Alaska Child Trauma Center

A National Child Traumatic Stress Network partner

The Alaska Child Trauma Center at Alaska Behavioral Health is a treatment integration and adaptation center (Category III) for the SAMHSA-supported National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). We joined the network in 2005 and were Alaska’s first NCTSN center. The Alaska Child Trauma Center is a regional training hub for the SAMHSA-supported National Complex Trauma Training Network, a certified ARC Training Site.

In 2023, Alaska Behavioral Health earned the additional designation of a SAMHSA-supported NCTSN (Category II) Rural Child Trauma Center, one of 35 nationally certified treatment and service adaptation (TSA) Centers that provide national expertise for specific types of traumatic events, population groups, and service systems, and support the specialized adaptation of effective evidence-based treatment and service approaches for communities across the nation.

Visit our Child & Family page for information about clinical services.

Trauma Training

The training team at the Alaska Child Trauma Center was the first training hub (external to the model developers/development center) for the ARC framework. We have been a licensed and certified ARC training center since 2008. We have provided ARC training to over 4,000 providers in the United States, Canada and the US Virgin Islands.

Since 2011 we have been a regional training hub for the Complex Trauma Treatment Network, a NCTSN trauma training and technical assistance center focused on supporting organizational implementation of trauma practices and multi-agency, regional and statewide trauma initiatives.

In 2025, we became a field site for the Complex Trauma Training Consortium (CTTC), a national trainer-training and workforce development initiative designed to establish sustainable local expertise in complex trauma understanding, assessment, and treatment across the United States. The CTTC curriculum includes a comprehensive range of complex trauma-informed topics that address major knowledge gaps in the field of child & family trauma intervention.

For 12 years, Alaska Behavioral Health has hosted the Alaska Advanced Trauma Training Institute, featuring local Alaskan and national experts who share the latest research and advances in the neurobiology of traumatic stress, trauma-informed systems, and clinical interventions for complex trauma in children and adults. This high-quality professional development opportunity exists to expand the knowledge of and support the development of trauma-informed care for behavioral health and social service providers across Alaska.

In 2024, Alaska Behavioral Health hosted the inaugural Rural Child Trauma Institute. This annual event will focus on the unique challenges of providing trauma informed care for children living in rural communities such as access, provision of treatment via telehealth, provider training in evidence-based practices, rural engagement, and cultural competency.

Learn more about the trainings we offer.

Trauma Research

In collaboration with Duke Clinical Research Institute and the model developers, we conducted the first ARC clinical outcomes study, published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma in 2011. In this study, we focused on developmental and cultural considerations in implementation of the framework with a complex trauma-impacted and diverse population (over 50% Alaska Native/American Indian).