TLC Founder
William
Steele, PsyD, MSW
William Steele is the Founder of the National Institute for
Trauma and Loss in Children (TLC) established in 1990. In 2009, TLC joined Starr Commonwealth
where Dr. Steele continues to oversee TLC while in the position of Senior Vice
President of Training for this international leader in transformational programs
for children, families, schools and communities established in 1913. Dr. Steele began his work in the field
of trauma by taking the lead in helping schools across the country develop
crisis response teams in response to the epidemic of suicide among young people
in the early 1980’s followed by the epidemic of violence in the late 80’s
thereafter leading to the formation of TLC. He has assisted professionals over the years following such
tragedies as the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma, 9/11 in New York
and Washington D.C., Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the 2009 killings (while
in school in the presence of students) of a coach in Iowa and a teacher in
Texas to name but a few. He was
one of the first Americans selected by the Kuwait government to assist them in
the aftermath of the Gulf War and continues to consult with agencies related to
childhood trauma such as Center for Military Relationships and Families as well
as schools across the country.
Dr. Steele has had numerous publications in such journals as
the
School Social Work Journal, Children and Schools, Residential Treatment for Children and Youth, National Social
Sciences Associations, Reclaiming Children and Youth, and publications with
Guilford Press, American Counseling Association, Allyn and Bacon.
Today there are over 5,000 TLC Certified Trauma and Loss
School and Clinical Specialists Dr. Steele has personally trained. Insistent that intervention for
traumatized children be outcome driven, he developed and conducted evidenced
based research on TLC trauma specific programs for schools and
communities. With its focus on
early intervention, TLC’s
I Feel Better Now Program for children 6-12 years is,
for example, the only school based, evidence based program of its kind in the
country. Of the numerous honors
Dr. Steele has received over the years, he is most proud of the 5,000 Certified
Trauma Specialists who are providing TLC interventions and resources to
thousands of children daily, who’s exposure never receive national media
attention.
Since 1990 Dr. Steele has consistently trained professionals
to relate to childhood trauma not as a diagnostic category (PTSD), which is
deficit focused as well as inadequate, but as a series of sensory experiences,
the elements of which are experienced by traumatized children regardless of
their culture. “Terror is terror”,
he explains. “Symptoms only define
the ways the child’s neurological biological, emotional and behavioral systems
are struggling to survive. “Provide new experiences”, he states, “and symptoms diminish as TLC’s research
documents”. The 2009 Developmental
Trauma Disorder (DTD) being proposed now supports TLC’s long standing approach
to trauma intervention as detailed in the 2001 publication in
Structural
Sensory Interventions for Children, Adolescents and Parents (SITCAP) authored
by Dr. Steele.
At a time when funding and services are shrinking for
traumatized children, Dr. Steele has significantly enhanced TLC’s future by
joining the now collective expertise TLC and Starr Commonwealth have to offer
schools, communities, children, families and those in the position to bring out
the best in every child.
Click
here for Dr. Steele's resume
Email
Dr. Steele at
steele@tlcinst.org