PHMC subsidiary Joseph J. Peters Institute (JJPI) celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2025 stands as a testament to the organizational mindset of growth and innovation that has kept JJPI at the forefront of trauma treatment and prevention.
JJPI’s focus on community and its strengths in evidence-based practices (EBPs) have guided its recent program expansions. Building on its specialized strengths in sexual and interpersonal violence, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other forms of trauma, JJPI embeds its staff at the sites of several partner organizations to provide clinical support aligned with each community’s needs. Most recently, JJPI has begun serving the infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) population in partnership with early childhood education and home visiting providers. JJPI’s IECMH work is part of a growing national priority on early social-emotional development and supporting healthy child-caregiver relationships.
JJPI clinicians embedded at community sites including the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s Vaux Community Building, the Laura Carnell School, Family Support Line, Dawn’s Place, the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium, and Wonderspring provide an array of services to children, adults, and families working to overcome trauma.
These partnerships and satellite locations enhance the impact of JJPI’s work; by developing relationships with organizations whose missions JJPI supports, improving coordination of services, and increasing access to JJPI’s services by meeting individuals and families where they are.
Expertise in a range of trauma-informed practices and evidence-based treatments equips JJPI to offer adaptable support. EBPs provide a strong framework for psychotherapy, while allowing clinicians and program participants the flexibility to individualize treatment as needed. Specialized Cognitive Behavioral Therapies address the roots of traumas, build on the participant’s strengths and develop the skills to reduce the effects of trauma.
As our collective understanding of how people experience trauma evolves, JJPI continues to improve programming to meet the needs of the communities it serves. Developing expertise in trauma-informed and evidence-based care in models embedded within the community has helped sustain JJPI for its first 70 years, and this growth mindset will continue to serve the organization in the future.
