Understanding the Drivers of Behaviour: Trauma-informed Practice Tool

Understanding the Drivers of Behaviour: Trauma-informed Practice Tool, is a core practice tool for the implementation of the TARA (Trauma, Attachment and Resilience into Action) Practice Model). 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).

This tool supports practitioners to empathetically understand what is driving unwanted emotions and behaviours. Just like an iceberg what is visible first comes to our attention and is easier to recognise.

• -         Name what you see first, the presenting emotional and behavioural experience.
• -          Then, go under the waterline and recognise what is not so easy to see.
• -          Bring your attention to the person’s embodied experience, attachment experience and social reward experience.
• -          Then, go deeper and recognise beliefs the person may hold about his/herself, others, his/her executive functioning experience and mentalising experience.