Trauma Workshops
- Effects of Early Trauma on Brain Development
- Effects of Early Trauma on Child Development
- Tools Utilized in the Assessment of Trauma: Determining Treatment Direction
- Assessing Trauma in Children and Adolescents
- Trauma Treatment: A Directive Structured Approach to Treating Unresolved Trauma
- Secondary Trauma and Human Service Organizations – Beyond Self Care
- Impact of Trauma
- Therapist Reactions in Trauma Treatment
- Secondary Trauma: Impact on Staff and Organizations
- Worker Resiliency – What Organizations can do to support Staff who work with Traumatized Populations
Partners of Sexual Abuse Survivors
These workshops are available by request.
If your organization or group is interested in any these workshops please contact: Sandra Marshall – Coordinator, Training and Development
training@ckmconsultation.com
Effects of Early Trauma on Brain Development
Attachment is a deep and lasting connection established between an infant and caregiver in the early years of life. It affects every aspect of child development. Children raised by nurturing and stable caregivers develop healthy attachments and a secure sense of self. The brains of such infants also have the opportunity for optimal development.
Children raised in neglectful, abusive or unpredictable environments are at risk of developing attachment disorders and deficits in brain development. Such children present with oppositional, impulsive, aggressive and mistrustful behavior. They have poor affect regulation and an inability to trust and care for others, and are often very difficult to reach and to treat. These are the children who challenge and drain the resources of parents, caregivers and professionals.
Trauma takes many forms in the early development of children. The impact of attachment disruption, chaotic, unpredictable and violent environments as well as specific events will be the focus of this workshop. The resulting effects of early trauma on brain development, personality development, functioning and the impact on child maturation, and will examine the effects of trauma that occurred to the child between the ages of 0 and 6 years.. The training will include practical methods of treatment. The workshop will include lecture, individual exercises and small group discussions. Implications for assessment and treatment planning will be outlined.
Effects of Early Trauma on Child Development
Trauma takes many forms in the early development of children. The impact of attachment disruption, chaotic, unpredictable and violent environments as well as specific events will be the focus of this workshop. The resulting effects of early trauma on brain development, personality development and functioning will be discussed. This workshop will examine the effects of trauma that occurred to the child between the ages of 0 and 6 years. Implications for assessment and treatment planning will be outlined.
Tools Utilized in the Assessment of Trauma: Determining Treatment Direction
Effective trauma treatment is highly dependent on an accurate trauma assessment. The workshop will review specific tools for trauma assessment and outline the implications for trauma treatment based on assessment results.
Assessing Trauma in Children and Adolescents
This workshop will present a comprehensive model for the assessment of trauma in children and adolescents. Key clinical issues in trauma assessment will be identified. The role of psychometric measures, collateral information, previous diagnoses and child interviews will be defined. Models of trauma assessment will be presented and each model will be reviewed and discussed in terms of applicability.
Trauma Treatment: A Directive Structured Approach to Treating Unresolved Trauma
Trauma treatment is complex. There are diverse and often competing theories about how individuals experience and interpret their traumatic experience and how we as counsellors can respond. All theorists are in agreement that trauma impacts on the emotional belief system of the individual. These belief systems often centre on the victims' feelings of self blame and are played out in persistent trauma symptoms such as depression, depersonalization and aggressive behaviour.
Trauma theory assists the clinician in identifying and responding to these key emotional belief systems. In this workshop, we will examine trauma theory and its impact on clinical practice. Choice of treatment modality (individual, group and/or family), treatment plan development and length of intervention will be highlighted.
Therapist Reactions in Trauma Treatment
Length: 1 full day
Description:
The treatment of people who have experienced trauma is challenging and can be full of risks and pitfalls for the client and worker. Recent attacks on therapists’ credibility and disputes around memory are now common place. Research now confirms that the events that we are asked to listen to and work with will effect us personally and professionally. Considering the subject matter how can the work not elicit strong reactions?
It is our professional duty to use these reactions for the best benefit of our clients. We will look at the use of various creative strategies to help therapists stay in touch with their reactions.
Case examples will be used to demonstrate some common therapist struggles.
This workshop will address:
- Counter-transference /Transference
- Identifying your reactions and vulnerabilities
- the therapist’s reactions to deepen the work with clients
- Common mistakes that therapists make
- What to do when your reactions are interfering with the work (i.e. anger towards client, dislike of client, fear around legal matters, sexual attraction to client)
- How to use your reactions to deepen the work
- When to use supervision and consultation
- How to handle mistakes
- Developing standards of care
Who Should Attend:
Therapists, counsellors, clergy who work with trauma survivors
Secondary Trauma and Human Service Organizations – Beyond Self Care
Length: 1 or 2 day
Description:
Working with clients who have experienced trauma will have a variety of effects on mental health workers. Research points to an inevitable conclusion that working with trauma survivors will irreversibly change the way human service workers view the world. They are likely to experience reactions that mirror symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress. Research shows that the effects of secondary trauma will be cumulative and permanent and be evident in both the workers personal and professional life.
