Get certified in trauma informed relationships
Where trauma-informed practice meets relationship healing.
The Institute for Trauma-Informed Relationships was founded by Angela Amias and Daniel Boscaljon to provide training and certification in trauma-informed relationship counseling for therapists and helping professionals.
We offer certification, consulting, and specialized trainings in Trauma-Informed Relationship Counseling for individuals and couples—designed for therapists, coaches, and other helping professionals.
find the certification path that’s right for you
for therapists
for helping professionals
for coaches
Whether you work with individuals or couples, a truly trauma-informed approach to relationship issues is essential.
It’s not enough to focus only on “Big T” traumas—the kinds that often lead to PTSD or C-PTSD. The “small t” traumas from childhood—unpredictable caregivers, neglect, emotionally unsafe parenting, abandonment—exert a powerful influence on intimate relationships in adulthood. They shape relationship patterns in adulthood, often leading to disconnection, dissatisfaction, and repeated cycles of distress.
Because these experiences are so common, and don’t always result in a trauma diagnosis, they’re often overlooked in traditional research and training. Yet unhealed relational trauma is at the root of many of the issues our clients face—contributing not only to relationship struggles, but also to depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges.
Some of the most common ways these unhealed wounds from childhood affect clients include:
Shame-driven patterns that block intimacy and connection
Chronic inappropriate guilt and self-blame
Persistent fear of vulnerability and closeness
Difficulty setting and maintaining healthy boundaries
Struggles with communication and conflict-resolution
Repetitive, trauma-driven relationship patterns
Continual attraction to emotionally unavailable or unhealthy partners
Heightened reactivity to relational hurts, leading to anxiety or withdrawal
Lack of self-compassion and self-love
Childhood experiences of ruptured connection to a parent or caregiver often leave children with painful, internalized messages about themselves. These messages continue to echo into adulthood, influencing intimate partnerships, friendships, family dynamics, and even workplace relationships.
Without a trauma-informed approach, these hidden wounds often remain unaddressed—yet they are central to the struggles clients bring to counseling and coaching.
NOW AVAILABLE — ON-DEMAND
join now and get instant access to the entire program.
Pay in full: $1600
6 monthly payments: $295
Includes lifetime access, certification, and personal instructor support. Begin anytime — your learning starts the moment you enroll.
The Certification Program at a Glance
‣ 6 core modules of clinical training with 50 lessons and 24 hours of video instruction, focused on working with both individuals and couples
‣ 30+ handouts and resources to use in your practice, plus transcripts, slides, and reflection guides
‣ Bonus Module on business, marketing, and media training — essential professional skills often overlooked in traditional training programs
‣ Personalized Instructor Feedback — submit questions anytime within the program and receive direct written responses from Angela as you apply the material to your work
‣ Resource library of intake forms and specialized assessments
‣ Public Directory Listing of Certified Trauma-Informed Relationship Therapists, Counselors, and Coaches
‣ Certification Logo for your website, business cards, and materials
‣ Unlimited lifetime access to all course materials, including videos and downloads
‣ 30-day money-back guarantee — 100% refund if the program isn’t the right fit for you
Are you employed by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization?
We’ve got you covered. Contact us HERE for special pricing for nonprofit employees.
We also have group discounts for 4+ individuals registering together.
Hey there … I’m Angela Amias.
I developed the Trauma Informed Relationship Counseling for Individuals and Couples model of relationship therapy to bridge the gap between cutting edge research on relational trauma and traditional models for relationship counseling.
It’s the first comprehensive relationship counseling model that integrates a trauma informed approach to help both individuals and couples overcome relationship struggles and create more satisfying connections.
From medicine to the helping professions, trauma-informed practice is becoming the new standard of care.
Health care is undergoing a massive transformation as the impact of trauma on wellbeing gains widespread recognition.
Across medicine and the helping professions, trauma-informed practice is setting a new standard of care. Yet one area has been left behind: the lasting impact of early trauma on adult intimate relationships.
First-wave relationship counseling models, such as the Big Four—the Gottman Method, the Developmental Model of Couples Therapy, Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, and Imago Relationship Therapy—were developed decades ago, long before we understood the profound impact of trauma on intimate relationships.
Now we need a new model of relationship counseling—one built from the ground up to integrate an understanding of relational trauma in all its forms. This model needs to be trauma-informed, and it also needs to reflect the diversity of contemporary relationships, moving beyond the white, heteronormative, middle-class vision of marriage that was considered the norm in relationship counseling a generation ago.
