TCK Crisis Care Training

Level 1: Foundations of Family Crisis Response

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Expat families facing crises - such as evacuations, medical emergencies, abuse, robberies, or natural disasters - require intentional, focused, and personalized support.

Yet, in these moments of vulnerability, it can be difficult to know how to provide care that truly helps rather than unintentionally deepening the trauma.

This training equips you to walk alongside Third Culture Kid (TCK) families with confidence, offering the right support at the right time. You’ll gain the awareness, knowledge, and practical tools needed to respond in ways that are both safe and genuinely supportive.

Developed from the latest research in trauma and prevention science, this program approaches care through the unique lens of the expat child experience and is presented by leading experts in the TCK field.

Level 1 covers Sections 1-3: 
  • Section 1: Introduction
  • Section 2: When is a Crisis Debrief Necessary?
  • Section 3: Engaging with TCKs
    Find more details about each of these sections will entail below
Level 1: Foundations of Family Crisis Response is a pre-requisite for Level 2: Practical Application & Debriefing. Learn more or register for the bundle of Level 1 & 2 here. 

Get your whole team equipped for 10% off!
Inquire at info@tcktraining.com

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Duration

4 hours

Instructors 

Lauren Wells & Elizabeth Vahey Smith

Date

June 8, 2026

Time

8am-12pm
Eastern Time (NY)

Upon request you can receive a certificate of completion once you finish all the training videos and assignments. 

Related Resources:

Detailed Outline of the Training

If you do not plan on providing interventions, resources, or debriefing yourself to TCK families but would like to know what they need and how to refer them, then you may only want to register for Level 1.

However, if you will be the responder for families in crisis in your organization, school, company, church, etc. then we highly recommend you register for the bundle of Level 1 & 2 below. 

Level 1: Foundations of Family Crisis Response

Section 1: Foundations of Crisis Care

  • Why crisis care is important
  • Research on the prevalence of traumatic events in the TCK population
  • How intervention makes a difference 
  • Preventive nature of crisis debriefing
  • Crisis care vs. therapy or Long-term care vs. standard debriefing
  • How crisis care builds resilience 
  • Boundaries & qualifications
  • When and how to hand off to a licensed mental health professional
  • Outsourcing treatment

Section 2: Situations and Symptoms that Warrant Crisis Response 

  • What happens to a person during and after a crisis? 
  • What is needed to create stability post-crisis?
  • What qualifies as a crisis requiring a debrief?
  • Types of crises in the TCK community
  • Indicators a child or teen needs a crisis debrief 
  • When not to debrief and what to do instead 

Section 3: Estabilishing Safety

  • Building rapport
  • Assessing emotional state 
  • Gauging current distress
  • Using questionnaires 
  • Reading body language and affect

Level 2: Practical Application & Debriefing

This level also includes access to  Crisis Debriefing materials  and a license to use the materials with the families you serve. 

Section 4: The Components of a Crisis Debrief

  • Overview of the goals for crisis debriefing
  • Explaining “red zone” in child-friendly terms
  • Regulation techniques
  • Creative outlets for regulation
  • Identifying strengths and supports
  • Using debrief packet

Section 5: Adapting for Age & Development

  • Elementary vs. adolescent needs
  • Visual vs. verbal expression
  • Continued support based on needs and age

Section 6: Parent Session

  • Identifying next steps for the family 
  • Referring families 
  • Focus on safety, calm, and connection as a family
  • Educate parent on how to monitor for signs of ongoing distress

Meet the instructors

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Lauren Wells

Chief Executive Officer

Lauren is the Founder and CEO of TCK Training and author of Raising Up a Generation of Healthy Third Culture Kids, What Made That Feel So Hard: The Unstacking Method, and more. An Adult Third Culture Kid (ATCK) who spent her teenage years living in Tanzania, East Africa, Lauren has worked with over 1,000 parents and TCK caregivers and has trained staff from over 80 organizations.

Click on the video on the left to meet Lauren! 

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Elizabeth Vahey Smith

Chief Operating Officer

Author of The Practice of Processing, Elizabeth is a skilled communicator and trauma-informed educator who helps transform abstract concepts into practical steps, equipping, encouraging, and empowering people to reach their goals. Elizabeth is a mom of two worldschooling TCKs.

Click on the video on the left to meet Elizabeth!