Primary Sources: Making Youth Work Trauma Informed through Re-ED

From Intuition to Science: Re-ED and Trauma-Informed Care, Reclaiming Children & Youth, Vol. 19, No. 4, Winter 2011.

What it’s about: This article explains the twelve principles of Re-Education, or Re-ED, a treatment model that views young people as inseparable from their family or social context. Developed by child psychologist, Nicholas Hobbs, Re-ED focuses on positive attributes such as health rather than illness, teaching rather than treatment, and the present and future rather than the past.

Why read it: This article adds to the growing literature on making youth work trauma-informed. The author explains each principle and shows how Re-ED lays the groundwork for what is now called trauma-informed care.

Biggest takeaways for youth workers: Rather than treating the principles as guidelines for all youth, the author emphasizes the importance of meeting young people where they are and treating them as individuals. According to the principles of Re-ED, youth workers should encourage young people to live life in the present rather than dwelling on the past, and to view the future as a present challenge. They should work to establish trust with young people, help them build competence, develop self-control, and coping strategies and learn how to use ceremony and ritual to regain order and confidence after troubling and chaotic experiences.

Additional Reference: You can read Hobbs’ 12 Re-ED principles in detail at PsychoED.net, or read other articles on this topic from Volume 19 Number 4 of Reclaiming Children & Youth.

(Publications discussed here do not necessarily reflect the views of NCFY, FYSB or the Administration for Children and Families. Go to the NCFY literature database for abstracts of this and other publications.)