ITTM Certification Admission/Registration Form

Certification in the Intergenerational Trauma Treatment Model™ (ITTM)*

Psychotherapy practitioners trained in the ITTM are in demand by agencies and organizations who want proven techniques for treating families whose members have experienced trauma. The ITTM is unique because it targets and treats the effects of trauma, not the trauma itself. The model recognizes that caregivers who suffer from unresolved trauma can have difficulty being emotionally available to their hurting children. Resulting caregiver distress can be unintentionally acted out on children whose misbehaviour triggers the caregiver’s own past experience of trauma. Unless a treatment program targets both generations, progress will be limited because on generation may unintentionally continue to hurt or re-traumatize the other. ITTM trains the psychotherapy practitioner to make the caregiver central to the treatment, thus strengthening the parent-child relationship rather than replacing it with a child-therapist relationship. In effect, the caregiver becomes an effective co-therapist for the child. The result is healthier lives and more satisfying family relationships.
*The Intergenerational Trauma Treatment Model™ was developed by Valerie Copping, Director of ITTM Certificate Program, and is presented under her direct supervision (see www.theittm.com)

Admissions Requirements: Applicants must
• have earned at least a master’s degree in psychology, medicine, counseling, psychotherapy, nursing, occupational therapy, or equivalent
• complete an application form, including a resume of previous education, work, or volunteer experience and a 250-word description of goals and rationale for completing ITTM Certification.
• state objectives for learning consonant with the instructional goals of the ITTM program.

Requirements for Completion:
• attendance at all classes
• successful completion of
o first year courses:

• 691.61 Effects and Treatment of Trauma (3 credits)

• 692.61 The Intergenerational Trauma Treatment Model (ITTM), Level I (3 credits)

• 693.61 The Intergenerational Trauma Treatment Model (ITTM™) Level II (3 credits)

o second year courses

• 691/2/3.65 (same as 651/652/653) ITTM™ Practicum (3 credits)

• 691/2/3.66 (same as 661/662/663)-ITTM™ Practicum Seminar (2 credits)

• two credits of the following

• 691.60 Grief and Loss in Children and Youth Who Have Experienced Trauma (1 credit)
• 693.63 Implementing a Trauma Treatment Program at Your Workplace (1 credit)
• 691.67 Skills Training in Cognitive Behavioural Diagramming (1 credit)
• 693.67 The A, B, C’s of Anger (1 credit)
• evidence of meeting all course learning objectives with an overall average of “B” or better
total required credits = 16
Time to Completion: Courses will be scheduled over two years, with total time to completion limited to 36 months.

ITTM™ Instructional Goals
1. Provide theoretical background and practical skills necessary for delivery of the ITTM™ to children and their families.
2. Qualify for facilitation of Trauma Information Sessions (psychoeducational groups).
3. Illustrate cognitive-behavioural diagramming of students’ internal and external experience of past, present, and future in preparation for their guiding caregivers and caregivers guiding children in this process.
4. Learn to use directive sand play to assess a child’s degrees of trauma impact, belief systems, relationships, cognitive distortions, details of traumatic events, other primary presenting issues, and the wishes and fears of children who have experienced trauma.
5. Utilize the process of moving a child from a place of “stuckness” to a place of acceptance, integration, and relief.
6. Help caregivers and, through them, children to understand and work effectively with anger.

To apply, click here

Course Descriptions
691.60 Grief and Loss in Children and Youth Who Have Experienced Trauma
Prerequisite: None.
The grief process of children differs significantly from the grief process of adults. Research demonstrates that traumatic events generate specific grief and loss responses in children. This course will describe and review how a child experiences loss and what impact loss has on a child’s perception of their world. The students will learn to recognize and assist a grieving child, and how to be helpful to a child who does not appear to be grieving. (1 credit)

691.61 Effects and Treatment of Trauma
Prerequisite: Advancement to Applied Sequence or equivalent.
Students will review theoretical and practical underpinnings of trauma treatment with children, youth, and families and will integrate research and literature with what is known about the ages, stages, and functional development levels of children. Students will also review selected evaluation tools for gathering information on a child’s symptoms and behaviours. Information and training on the 9-hour, 6-week group Trauma Information Sessions will provide a foundation for learning the Intergenerational Trauma Treatment Model. (3 credits)

692.61 The Intergenerational Trauma Treatment Model (ITTM), Level I
Prerequisite: 691.60.
An overview of the 3 phases of the Model (Phase A: Trauma Information Sessions; Phase B: Caregivers Assessment and Intervention; Phase C: Child Assessment and Intervention) will be provided, along with a comparison of the ITTM to other trauma treatment programs. (3 credits)

693.61 The Intergenerational Trauma Treatment Model (ITTM™) Level II
Prerequisite: 692.60.
This course provides students with specific training for practising Phase A, Phase B and Phase C of the ITTM. Students receive an in-depth look at the various techniques and practices utilized in each phase of the ITTM, and have opportunities to practice the highly innovative and effective techniques. Individual Clinical Supervision Provided. (3 credits)

693.63 Implementing a Trauma Treatment Program at Your Workplace
Prerequisite: 692.61.
Students will enhance their program development skills from a managerial and front-line perspective, as they design the framework for implementing a trauma treatment program at their workplace. Critical aspects of design, administration, politics, staffing, buy-in, service delivery, and evaluation are incorporated. Guidelines for marketing, discussions with supervisors, co-workers, and for delivering a trauma-specific program within the workplace as a whole, will be provided. (1 credit)

691/2/3.65 (same as 651/652/653) ITTM™ Practicum
Prerequisite: 693.60.
Students who have successfully completed Levels I and II training in the Intergenerational Trauma Treatment Model identify a practicum placement site where they may practice the model under qualified ITTM supervision. (3 credits each)

691/2/3.66 (same as 661/662/663)-ITTM™ Practicum Seminar
Concurrent with 691/2/3.65. ITTM™ Practicum Seminars Practicum Seminars run concurrently with ITTM™ Practicum placements and meet on a regular basis in a small group format. They provide qualified ITTM™ supervisors with the opportunity to guide the ongoing development of the student’s competency in ITTM™ delivery. (2 credits each)

691.67 Skills Training in Cognitive Behavioural Diagramming
Prerequisite: 693.60.
This course will further develop and fine-tune skills in diagramming a child’s internal and external life experiences of the past, present and future. Students will learn specifically how to reduce large and abstract concepts to manageable and moveable illustrations. (1 credit)

692.67 Skills Training II in Directive Sand Tray Interventions
Prerequisite: 693.60.
Welcome to the world of miniatures and sand, in which students will learn how to accurately assess degrees of trauma impact, belief systems, relationships, cognitive distortions, details of traumatic events, other primary presenting issues, and the wishes and fears of children who have experienced trauma. Students will then learn the process of moving a child from a place of “stuckness” to a place of acceptance, integration, and relief. A portion of this course will explore regressive work, identified as one of the most intensive interventions between caregivers and children. (1 credit)

693.67 The A, B, C’s of Anger
Prerequisite: None.
This course will provide students with an exploration into anger as one of eight basic emotions. The student’s perception of ‘anger as a negative emotion that MUST be contained’ is likely to change. Students will recognize the value and importance of understanding and working effectively with the emotion of anger, especially in children. Students will be taught how to assist children and their caregivers to experience anger through safe, positive and reliable methods. (1 credit)