OUR SERVICES

SBRN offers Psychological First Aid (PFA) as its primary response to those who have experienced a traumatic event and request our assistance. PFA is an evidence-based method of providing culturally sensitive psychological support to those who have experienced trauma. It aims to reduce initial distress and help foster long-term adaptive coping skills needed to move toward resilience.

PFA was developed by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and the National Center for PTSD. Learn more on their website.

SBRN offers ongoing PFA training to community members, organizations, and businesses that want to develop PFA response teams.

For larger community responses, SBRN can also provide PFA at a Compassion Center®.

The Compassion Centers® and Compassion Patrol® were developed by SBRN in response to the 2014 Isla Vista mass shooting as a method to provide support to the affected community at large.

A Compassion Center® is established in a neighborhood or center where people have been affected by mass trauma. The center is set up by trained volunteers in Psychological First Aid, to be able to respond to individuals who come in requesting—or in need of—psychological or social support. Compassion Centers® can also include Compassion Patrol®, where volunteers will walk through an affected community, offering psychological first aid and referrals.