The NeuroRelational Framework (NRF) is your guide to whole-person care​

Increase collaboration and holistic care with an organized assessment and treatment plan

Too often, practitioners are not trained in how mental health and developmental disabilities intersect with each other.  Parents are often told what to do instead of developing a shared understanding based upon their own stories. This leads to gaps in care, creating challenges that persist or escalate—extending an already steep learning curve. From an endless paper trail to the faces of exhausted parents and disconnected children, the weight can be too much for individual practitioners to manage.

Goodbye isolated approaches

Hello integrated personalized care!

The NRF brings added value to any promising practice or evidence-based treatment. The NRF matches treatment models with a person's neurodevelopment and engages the family in truly informed consent. This is evidence-based practice at its best.

Nurture resilience with the NeuroRelational Framework (NRF)

We educate and train practitioners to provide customized, collaborative, and cost-effective care.
At the NRF Institute, we value supporting all families in need regardless of their resources.

NRF at a glance

Our story

In the beginning

As a medical and mental health professional, founder and executive director Connie Lillas, RN, MFT, PhD, saw the gaps when helping clients with complex needs. As a parent, she endured the heartache and frustration of navigating a system that left her floundering and feeling alone without a roadmap for her son’s care.

After witnessing the growth in her own child who had complex needs, she sought to create a framework that would guide other parents and practitioners who were tired of figuring everything out on their own.

And so, the NeuroRelational Framework was conceived.Dr. Lillas co-authored a textbook with Dr. Janiece Turnbull, a UCLA trained pediatric neuropsychologist. This led the way for what the NRF Institute is today: an innovative social enterprise company comprised of passionate practitioners around the world.

We care about children and families in complex situations that require customized services.

We have seen our data tracking methods support resilience – for practitioners, parents, and the children we love.

FREE Starter Kit

Sign up for The FREE Starter Kit, with videos and downloadable handouts to support a more holistic intervention with children and families.

NeuroRelational Framework (NRF) Manual

When you use the NeuroRelational Framework (NRF), you get a big picture and collaborative approach to understanding the body and the brain. The NRF Manual guides practitioners and parents to coordinate the best, customized care.
NRF Programs

Let’s revolutionize the assessment and treatment for people of all cultures and identities experiencing the impact of toxic stress

The NRF began when founder Connie Lillas, RN, MFT, PhD, experienced conflicting opinions and poorly coordinated care with her own son. Now, the NRF Institute is an international team of innovative practitioners committed to helping children and families experience healthy connections.
Our faculty

Meet the NRF team

The team behind the NeuroRelational Framework is on a mission to improve the assessment and treatment of adults, children, and families with complex diagnoses through data-driven, customized, and collaborative care. The NRF Institute offers dynamic educational training to cross-sectored communities with at-risk infants, young children, adults, and families, based upon the use of the NeuroRelational Framework (NRF). In addition, the team is pursuing scientific research that assesses the outcomes of the child, adult, families, providers, and communities using the NRF.

Need more information?

Don't hesitate to send us an e-mail.
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