TARA Practice Model (Trauma, Attachment, Resilience into Action)

TARA Practice Model Description

The TARA (Trauma, Attachment, Resilience into Action) practice model was informed by PhD research (Lotty, 2019) and a growing community of practice that have undertaken a university based graduate level programme for trauma-informed care, theory and practice in Ireland (University College Cork, 2023a; 2023b). The model draws on person centered care (McCormack and McCance, 2017), trauma recovery principles (Hobfoll et al., 2007) and SAMHSA’s (2023) trauma informed care principles: safety, choice, trustworthiness, collaboration, empowerment and cultural sensitivity as well as SAMHSA’s core assumptions. These relate to understanding the effects of trauma and pathways to recovery, recognising the signs and symptoms of trauma, responding through integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures and practices, and actively resisting re-traumatisation. TARA recognising trauma experience and recovery must be considered in the context of a person’ an interconnected experience across their social ecology (Bronfenbrenner, 2000), thus beyond the individual experience as well as experiences found in the interpersonal, community and social structures of our society.  TARA fosters a strengths-based mindset, orientated towards supporting engagement in the process of resilience, our capacity to adapt positively in the face of adversity (Lotty, 2023).

The TARA practice model represents how to embed and realize these fundamental principles into tangible concrete practices. It does through by articulating clearly six core dimensions of practice (knowledge and skills) that draw together the learnings from three key areas of research – contemporary trauma theory, attachment theory and theories of resilience. TARA has one overarching principle: At the heart of practicing Trauma-informed Care is supporting the individual’s recovery and growth through the experience of empowerment and partnership. The practitioner is equipped with a Trauma-informed Care mindset and skillset that supports the individual through the recognition of expertise by virtue of lived experience, developing his/her understanding, mentalising and coping skills through a true experience of partnership.

The TARA model recognises that front-line practitioners from a range of disciplines are in a unique position to become the anchor for therapeutic change, providing foundational support through experiences of relational safety and stability. As TARA focuses both on practitioner experience as well as service users, it acknowledges the parallel processes that operate when working with trauma, and how exposure to trauma narratives as well as awareness of one’s own trauma history may influence practice and service delivery in ways that mirror the trauma experience. Furthermore, TARA emphasizes that the journey towards positive growth may also involve a parallel process. For conceptual clarity, The TARA model defines trauma-informed practices as the day-to-day initiatives, interventions and practices that are carried out within the core processes of working with children and families within the specific professionals’ role that reflect principles of person-centered care and trauma recovery principles.

Associated research: TARA Project | University College Cork (ucc.ie)https://www.ucc.ie/en/iss21/researchprojects/researchprojects/taraproject/