lesley Sternin, LCSW.

The Training Model

The core of the training teaches the principles of Child-Parent Psychotherapy, an empirically supported, relationship-based treatment for children aged birth to 5 and their families. Child-Parent Psychotherapy practice is responsive to the cultural-ecological context of the family and the developmental level of the child. Intervention guidelines are designed to assist the clinician in alleviating the effects of trauma on young children.

Eligibility and Admission

The program is designed for mental health clinicians who want to gain skills and enhance competence in providing treatment to children aged birth to 5 and their families who have been exposed to trauma. A limited number of professionals working in public and private settings are accepted into the program.

JFCS Sponsorship/Fees

Scholarships are awarded to each selected participant to underwrite training costs; only a one-time $100 fee per participant for materials is required. Participants' agencies are asked to make a commitment to supporting their staff in attendance at CTI trainings.

Program Components

• Nine-month training program
• One-day intensive training on trauma theory, practice, and research
• Monthly 2 ½-hour didactic trainings
• Biweekly 1 ½-hour group consultation for integration of theory and practice
• Readings to deepen understanding and knowledge of the impact of trauma
• Completion of pre- and post-evaluations of knowledge about trauma's impact on children and families
• Continuing Education Units available for LMFTs and LCSWs and MCEPs for psychologists

A certificate is awarded on completion of the program. Funding for scholarships to the Child Trauma Training Institute is provided by grants from the Lisa & John Pritzker Family Fund, the Ingrid D. Tauber Philanthropic Fund, individual donations, and fees.