A Deeper Dive into TORA
A Universal Mental Health Approach for Schools and Other Professionals

What is the Teacher’s Optimal Relationship Approach (TORA)?

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The Teacher’s Optimal Relationship Approach (TORA) is a school-based, early intervention, mental health and wellbeing approach. The TORA acknowledges the pivotal role teachers play in the lives of children and provides teachers with skills to embed therapeutic qualities and playfulness into their daily relationships.

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TORA  is evidence-based and underpinned by Humanistic play therapy, Group play therapy and Filial (family) therapy approaches, integrating principles of Attachment and bio-psycho-social developmental theories.

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TORA can also be adapted for other settings, including allied health services and other human services and care facilities. 

TORA Certified classrooms are evidenced to be academically, socially and emotionally optimal learning environments.  TORA offers teachers 8 practical and therapeutic skills to embed into their teaching practice. The outcomes of which include:

• Improved student attendance rates

• Improved academic performance

• Reduced overall problem behaviours

• increased pro-social behaviours

• Enhanced student and teacher happiness and engagement

 

What Makes TORA Different from Current Mental Health and Wellbeing Approaches in Victorian Primary Schools?

 

TORA is aligned with current mental health, wellbeing and reporting guidelines for schools in Australia and overseas. However,  TORA departs from past and current behavioural approaches to managing challenging behaviours that rely on inconsistently effective reward and consequence schemes. Instead, TORA'S relational approach is focused on strengthening relationships between the teacher and their students, which has the natural effect of reducing oppositional behaviours, improved teacher job-satisfaction and wellbeing, and increased peer-to-peer cohesion. 

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There are many, distinct and significant advantages of adopting a TORA approach:

• The current scope of mental health and wellbeing programs in Victorian schools is limited to developing trauma awareness. However, a school has the power to become a therapeutic community, where teachers act as secondary attachment figures for students, generating observable and significant, therapeutic change. In this way, TORA further develops a school’s capacity to transition from simply trauma-aware, to more impactful, trauma sensitive, and even trauma responsive,  environments. 

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• TORA targets ALL student populations, not just those students with extreme behavioural challenges. Similarly, TORA can be adopted by all teachers whom are at different stages of their teaching careers

• TORA is a low-to-medium time commitment, with a flexible approach to delivery and implementation,  that can be tailored to meet individual school preferences and requirements

• TORA is aligned with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and Vic Curriculum, but unlike other widely used approaches, TORA  is not a curriculum add-on, and does not require planning and teaching of specialised content or lessons. Rather, TORA is a scaffolded approach where teaching staff participate in a short training phase and are then supported to embed therapeutic skills into their everyday teaching practice. TORA offers a new way of being,  rather than doing. 

• TORA is delivered by Registered Play Therapists with Master level training, who have also undergone additional certification in the TORA approach, to ensure a high standard of professional integrity, knowledge and support. 

 

What does the Process Include?

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Professional Development & Training

Professional Development and Training is delivered to all staff within the school and includes both theory and practice. Theory explored in TORA includes brain and behaviour science, relationships and attachment theory, and more. Following delivery of the ‘why’ TORA, participants will taught the ‘how’ through the training of, and practice in, 8 specific relational skills.

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Flexible training options are offered to suit the needs of the school community. These may include full or half days of training, or 3 x 1.5-2 hour blocks of training delivered during after-school meetings. 

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Supervised Practice - Observation and Feedback Cycles

Following the professional development and training phase, staff are supported to translate knowledge into practice, through regular observation and feedback cycles in partnership  with a registered Play Therapist certified in the approach. 

These observation and feedback cycles provide opportunity for teaching and education support staff to build capacity and confidence, and engage in reflective practice in the embedding of the skills.

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Data gathered by the therapists from individual teachers will inform and target specific skill development. Teachers are offered highly specific analysis of their students’ behaviours along with measurable indicators of the student/ teacher relationships in order to tailor the coaching and feedback for each teacher and student cohort.  

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Pre and Post Assessments

Victorian schools are now required to report on wellbeing and for this to be included as part of the Annual Implementation Plan. TORA includes pre and post assessments administered by the therapists, with the teachers, to track  measurable outcomes on student, classroom and whole of school mental health and wellbeing. This data can be used by schools to meet reporting requirements. Results can also be shared with teachers to better understand and relate to their students, track student health and wellbeing progress and to respond more effectively to students’ diverse emotional and academic needs.

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Education Staff Certification

The final Certification phase includes a Therapist appraisal and discussion of the teacher’s use of TORA skills in their teaching practice. Once evidence of satisfactory TORA skill development has been observed, staff will be awarded the title of Certified TORA Teacher ©/ Education Support © and provided with a certificate and digital badge. Ongoing networking opportunities exist for certified TORA staff to encourage reflective practice and peer support.

A resource book is available for Certified TORA teachers and school staff, and after completing the process, teachers are welcomed to contact the TORA facilitators directly if additional support is needed.

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About Certified TORA Facilitators © 

Certified TORA Facilitators © are Registered Play Therapists with additional training and experience in Group Play Therapy and Filial Therapy. The certification process involves:

• Completion of 18 hours of Professional Development

• Demonstrated Knowledge of The Teacher’s Optimal Relationship Approach: TORA Certified Guidebook for Play Therapists, including an oral examination

• Coding and interpretation of assessments

• Evidence of having provided observation and feedback to teachers on their TORA skill development

 

For more information on TORA, please get in touch, or access the link below to read more from Dr Kate Renshaw, the Founder of TORA.