Table 4.

Core components in the trumpet behavioral health curriculum for establishing and maintaining therapeutic relationships with families

Module	Concepts	Activities
Family Perspectives	Rapport, therapeutic alliance, and relationships Viewing the entire family as client, incorporating siblings Understanding stress and the grief process Empathy and perspective taking Making time for the relationship and managing your stress	Identify the current family to focus on throughout the training Reflect on that family’s stressors and strengths Reflect on how family stressors and your own have impacted the relationship
Building the Therapeutic Relationship	Strategies for establishing rapport Clarifying roles and expectations to build healthy relationships with boundaries Active listening and caring Seeking input and accepting feedback Focusing on the positive, being likeable and dependable Effective communication Compromise and collaboration Motivating and informing families Seeking input on treatment Admitting faults and mistakes Positive, solution-focused problem solving Positive focus and creating hope Celebrating the child’s strengths and gains Recognizing parent skills and efforts	Avoid dual relationships—practice with ethical ambushes Active listening role-play exercise (reflect, with open-ended questions and open demeanor) Describing procedures and concepts in laymen’s terms Identifying priorities role-play exercise Open-ended questions exercise “Focus on the positive” exercise Role-play on authoritative vs. authoritarian communication style
Assessing and Repairing Therapeutic Relationships	Strategies for improving trust and rapport—reflect and avoid Passing judgment, interruptions, blame, trigger words Jargon Authoritarian demeanor (authoritative and collaborative instead) Strategies for identifying and repairing a damaged relationship Recognizing that there is a problem and apologizing Assessing the relationship—self and other assessment Managing planned and unexpected difficult conversations Reflection and perspective taking	Difficult conversations role-play Use of the therapeutic relationships self-evaluation