Project BRIGHT (Building Resilience through Interventions: Growing Healthier Together) is a three-year program funded through the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration/ Center for Mental Health Services, as part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). NCTSN is a national network of organizations and grantees that work collaboratively to develop and promote effective community practices for children exposed to a wide array of traumatic events.
Project BRIGHT addresses traumatic stress in children ages birth to five and their parents in recovery from substance use disorders and co-occurring disorders at eight Family Residential Treatment programs across Massachusetts. Project BRIGHT’s goals are to address complex trauma symptoms and build resilience in young children through provision of therapeutic interventions focused on building the parent–child relationship, while simultaneously training staff at the Family Residential Treatment programs in these interventions. Trained clinicians provide Child-Parent Psychotherapy, an evidence based treatment modality developed specifically to address the impact of traumatic experiences on young children and parents by building new understandings and behaviors that promote developmental progress, resilience and emotional stability. Through existing and continuing program support, the ability of staff at the Family Residential Treatment programs to address complex trauma in young children will be sustained.
The Family Residential Treatment programs provide intensive substance use disorder treatment to between 175–250 families per year, the majority with children age 5 and under, who are seeking recovery from the devastating effects of substance use disorders, mental illness and trauma while raising young children. These families may have previously been homeless, involved with the state’s child welfare agency, witnesses to and victims of trauma ranging from living on the streets to experiencing physical violence, or engaged in criminal activities all while pregnant or parenting children. The effects of these types of traumatic events on young children are well-documented: they disrupt children’s abilities to develop secure attachment and adaptive coping skills, impeding their social-emotional development and placing them at risk for future problems.
Through Project BRIGHT, trained clinicians provide Child–Parent Psychotherapy to families on site at the Family Residential Treatment programs, simultaneously training Family Residential Treatment staff in the practices critical for addressing children’s trauma at all eight programs. Project activities, interventions and implementation are evaluated for effectiveness by Boston University. In addition, older children are offered the evidence-informed WELL Child group intervention (a children’s trauma, self-care, self-esteem and resiliency building group) to similarly support them in developing coping skills.
For more information, please contact Karen Gould, LICSW, Project Director at 617-661-3991 or karengould@healthrecovery.org.