pillars of intervention

The Core Pillars of Intervention

There are three inter-related core needs or pillars of intervention as referred to by Bath & Seita (2018) for successful intervention with children affected by adversity. These pillars include: safety, connection, coping ability. A felt sense of safety in the physical, emotional, relational, and cultural realms is established when educators and practitioners remain in a place of curiosity with children. This also supports connection and alignment to promote healing and build resilience, buffering or protecting against future experiences. Connection-building through meaningful interactions establishes a caring and healing environment where learning how to cope adaptively with stress can occur. Empathy and a nonjudgmental approach is necessary for children to feel supported in being honest and open in exploring how what has happened is impacting the way that person experiences themselves, others and the world around them.

Unfortunately, each of us only has limited opportunities to establish safety and connection throughout children's days or weeks. So how can we make the most of the time we do have? I spoke about this topic in an episode of Resilient Educators. Watch the excerpt below.

Earn your trauma certification with 10 Steps to Create a Trauma-Informed Resilient School

By Dr. Caelan Soma, PsyD, LMSW

Dr. Caelan Soma, PsyD, LMSW, Chief Clinical Officer, provides oversight for all clinical operations and research at Starr Commonwealth. Dr. Soma provides trauma assessment and trauma informed, resilience focused intervention for youth utilizing evidence-based practices, including TLC’s SITCAP® model programs.


About Starr Commonwealth

Starr Commonwealth is dedicated to the mission to lead with courage to create positive experiences so that all children, families, and communities flourish. We specialize in residential, community-based, educational, and professional training programs that build on the strengths of children, adults, and families in communities around the world. To schedule a training or consultation, please contact info@starr.org or call 800-837-5591.