The Attachment, Regulation and Competency or ARC framework is a natural next step for organizations who want to go beyond Trauma 101 in providing trauma-informed care to their service recipients. 

The Alaska Child Trauma Center at Alaska Behavioral Health is a treatment integration and adaptation center (Category III) for the SAMHSA-supported National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN).  We joined the network in 2005 and are Alaska’s only NCTSN center. 

The ARC training team at the Alaska Child Trauma Center was the first training hub for the ARC framework external to the model developers and development center (Dr. Margaret Blaustein & Kristine Kinniburgh, LICSW, with the Center for Trauma Training). We have been a licensed and certified ARC training center since 2008.  Since that time, we have provided ARC training to over 4,000 providers in the United States, Canada and the US Virgin Islands. In collaboration with Duke Clinical Research Institute and the model developers, we conducted the first ARC clinical outcomes study, published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma in 2011.  In this study, we focused on developmental and cultural considerations in implementation of the framework with a complex trauma-impacted and diverse population (over 50% Alaska Native/American Indian). 

Since 2011 we have been a regional training hub for the Complex Trauma Treatment Network, a NCTSN trauma training and technical assistance center focused on supporting organizational implementation of trauma practices and multi-agency, regional and statewide trauma initiatives.  We have provided ARC training to health systems serving rural and diverse communities, including ARC implementation projects with;

B.C. Children’s Hospital

The Pathway Home at Southcentral Foundation (SCF)

Casa de Amparo – San Diego

Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association (APIA) in partnership with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC)

AK Child and Family

Alaska Psychiatric Institution (API)

Meet our Trainers:

Joshua Arvidson, MSS., LCSW; Chief Clinical Officer, Child and Family Services

Joshua is an expert in trauma-informed care for children, and established the Alaska Child Trauma Center at Alaska Behavioral Health. He has served 2 terms on the Steering Committee for SAMHSA’s National Child Traumatic Stress Network, and is the Principal Investigator for the Military Family Child Trauma Program. He’s also on the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma and has presented at over 100 conferences on childhood trauma, including the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Joshua serves on the Board of Directors for FOCUS and has designed and taught courses on clinical practice with children and adolescents and childhood trauma for the University of Alaska Anchorage. Joshua has published in the journals, Child Welfare 360, Child Maltreatment, the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma and Trauma, Abuse and Violence. He’s been recognized by the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce as one of Alaska’s “Top 40 Under 40” and has received a Business Achievement Award for Healthcare from the Anchorage Daily News.

Kristin Mortenson, MS, LPC; CDC I, Director of Early Child and Outpatient Services

Kristin Mortenson, MS, LPC, CDC I, is the Director of Early Child and Outpatient Services at Alaska Behavioral Health. As part of the Alaska Child trauma Center since inception, Kristin provides mental health services to children and families impacted by trauma and is a nationally certified ARC (Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency) trainer.

 

 

Marissa Hanson, MSW, LCSW, Clinical Manager of Wrap-Around Services, Clinician

Marissa Hanson, MSW, LCSW is a clinical manager and clinician at Alaska Behavioral Health. She has a Certificate in Interpersonal Trauma Studies and has been working with children and their families who have experienced trauma since 2010. Marissa provides trauma training and clinical consultation throughout Alaska.

 

 

 

Mara Hill, MS, LPC, Clinical Manager, Clinician and Trainer

Mara has been a clinician with Alaska Behavioral Health since 2015, when she graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage with a degree in clinical psychology and a certificate in children’s mental health. Mara enjoys facilitating preschool psychotherapy groups, eating peanut butter on fruit, and going outside.

 

 

 

 

 

ARC Implementation

Our experience is that ARC is best implemented as part of an organizational change process that is informed by implementation science to support the development of knowledge and skills and the application of that knowledge and skill in patient treatment.

We work with interested sites to develop an implementation plan to meet their specific needs. It will generally include:

• Organization self-assessment and readiness
• Initial ARC training (2 days, in person)
• Clinical and Systemic Implementation Consultation (1 year following training)
• Advanced ARC Training (1 day)
• Advanced ARC Clinical and Systemic Consultation (1 year following training)

For more information, please email trainingteam@akbh.org.