Collectively, the contributing authors of this special issue of Family & Community Health recount the sobering ubiquity of trauma that exists in multiple forms throughout our world. Solidly based on current knowledge of a trauma informed approach and/or trauma-specific interventions, each article contributes to the field of trauma informed care by describing promising next steps in creating trauma informed systems, developing trauma-specific interventions, and/or conducting trauma informed research.

This special issue begins with 2 articles focused on creating "trauma informed systems." Raja and her coauthors describe "a conceptual and operational framework that can help physicians translate trauma informed care principles into interactions with patient." The concepts discussed in the article are applicable to a variety of health care providers in multiple health care systems and settings. Jenson and her coauthors then describe an Accessibility and Responsiveness Review Tool. The instrument can be used by community agencies to improve their delivery systems so that people with disabilities can have more "options for accessible and trauma informed services."

The next 3 articles describe promising approaches in developing "trauma-specific interventions" for parents and expecting parents who have experienced trauma. Two articles describe group parenting interventions with mothers (Murphy et al and Weiling et al), whereas 1 article proposes an individual therapy intervention with pregnant and both female and male adolescent parents (Volpe et al). Murphy et al describe a trauma informed intervention based on attachment theory. The primary goal of the intervention is "to promote secure parent-child attachment and prevent disorganized attachment relationships in young children with parents whose histories and current adverse contexts place them at risk." Weiling et al describe a trauma informed "parent management training" intervention based on social interaction learning theory. The focus is on decreasing the use of "coercive parenting practices" and increasing the use of "positive parenting practices" with the goal of decreasing their "child's deviant behavior." The team's goal is "to provide needed support that will benefit parents and children in the present and serve as a catalyst for a positive trajectory long-term." In the third article, Volpe et al propose the use of individual narrative exposure therapy (NET) for pregnant and parenting adolescents who have experienced intimate partner violence. NET is rooted in cognitive based therapy and testimony therapy. The aim of NET is "to change behavior and affect by addressing dysfunctional thinking through the reconstruction of the autobiographical memory.... The therapist assists the patient in integrating fragmented memories into a coherent contextualized autobiography."

The final article in this special issue considers important questions in conducting "trauma informed research." In their review of published interventional studies that address trauma in incarcerated women, Emerson and Ramaswamy document and discuss the common theories and assumptions that underlie the existing research. In addition, they identify and discuss "a point of contestation than runs unobtrusively through the 11 articles is whether or not trauma informed treatments with female offenders should encourage women to explore their traumatic pasts in group therapy sessions or not."

We hope that you enjoy and use this special collection of articles to advance your work in the theory and practice of trauma informed interventions across the life span!

-Manuel Oscos Sanchez, MPH, MD

-Janna Lesser, PhD

Issue Editor

University of Texas Health Science Center

at San Antonio

-Patricia J. Kelly, PhD, MPH, APRN

Issue Editor

School of Nursing

University of Missouri-Kansas City