Written By Shelby Baker, Family Support Manager

Last week, five post-permanency families and 16 children gathered for TBRI® Camp, a week designed to give families something they don’t always get enough of: a place where they can exhale, be understood, and experience community with people who truly get it. Families enjoyed side-by-side rides, nature walks, time outdoors, and plenty of opportunities to laugh and play together. Every child had a one-on-one adult buddy, and throughout the week, kids practiced giving and receiving care through nurture groups, life skills groups, and regulation activities. Parents also gathered to learn how to identify and meet their own needs, a reminder that caring well for our children also means making space to care for ourselves. TBRI® (Trust-Based Relational Intervention®) was developed by the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at TCU and is used around the world to help caregivers and professionals build trust, connection, and healing relationships with children and youth who have experienced trauma.

The most powerful moments at camp weren’t always the big ones. They were watching a child develop enough felt safety to play freely, seeing one family experience a TBRI® community for the very first time, and watching a teen find the courage to name both the pain of adoption and the gift of her adoptive mom, holding two complicated truths at once. One parent reflected, ‘We enjoyed making new connections, getting some reality checks, and remembering not to skip our own needs where possible. There was a whole lot of prep that went into the camp, and we were so grateful for all the comforts, the soda, the chocolate, the open and safe communication; it really meant a lot.’

Perhaps the greatest gift of the week was the community itself. Our TBRI® trained staff were incredibly attuned to the needs of children and parents, noticing the little things and stepping in with care. Families left not only with new tools, but with something just as important: people who understand their experience and who will continue to walk alongside them, beyond camp.