The Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Souderton. (Credit: Google Maps Street View)
The HALO Project is an intensive therapy program for foster and adoptive families facing challenges with child attachment and trauma
The Salvation Army Eastern Pennsylvania Children’s Services will once again provide its HALO (Healing, Attachment, Loving, Outreach) project sessions to support local families with foster and adopted children.
The 10-week program will run from April 28 to July 9 at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Souderton. It is designed for families with children ages three to seven, eight to 12 and teenagers, with sessions tailored to meet each group’s developmental and emotional needs, said a Salvation Army press release.
The HALO Project is an intensive therapy program for foster and adoptive families facing challenges with child attachment and trauma. The program is grounded in Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), an evidence-based approach developed by the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at Texas Christian University.
HALO helps children process trauma and build bonds with their families through personalized support from TBRI clinicians, equips parents with tools to communicate effectively and provides children with resources to address their trauma, said the release.
Key components of the HALO Project include:
• Trauma education classes for parents, taught by trauma-informed clinicians.
• Weekly Kids Club, where children are paired with adult buddies to practice TBRI skills in a safe, engaging environment.
• Private family therapy sessions, using play-based approaches with HALO clinicians.
“We continue to try and use the principles we have learned and our daughter often comments that she misses HALO,” said Susan and Harold Guntz, parents who completed HALO. “We believe that this program was responsible for permanently changing the course of our lives in terms of how we parent and consequently changed our daughter’s life.”
“Parents in Montgomery County will have the opportunity to connect with mental health professionals and gain the tools to understand trauma and the impact it has on their child,” said Florence Rhue, director of The Salvation Army Eastern Pennsylvania Children’s Services. “The HALO Project supports families with children who have experienced trauma by providing resources to parents for better understanding their child’s needs and cultivating a supportive and healing environment.”
Of families who completed the HALO Project, 98% reported no longer needing additional therapy services. The Salvation Army Eastern Pennsylvania Children’s Services is ranked in the top 5% of children’s service agencies monitored by the State of Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, scoring 100% on all agency audit requirements for the past four years in a row.
The Salvation Army Children’s Services rotates the location of each session within the Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware Division. HALO sessions are also held in Allentown and Blooming Glen. There is a limit on how many families can participate in the program. Opportunities for financial support to cover program expenses are also available. Please contact The Salvation Army Eastern Pennsylvania Children’s Services to discuss options, said the release.
Learn more about the upcoming HALO session and how to apply at https://salvationarmyhalo.org/programs/.
For more information, visit www.SalvationArmyPendel.org.
