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Clinical Foundations Course Relaunch: Enhanced Content and a Comprehensive New Textbook

Starr is committed to providing educational experiences that are grounded in research, centered on resilience, and responsive to today’s needs of children, families, and youth-serving professionals. That’s why we are thrilled to announce the relaunch of our Clinical Foundations of Trauma and Resilience certification course—newly filmed, significantly updated, and redesigned to offer a more robust and accessible learning experience. 

This relaunch represents more than an update; it is a substantive advancement in how we teach and support the implementation of Structured Sensory Intervention for Traumatized Children, Adolescents, and Parents (SITCAP®). 

A Newly Filmed Course With a Game-Changing Addition: The Clinical Foundations Textbook  

A major enhancement to the Clinical Foundations course is the addition of a comprehensive textbook, designed to accompany and deepen the full training experience. Foundations of Trauma and Resilience: Structured Sensory Interventions offers a rich, accessible deep dive into Structured Sensory Intervention for Traumatized Children, Adolescents, and Parents (SITCAP®)—providing learners with the clarity, guidance, and tools they need to confidently bring the model to life.  

Clinical Foundations Cover

What SITCAP® Offers 

SITCAP® is Starr’s evidence-informed, resilience-focused intervention model that helps children and adolescents process overwhelming experiences by:  

  • Reframing trauma through sensory-based methods 
  • Supporting emotional regulation through structured activities 
  • Helping youth transform “what happened to me” into “who I am becoming”  
  • Strengthening empowerment, choice, and voice 
  • Building resilience through a present-focused, strengths-based lens  

Rather than relying solely on verbal processing, SITCAP® integrates sensory memory, movement, imagination, and creative expression, meeting young people where they are. 

Historically, the model has been taught through research and practice-based training. The new textbook and updated course now provide a more cohesive, accessible, and comprehensive learning structure. 

A Deeper, Clearer Learning Experience 

The new Clinical Foundations text includes: 

• A comprehensive explanation of the SITCAP® process 

From assessment to intervention to closure, the manual outlines each step with clarity and purpose. 

• Brand-new core principles of SITCAP®  

A newly refined framework now anchors the model, offering learners a more structured and easily applicable way to understand what makes SITCAP® effective. 

• Case examples and real-world applications 

The book guides learners through hands-on practice using case stories, reflections, and structured scenarios to strengthen understanding. 

• Updated scientific insights 

The latest research on trauma, neurodevelopment, and resilience integrated throughout, connecting foundational practice with current science. 

Expanded Course Content, Including Attachment Theory 

In addition to established components such as the Behavior Support Plan and the Circle of Courage, the updated course introduces new content reflecting current best practices. A newly developed section in the training on Attachment Theory offers a modern, neuroscience-aligned understanding of how early relationships shape regulation, behavior, and resilience. This update enriches the SITCAP® lens and deepens the clinical insight learners bring to their work.  

Designed for Today’s Professionals, Rooted in Starr’s Mission 

Our intention was not simply to revise a course, but to elevate the entire learning experience. With new filming, a modernized structure, and the integration of a comprehensive textbook, the reimagined Clinical Foundations course reflects the latest research and evolving needs of the field. It’s designed to equip professionals with practical tools to support healing and growth. 

Whether you are new to Starr or a long-standing member of our community, the refreshed Clinical Foundations course provides renewed clarity, depth, and inspiration as we continue our shared commitment to fostering healing and resilience.

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Structured Sensory Interventions for Traumatized Children, Adolescents and Parents: SITCAP in Action

Since 1990, the National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children (TLC) has pioneered strength-based, resilience-focused interventions with young people. As a core piece of these interventions, the helping adult becomes a witness seeking to understand the deeply painful experiences of traumatized children. How traumatized youth interpret themselves, their interactions with others, and their environment guide treatment. We often hear traumatized youth say:

If you don’t think what I think… feel what I feel… experience what I experience… see what I see when I look at myself, others, and the world around me… how can you possibly know what is best for me?

Childhood trauma is marked by an overwhelming sense of terror and powerlessness (Steele & Kuban, 2013). Loss of loving relationships is yet another type of trauma that produces the pain of sadness and grief. The resulting symptoms only reflect the neurological, biological, and emotional coping systems mobilized in the struggle to survive. Young people need new strategies for moving beyond past trauma, regulating emotions, and coping with future challenges.

Neuroscience confirms that trauma is experienced in the deep affective and survival areas of the brain where there are only sensations, emotionally conditioned memories, and visual images (Levine & Kline, 2008; Perry, 2009; van der Kolk, 2006). These define how traumatized youth view themselves and the terrifying world around them. Reason, language, and logic needed to make sense of past experiences are upper brain cognitive functions that are difficult to access in trauma (Levine & Kline, 2008; Perry, 2009; van der Kolk, 2006). This explains the limitation of traditional talk therapy or narrowly cognitive interventions. Therefore TLC’s Structured Sensory Interventions for Traumatized Children, Adolescents and Parents (SITCAP) starts with the lived experience of youth which drives their behavior.

SITCAP provides the opportunity to safely revisit and rework past trauma, beginning with sensory memories which youth have experienced and stored. Trauma-related symptoms can be reduced and resilience strengthened to support post-traumatic growth as youth engage in SITCAP (Steele & Kuban, 2013). The process is designed to support safety, emotional regulation, and empowerment.

With the adult as a curious witness, youth are able to take the lead and set the pace of intervention. They are giving permission to say “yes” or “no” to whatever they are asked to talk about and discover that saying “no” is honored. This genuine interest is essential to allow the youth to experience the intervention as safe and the practitioner as trustworthy. Their safety remains the primary focus. The SITCAP process helps youth identify ways their body responds to stress. Young people recognize how post-traumatic memories can be activated by current events and learn to “resource” their body to regulate their reactions.

Read more about SITCAP in action here.