Learning Opportunities

The North American Center for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response (NACTATR) Model is referred to as Violence Threat Risk Assessment (VTRA). It is a broad Model that draws from a number of different disciplines that transcends the early focus of practitioners on individual pathology only, and instead, includes our pioneering work on the “dynamics of violence”. It builds on the early United States Secret Service research around Threat Assessment (TA) where they studied individuals who were moving on a pathway of violence towards a single target (e.g. political figure) which they called “targeted violence”. The VTRA Model also enhances the field of General Violence Risk Assessment (RA) which is often centered on violence prediction and the process of trying to determine if a person of concern may pose a risk of violence to members of society in general.

Level One VTRA Training Outline

DAY ONE - MORNING
1. Serious Violence is Evolutionary – No One Just Snaps
a. Evolutionary Process
b. Justification Process
c. Commitment
d. Snap Theory
e. Pathway to Violence
f. Cry for Help
g. Under – Reaction
Case Studies
2. Threat Assessment vs. Risk Assessment
a. Threat Assessment
b. Risk Assessment
c. Worrisome Behaviour
Case Studies
3. Traumatic Events System (TES) Model
a. Theoretical Foundation
b. Background
c. Crisis vs. Traumatic Event
d. Critical Periods
Case Studies
4. Other Potential Warning Signs
a. Dehumanization
b. Frequency/Intensity/Recency
c. Empty Vessels
d. Imitators vs. Innovators
Case Studies
5. Human Target Selection and Site Selection
a. Human Target Selection
b. Site Selection
c. Unidimensional Assessments
Case Studies
DAY ONE - AFTERNOON
6. Offender Typologies
a. Traditional High Risk Individual, Predominately Cognitive Type
b. Traditional High Risk Individual, Predominately Behavioural Type
c. Mixed Type High Risk Individual
d. Non-Traditional High Risk Individual
e. Priming
f. Baseline Behaviours
Case Studies
7. Fluidity
Case Studies

DAY TWO - MORNING
1. Human Systems Theory
a. Naturally Open Systems
b. Naturally Closed Systems
c. Traumatically Open Systems
d. Traumatically Closed Systems
Case Studies
2. Three Phase VTRA Model
a. Protocol Development
b. Protocol Maintenance
c. Determining When to Activate the VTRA Protocol
Case Studies
DAY TWO - AFTERNOON
3. Working With Cultural Diversity
4. Individuals with Special Needs/Disabilities – DSM V & ICD 10 CM Diagnoses
5. Responsible Sharing Of Information
6. Violence Threat Risk Assessment: Evaluation
7. Violence Threat Risk Assessment: Managing Beyond The Initial Threat
8. Anonymous Threats: Assessment And Intervention
Case Studies

This learning opportunity is being offered through a grant from Alberta Education.