The Mixed Feelings Program: Sensory-based intervention and culturally responsive care for adolescents with complex trauma

Youth residential treatment centers (RTCs) serve adolescents with behavioral disorders and comorbid conditions, including complex trauma resulting from multiple traumatic experiences adversely affecting development (Lanier et al., 2020; van der Kolk, 2005). These experiences include, but are not limited to, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse; community violence and criminal activity; neglect; and maltreatment (van der Kolk, 2005). More than 90% of these adolescents have multiple psychiatric diagnoses and often possess greater functional impairments than their counterparts receiving treatment in nonresidential settings (Zelechoski et al., 2013). Yet, most trauma treatments are identical in nature, “regardless of individual needs or clinical indications” (Zelechoski et al., 2013, p. 647).