Thanks to the work of cultural luminaries like Brené Brown, Bessel van der Kolk, and Gabor Maté — as well as many others who’ve shared their own stories of childhood trauma — clients are arriving in our offices more aware of their past than ever before.
They are actively seeking professionals who can do more than address “Big T” traumas. Clients want skilled support in understanding how early relational wounds still impact their adult relationships—and what they can do about it.
This requires specialized knowledge of how relational trauma in childhood carries forward into adulthood, including:
‣ Recognizing the subtle patterns created by working models of relationships formed in childhood
‣ Uncovering the “secret contracts” that operate under the surface and undermine intimacy
‣ Identifying the essential relationship skills clients missed out on developing in childhood
‣ Connecting early working models to the challenges and growth opportunities of adult intimacy
‣ Recognizing and working with core wounds that drive trauma repetition in adult relationships
‣ Supporting clients in repairing ruptures and building healthier patterns of connection
‣ Understanding how gendered trauma in childhood—shaped by patriarchy—limits self-trust for women and emotional awareness for men, and most importantly, learning how to help all people reclaim their capacity to both know what they feel and speak what they know.
Clients want hope — hope that their painful past experiences aren’t a life sentence for unhealthy or unsatisfying relationships.
With growing awareness about trauma, many clients are beginning to connect the dots between their childhood experiences and their struggles in adult relationships.
But without trusted guidance, they often turn to the internet for answers—and what they find there can be devastating.
As one woman put it after searching online:
“You’re doomed. If you grew up in any kind of abusive family, you’ll continuously choose a partner with whom you replicate the same abusive patterns from childhood. You’re incapable of choosing better, or having boundaries, or even recognizing any of this. Sometimes I even got the impression that growing up in this way actually attracted abusive people and that there was no way to guard against attracting people like this.”
Our clients who’ve survived painful childhood experiences deserve better than this.
With the right training and tools, we can help clients move beyond hopelessness—giving them not just insight, but new experiences of connection, healing, and fulfilling relationships.
A Trauma-Informed Approach to Relationships
The impact of childhood relational trauma on adult relationships has been overlooked for far too long.
Most training in trauma treatment focuses on symptoms like PTSD or C-PTSD. But research shows only a small percentage of people with childhood trauma ever receive these diagnoses.
The truth is, the most common long-term outcome of childhood trauma isn’t PTSD — it’s difficulty with relationships. Struggles with intimacy, repeated cycles of conflict, and challenges in one’s relationship with self are often rooted in early relational experiences.
These early “small t” traumas — neglect, emotional absence, unpredictable caregiving — leave behind unhealed wounds that surface in adult life. They often underlie relationship problems, as well as experiences of depression, anxiety, and loneliness.
This certification program focuses on that intersection: where trauma and relationships meet. It offers a framework for understanding these patterns and working with them directly in clinical practice, supporting individuals and couples as they begin to relate differently—to themselves and to each other.
About Us
Angela Amias, LCSW
Founder & Clinical Director
Angela Amias, LCSW, is a relationship therapist whose work focuses on how early relational experiences shape the way people connect in adulthood. She is the founder of the Institute for Trauma-Informed Relationships and cofounder of Alchemy of Love, where she develops programs and resources focused on relationships after trauma.
Angela began her clinical work at a specialized attachment clinic serving adopted children with significant trauma histories. There, she worked with both children and their adoptive parents, helping families understand the inner world of the child while supporting the development of trust and connection.
When she left this role to become a therapist at a holistic healing center, working with women and men with depression, anxiety, and everyday relationship concerns, she imagined that her specialized skill set for treating attachment trauma would no longer be needed.
What she actually discovered was quite different.
The struggles her clients described in their romantic relationships often echoed the same dynamics she had seen earlier—though in less overt forms. Experiences such as emotional distance, inconsistency, or a lack of attunement had shaped how they related to themselves and others, often without being recognized as trauma.
Over time, this observation became central to her work. Many of the difficulties people encounter in relationships — cycles of conflict, challenges with intimacy, or a persistent sense of disconnection — can be understood in the context of earlier relational experiences.
This perspective informed the development of Trauma Informed Relationship Counseling for Individuals and Couples, a clinical framework that brings a trauma-informed lens to relationship work. The model focuses on helping clients understand how past experiences have shaped their relational patterns, and how those patterns continue to influence their current relationships.
