FACT - Five to Thrive: Attachment, Trauma and Resilience Training

• Over 500 Five to Thrive / Trauma Informed Champions who work with expectant parents, children and young people aged 0-19 and families are expected to complete the Five to Thrive: Attachment, Trauma and Resilience (FTT:ATR) course delivered by Kate Cairns Associates (KCA)
• A small multi-agency group of trained champions will then become FTT:ATR Trainers
• FTT:ATR Trainers will go on to train a further 1,500+ staff
• Champions and trainers will be part of a FTT/ Trauma Informed Champions Network to share practice and support champions to embed the new learning in practice

'Five to Thrive':

• Represents a sequence of activities that happen when one person connects in the best way with another person to meet an attachment need*. This sequence is necessary for our brains to be healthy
• Is based on neuroscience
• Is a sequence that we do not usually think about consciously. For many people the five steps, starting with respond and ending with talk, happen automatically during our interactions with others, but this is not the case for everyone
• Is a model that when applied consciously helps to:
• promote healthy brain development in children and young people;
• maintain healthy brain function through the life course
• support recovery from trauma
• build resilience
• Is a strengths-based model**

Safety and mattering are essential for a healthy functioning nervous system

When attachment needs are being met in children and young people it supports them to form a strong sense of identity, to develop their ability to self-regulate and to build resilience. In turn this enables them to form positive relationships and to integrate well into the community.

Attachment needs manifest throughout our lives and Five to Thrive provides a model to help us understand the importance of addressing this and how to fulfil these needs most effectively across the life course.

The first 1001 days (conception to 2 years) of a baby's life are most critical for laying the foundations for future cognitive, emotional and behavioural development due to the rapid development of the brain in these early years. Babies are born without the ability to self-soothe and rely entirely on a responsive, attuned primary carer to meet their attachment needs. Healthy Five to Thrive responses from a carer are necessary for healthy brain development and the development of self-regulation.

When attachment needs are not being met a range of different behaviours and/or challenges can be observed including those listed below. Recognising these behaviours and/or challenges among children and young people and relating them to Five to Thrive can indicate which steps in the sequence may benefit from more focus from a calm, supportive adult.

Whilst the focus here is on supporting children and young people these challenges are not unique to children and can be observed into adulthood. Five to Thrive support can, therefore, be applied in the same way.

Five to Thrive is a model that can be used when working with anyone to promote healthy brain development and also in a targeted way with those who need more support.

We are all vulnerable

We all have attachment needs when we feel unsafe

We are all resilient

We can all contribute to meeting the attachment needs of other people

People need people

Five to Thrive interactions are important throughout the life course providing us with the healthy nourishment our brains need.

Trauma is brain injury caused by exposure to events that cause overwhelming stress, sometimes known as 'toxic' stress. Humans are not born able to regulate stress but develop this ability through being with self-regulating, responsive adults. Support from caring adults protects children from trauma. It is, therefore, vital that everyone who works with children and young people understands trauma and is able to embed this learning into their practice.

Adults can also experience overwhelming levels of stress and will need the support of other caring adults to recover. If the stress is complex and has been affecting their emotions and behaviour since childhood, the support they will need is likely to be intensive and lengthy.

Most people recover spontaneously from traumatic life events however, some are left traumatised. Until they recover people affected by toxic stress struggle to: self-regulate; process information and manage the world around them; and make and maintain relationships.

Five to Thrive is an easily accessible model that can be woven into everyday interactions to support recovery from trauma. It is not a replacement for intensive therapy that some people may need, but it is supportive and accessible to all. The Five to Thrive steps reflect a process of co-regulation, guidance and support needed for families, children and young people in this situation.