Ep. 15: Data and research improve treatment of complex trauma

01/26/22 • 42 min

Few social service agencies are as committed as JRI to improving treatment through research and data.

In today’s episode of Justice in Action, we talk to Hilary Hodgdon, Research Director at Justice Resource Institute, and Lia Martin, Senior Associate Director of Quality Management. Together, they are part of a data and research division that is unusual among social service agencies for its size and scope.

JRI clients suffer from complex trauma. On average, a child or adolescent seeing a JRI therapist has experienced three different types of trauma, such as neglect, physical abuse or psychological abuse. That number rises to five or six for clients in residential programs. In addition, these young people may face racism or other types of bias These traumas can affect children’s attachment to their parents or other caregiver, as well as how they think of themselves in the world and whether they see the world as a safe or dangerous place.

The data that Hilary and Lia gather and analyze help guide, assess and improve treatments for these young victims of complex trauma. JRI also uses the data to evaluate the effectiveness of its programs.

The heart of the data and research work is the Client Assessment Tracking System, or CATS, a tool developed by JRI to gather and analyze information about clients and families. Hilary and Lia use the data not only to support the work of JRI clinicians and programs, but also to examine specific research questions, such as how gender, race and an individual’s personal history with trauma affect treatment outcomes. They learned, for instance, that while females tend to present with more and stronger symptoms than males, both genders benefit equally from trauma-informed care.

Smaller agencies that lack a complete research department of their own also benefit from JRI’s research program. Clinicians from those agencies can feed their clients’ data into CATS and benefit from the analysis in the treatment of their clients. In addition, Hilary and Lia are having a nationwide impact on trauma-informed care through training, presentations and the peer-reviewed articles they write and publish.

For more information on JRI’s data and research work, visit jri.org

Few social service agencies are as committed as JRI to improving treatment through research and data.

For more information on JRI’s data and research work, visit jri.org

Previous Episode

Ep. 14: Courageous Conversations

Staff of Justice Resource Institute don’t shy away from talking about tough issues like racial justice, immigration policy or vaccine hesitancy.

They lead the way.

JRI’s “Courageous Conversations” initiative brings together groups of employees and managers —usually about 50 attend each virtual meeting — to discuss the most difficult topics that come to them, either from fellow employees or from the clients and communities they serve throughout the region.

The initiative grew out of Listen, Learn, Lift, a program started in Lynn to have frank conversations with local youth about racial justice and other tough topics. The conversations and the actions taken as a result were so successful that JRI staff decided to spread the word — and the work — throughout the organization. Staff set the agendas for the bi-monthly Zoom meetings, invite guest speakers and run the meetings. JRI executives give their full support to the initiative, which is in line with the agency’s core value of furthering social justice.

To keep the discussions civil and productive, the group uses a Unity Agreement that outlines principles everyone agrees to uphold at the meetings and that ensure that people are listened to respectfully and feel safe to express themselves honestly. Employees say it builds trust for the entire organization because people feel they are being respected, listened to, and encouraged.

JRI, with over 2,500 employees in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, runs programs helping individuals and families experiencing trauma. It is one of the largest social service agencies in New England. JRI is happy to share what “Courageous Conversations” has taught them and how the program works.

In this Justice In Action podcast, listen here to JRI staff members Dalene Basden, Director of Family and Community Engagement; Matthew Peiken, Northeast Regional Director; and

Amanda Marte, Director of the Young Parent Support Program and an outpatient therapist in the Lawrence and Lowell region, as they discuss “Courageous Conversations.”

Visit jri.org to learn more about Justice Resource Institute and its programs.

Next Episode

Ep. 16: Mental Heath Treatment for Clients with Developmental Differences

Mental health clinicians are often reluctant to treat people who have intellectual and developmental differences (IDDs) for fear of doing something that could worsen rather than improve the client’s condition.

In this episode of Justice in Action, two JRI clinicians, Dr. Jacquelyn Kraps, Metrowest Area Director and Clinical Director of Outpatient Services, and Bailey McCombs, Licensed Metal Health Counselor and Expressive Arts Therapist, talk about the rewards and challenges of working with children with a range of differences, from autism spectrum disorder to chromosomal differences, cognitive challenges, and traumatic brain injury.

Dr. Kraps and McCombs have helped establish the Developmental Differences Specialty Team to assist other JRI therapists to work effectively with clients with both IDDs and mental health needs, including complex trauma.

Services for those individuals have long been siloed because they have been seen as separate and distinct. JRI is breaking new ground by having a single provider address the entirety of the client’s service needs.

Treating clients with both complex trauma and IDDs draw heavily on a therapist’s creativity, flexibility, and powers of observation, Dr. Kraps and McComb say. Sometimes it requires teasing out which problems are caused by trauma and which are part of the individual’s developmental difference.

They advise other clinicians to be curious, open, and willing to say the wrong thing. If an approach doesn’t work, they can always shift course. Sometimes a client — especially a non-verbal client — can communicate most successfully by writing, drawing, or moving their body.

Individuals with IDDs deserve effective treatment for mental health needs, which they are at least as likely to experience as the rest of the community, and they can enjoy positive, healthier outcomes with the right therapeutic approach. For more information, visit jri.org.

A note about language: IDD often stands for intellectual and development disabilities. JRI choses to use the word differences instead of disabilities to be as inclusive as possible, and honors that each individual and family get to decide how they identify.