The HealthBridge Alliance exists to improve the effectiveness of helping professions by providing training, tools, and support to those at risk of or experiencing secondary trauma.

The organization was founded in 1998 through a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Victims of Crime by Dr. Henry N. Tobey. Its original scope was to address secondary trauma in victim service workers. Over a year-long period, with input from local and national experts, including Michael Eldridge, Charles Figley, Krista Flanagan, Heather Friedman, Trudy Gregorie, Janice Harris Lord, Kate Horn-Murphy, Marti Kovener, Karen Long, Jean McAllister, Marte McNally, Lisa Morrison, Morna Murray, Dick Nablo, Pat Ogden, Holly Smith, Jennifer Walker, and Marlene Young, Dr. Tobey developed the original training program for the agency, the Secondary Trauma Resiliency Training.

In 2004, through support from the Colorado foundation community and the Colorado Department of Human Services, the HealthBridge Alliance was able to substantially grow its impact and provide more trainings.

In 2007, in an effort to ensure that the curriculum was consistent with new and best-practice research around trauma and secondary trauma and in response to feedback from participants, the HealthBridge Alliance updated its core training program, naming the new curriculum the F.I.R.S.T. Workshop: Finding Inner Resiliency for Secondary Trauma. The organization also began to offer its F.I.R.S.T. for You program, specifically tailoring trainings in length and content for different agencies and organizations.

That year, the HealthBridge Alliance expanded its reach, serving over 1,200 participants across Colorado and the Western Region, up from just over 200 participants in 2006.

The HealthBridge Alliance now reaches a broad variety professional fields, including child protection professionals, educators, human and social services, healthcare and mental health professionals, law enforcement, victim advocates, and others.

The organization continues to grow its ability to fulfill its mission by offering workshops in a variety of formats to new professional fields and organizations and in new locations across the state and country. The HealthBridge Alliance is also in the process of developing new programs to provide ongoing support, including an online support forum, a “refresher” training, and support for managing the organizational impact of secondary trauma.