Angela’s work also contributed to the development of the Five Relationship Archetypes, created with Daniel Boscaljon, which describes common relational patterns that emerge from early experiences and the meanings people make about themselves in relationship.
In addition to her clinical work, Angela has experience as a discernment counselor and divorce mediator, supporting individuals and couples navigating significant relationship decisions and transitions.
Her approach integrates psychodynamic and attachment-based perspectives with the use of therapeutic writing and reflective practices, supporting clients in making sense of their experiences and engaging more intentionally in their relationships.
Angela holds a Master’s in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and a Master of Social Work from the University of Iowa. She’s currently a doctoral student studying analytical psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute.
Her work has been featured in publications including Today, Oprah, Cosmopolitan, Well + Good, and Forbes. On the topic of relationships, she’s been a contributing writer for Inc. and Fatherly. As a trauma-focused practitioner, she’s a contributing author of the Clinical EFT Handbook.
Angela is also a mixed media artist. Her artwork has been exhibited in galleries across the United States and published in journals and magazines. She is also the co-creator of the Faces of the Divine Feminine Oracle.
Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Angela now lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming. On sunny days, you can find her cozied up with a book or hiking in the mountains with Daniel.
Daniel Boscaljon, PHD
Co-Founder & Director of Program Development
Daniel Boscaljon, PhD, focuses on the role of meaning, narrative, and interpretation in shaping how people live, lead, and relate to one another. He is the co-founder of the Institute for Trauma-Informed Relationships and Alchemy of Love, where he contributes to the development of models and programs that integrate psychological insight with practical application.
Daniel’s work is grounded in an ongoing interest in the questions that shape a person’s life—how we understand ourselves, how we make meaning of our experiences, and how those interpretations influence the choices we make in relationships and in the world.
He studied English, Philosophy, and Religion as an undergraduate, and went on to earn two PhDs from the University of Iowa, in Religious Studies and English. His academic work focused on the ways stories, belief systems, and cultural frameworks shape human experience, as well as the role of psychoanalysis and narrative in understanding personal and collective challenges.
After several years teaching at the university level, Daniel shifted his focus toward working more directly with adults. His work has included leading workshops, facilitating group learning, and working one-on-one with individuals seeking to engage more intentionally with questions of purpose, leadership, and relationship.
At the Institute for Trauma-Informed Relationships, Daniel leads program development, helping to shape the structure and content of the training model. His background in narrative and archetypal psychology contributed to the development of the Five Relationship Archetypes, created with Angela Amias, as well as the Relationship Yes! Test, a brief framework for assessing relational health.
In addition to his work with the Institute and Alchemy of Love, Daniel is the founder of Peerless Leadership, where he works with organizations on leadership development, communication, and conflict.
Daniel’s work has been featured in publications including NBC News, Newsweek, Harper’s Bazaar, Forbes, and MindBodyGreen.
Born in California and raised in Iowa, Daniel now makes his home in the wilds of Wyoming. You can learn more about him at danielboscaljon.com.
Working with Relational Trauma? Get Support for Your Practice.
When you work with clients who have experienced relational trauma, the beliefs they carry about themselves and about relationships often create patterns of distress long before those beliefs can be named.
Helping clients identify these core relationship wounds can be a powerful first step in reducing shame, increasing self-awareness, and opening new therapeutic conversations.
The Institute for Trauma-Informed Relationships offers a free clinical resource—Identifying Core Relationship Wounds: A Trauma-Informed Clinical Checklist (with Practitioner Guidance)—designed to help you work with these themes in practice. This checklist is intended to be used with clients and can be integrated immediately into individual or relationship work.
The accompanying practitioner guidance offers context for ethical, trauma-informed use, including how to adapt the language to your client’s experience, avoid premature interpretation, and situate this tool within a broader relational healing process.
We’re passionate about giving back
Helping those in need is something we take very seriously as part of our commitment to create a more loving, connected world. That’s why we donate 10% of our profits to charity.
Not only does becoming Certified in Trauma Informed Relationships enable you to make a bigger, better impact on those you serve, you can feel even better knowing that a portion of your registration fee is going to help others around the world.
Our 2026 charity of choice is GiveDirectly. We are proud to support their poverty relief work in the poorest regions of Africa.
Wondering if this program is right for you? Let’s chat.
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