The original Traumatic Stress Institute (TSI) was founded in 1986 by Laurie Pearlman, Ph.D., Lisa McCann, Ph.D. and Dan Abrahamson, Ph.D. in South Windsor, CT. For 20 years, TSI’s mission was to contribute to the knowledge base about psychological trauma and its treatment through the development of theory, original research, and the integration of clinical work with both theory and research.

 

Among it’s accomplishments, TSI treated more than 4000 clients, sponsored the writing of 5 groundbreaking books on trauma treatment, and ran a post-doctoral psychology training program.  While at TSI, Drs. Laurie Pearlman and Lisa McCann coined the term vicarious traumatization and, with Dr. Kay Saakvitne, did much of the theory building and original writing about the concept.  Staff at TSI were the original authors of Risking Connection: A Training Curriculum for Working with Survivors of Childhood Abuse and developed the companion training program. It influenced thousands of clinicians through presentations, workshops, and professional trainings, and direct clinical consultation.

 

In 2006, TSI sold its name and the license to be a national provider of Risking Connection training to Klingberg Family Centers in New Britain, CT. TSI is now a department of Klingberg Family Centers, whose mission is to foster the transformation of organizations and service systems to trauma-informed care.