The Trauma Informed Academy TIA, a multidisciplinary educational platform, has introduced the TR-EQ model. It focuses on practical, functional healing instead of clinical jargon or diagnostic pathologizing. By developing skills that were missed or underdeveloped, it supports whole person development and growth. Straying away from the typical emphasis on what went wrong or categorizing people by what’s “broken,” it champions a present-focused, strengths-based, restorative approach.
Founder Elizabeth Power developed the TR-EQ model when she realized healing was as much about learning as about treating. She recognized that much of trauma’s impact can be mitigated through accessible, teachable tools that help people fill in the gaps that trauma causes. Power integrates the principles of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) with trauma recovery skills to create a model that both reduces symptoms and increases capacity.
TR-EQ reflects the TIA’s mission of providing evidence-informed, blended learning experiences to reduce the time, trauma, and cost of healing for all involved. The TIA is known for its courses delivered via self-directed online modules accompanied by training calls, webinars, and instructor-led training. These are built on two decades of professional practice, research, and the wisdom of lived experience.
Drawing on over 30 years of experience as a professional educator focusing on trauma-informed processes and competency-based soft skills, Power mapped, categorized, and cross-referenced tools that had been most effective in supporting recovery. This process made her realize that the core capacities required for trauma recovery overlapped almost perfectly with the competencies of EQ and SEL.
The shared skills of self-awareness, regulation, empathy, social connection, and decision-making are learnable, teachable, and transformative. Power says that the literature shows and experience teaches that these are the skills families and caregivers would convey to children if they were able to.
“I developed this model to increase capacity in people who can change, in people who supposedly can’t, and even in those who might never enter the mental health system,” says Power. “If we strengthen what families teach, we could reduce the burden on everyone. Clinicians get clients who are halfway there, and people live fuller lives without always needing a diagnosis to access their full potential.”
With this goal, Power built the model on nine core elements. Each course represents a functional skill area that builds sturdiness and reduces the influence of overwhelming events. One is impact-based definitions. When participants focus on how trauma affects beliefs, thinking, feeling, acting, and relationships, the competition for whose life was worse, disappears. This reframing reduces shame and opens the door to more constructive responses.
The model also introduces elastic emotions, a concept rooted in self-regulation. Trauma impairs the development of emotional literacy. Learning the names of more emotions, where people feel them in their body, and how to turn them up and down, supports a broader range of experience.
Finding connections focuses on using memory of positive experiences for self-soothing. This is part of developing strong positive inner relationships with denying the negatives. These connections serve as anchors during stressful times and are essential for building resilience and community.
The next component, repossessing life, shifts focus to life beyond trauma. Identity narrows when trauma becomes the lens through which everything is filtered. The model invites participants to reclaim aspects of life that trauma may have overshadowed (e.g., kinder beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and actions towards self and others).
To support that shift, the model includes identifying and spotlighting strengths. This helps people recognize their value and the power they have developed in a different way. The TR-EQ model also introduces changing lenses. This reframing technique teaches how to recognize contextual influences and reframe judgments into curiosity and compassion.
Claiming culture follows, which emphasizes the importance of knowing and valuing one’s own cultural identity as a foundation for respecting self and others. This invites reflection and authenticity, creating space for culturally grounded healing practices. Opening communication is another core area. Trauma distorts or shuts down communication, especially in emotionally charged situations. This component introduces strength-based, present-focused language that addresses internal and external dialogue.
Finally, the model emphasizes sustaining vitality, especially for those in caregiving or helping roles. This is where the model becomes especially relevant to professionals. Instead of waiting until burnout or vicarious trauma sets in, this piece teaches proactive resilience strategies that help sustain well-being over time.
TR-EQ shifts the work from a reactive, diagnosis-driven treatment model to a proactive, skill-building system accessible to anyone. It’s particularly relevant to those working in the mental health field. Therapists, caseworkers, educators, nurses, and peer support specialists can face high rates of burnout and secondary trauma. The TIA’s TR-EQ model helps them build emotional skills to lighten the therapeutic load and improve outcomes. It positions trauma-responsive care as a necessary, everyday framework that can prevent further harm while promoting human dignity.
TR-EQ has a wide-reaching impact. Individuals access effective tools without needing to first be diagnosed or labeled. Meanwhile, professionals can reduce burnout while increasing effectiveness. For organizations, the model provides a system that embeds trauma-responsive functioning into culture and practice. It also increases capacity as a service extender between sessions and in aftercare. Lastly, for communities, it represents a sustainable way to strengthen resilience and reduce long-term reliance on systems that are already overburdened.
The Trauma Informed Academy teaches what might have been learned if life had been “good enough.” Elizabeth Power states: “We turn the question from ‘How has what happened to you impacted you?’ to ‘What might you learn to change the impact and your future?’ That makes all the difference.”
Media Contact
Name: Elizabeth Power, M.Ed.
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