Description
ARC is a framework for intervention with youth and families who have experienced multiple and/or prolonged traumatic stress. ARC identifies three core domains that are frequently impacted among traumatized youth, and which are relevant to future resiliency: Attachment, Regulation, and Competency. ARC provides a theoretical framework, core principles of intervention, and a guiding structure for providers working with these children and their caregivers, while recognizing that a one-size-model does not fit all.
ARC is designed for youth from birth through young adulthood, youth with a wide range of symptom presentations, and different caregiving systems (i.e., biological, adoptive, kin, and foster parents). ARC can be used in the mental health services care continuum, schools and after school programs, day care settings, shelters, and primary care health systems. ARC has also been adapted for use in specialized settings (foster care, education, juvenile justice) and within different cultural contexts (Native American/Alaskan Native youth, urban youth of color, etc.). ARC concepts can be integrated into individual and group therapy, caregiver education and support, or staff training.
Integrate routines, rhythms, and structures to increase felt safety and support skill development; Support adult caregivers in understanding and managing their own responses to youth in their care; Build caregiver capacity to understand and respond to needs driving youth behavior; Support effective responses to youth behavior that are trauma-informed and increase safety; Build child/adolescent ability to manage and tolerate emotional and physiological experience; Build child/adolescent ability to share internal experience with others and sustain relationships; Support children/adolescent in recognizing choice points, managing impulsive behaviors and making choices; Support development of developmentally appropriate understanding of self; Support youth in reflecting and processing trauma.