Secondary Trauma is an occupational hazard for mental health workers who work with this population, and may manifest itself through: decrease in quality of service to clients; poor management of professional boundaries; increased professional errors and subsequent liability; demoralized work group; toxic work culture; counselor’s reenactments; loss of employees; more sick time, stress leaves and increased cost of sick benefits to the organization; increased management / employee conflict
This workshop will address:
- Effective training and subsequent interventions with organizations including an approach that addresses all facets of workplace stressors at all levels within the organization
- how an organization is managed and its impact on staff health and moral
- how organizational procedures and policies support good communication and professional self care
- how administration and front line communicate and work together
- what supervisory practices are in place that allow issues such as secondary trauma to be addressed
- what benefits should ideally be available to staff
- how organizations traditionally deal with conflict and pain
Who Should Attend:
This training is designed to be more thorough examination of the issues of human service organizations, secondary trauma issues and self care. Focus will be on the development of practices and procedures that are directed at minimizing the impact of social service and mental health work, both at an organizational level and at a staff level.
Impact of Trauma
Description:
Clients accessing our health and mental healthcare systems frequently show signs and symptoms of trauma. Old trauma symptoms can resurface or be exacerbated when new traumas are experienced or when experiences remind them of old trauma.
This workshop will:
- Help staff understand trauma and how it affects behaviour
- Look at ways that troubling world events may impact clients
- Examine how the work effects professionals and how to minimize secondary trauma
Who Should Attend:
This is a short training designed to give staff a basic understanding of how trauma can effect clients and explain some of the behaviour we see. The concept of client’s effecting staff will be introduced.
Secondary Trauma: Impact on Staff and Organizations
Length: 1 full day
Description:
Staff are effected and changed by working with victims of trauma. Helping those who have been abused is important work and can be both rewarding and challenging for the helper. Organizations and workers who want to remain effective need to understand the impact of the work on them. Ignoring the impact of working with traumatized people has the potential to harm workers, clients and the organizations for which they work. Addressing this issue can lead to increased effectiveness, self-growth and satisfaction.
The presenter will draw from the writings and models developed by leading researchers in the area of secondary trauma. Through the use of case examples, as well as her own experience, the workshop leader will present practical, useful strategies to minimize the negative impact of trauma work to staff and their organizations. The workshop participants will be challenged to implement new strategies in their work and workplace.
This workshop will examine:
- the effects of working with trauma on workers and their significant others
- how to recognize the signs and symptoms and contributing factors of secondary trauma
- the role of transference and countertransference
- realistic strategies for preventing and minimizing secondary trauma
- ways organizations can address secondary trauma in the work place
- strategies to designing a self resilient life style
- the rewards of doing trauma work
Who Should Attend:
Staff who work in Human Service Organizations
Worker Resiliency – What Organizations can do to support Staff who work with Traumatized Populations
Length: 1 full day
Description:
The essence of most work in human services is enhancement of quality of life. Most of our clients have experienced abuse, deprivation, loss or marginalization. A major source of stress for those in the helping professions is constant proximity to great pain. This dynamic can take its toll, both personally and professionally, and managers need to support workers, while ensuring that clients' needs are being met.
Organizations and professionals who do not acknowledge and prepare for the psychological impact are vulnerable to poor work performance, high turnover, boundary violations, ethical breaches, poor interpersonal work relationships, addiction, illness and difficulties in personal relationships.
This workshop will examine:
- how to recognize the impact of working with stressful individuals and institutions
- the risks of unrecognized secondary trauma
- ways to enhance worker resiliency within organizations and develop an integrated approach to enhancing psychological hardiness
- common psychological phenomena that play out in the workforce
- how organizations can minimize negative effects
- principles that encourage resilient organizations
- how accountability can enhance resiliency in workplaces
- a model of how to minimize the stress of organizational change
Who Should Attend:
Managers, administrators, executive directors. This training focuses on organizations and how through the development of practices, policies and procedures
Partners in Healing: Couple Work with Survivors of Sexual Abuse
Length: 1 full day
Description:
For many survivors of sexual abuse the healing process is complex, stressful and exhausting. For survivors in couple relationships, the impact of abuse and the process of healing can place added strains that can threaten the relationship. Both sexual and emotional intimacy and developmental life issues can impact on the survivor and the partner. Extended family relationships, outside friendships, pregnancy, childbirth and child-rearing can be re-traumatizing experiences for the survivor. In the face of such challenges, survivors can focus on protecting themselves and containing their feelings rather than connecting with their partners.
This workshop we will explore and address:
- the issues of including partners
- the research on couple works through the use of videotapes of conversations with partners and survivors.
- Present a treatment model for couple work for therapists working with sexual abuse
- How to support the couple in the telling and the hearing of the abuse
- Education on the known effects of sexual abuse
- Individual support for the partner during stressful times in the survivor's treatment
- Intimacy and individuality
- Understanding projection and transference
- Adjusting to changes in touch and sexual relating
- Weaving together individual and couple therapy
- Therapist reactions
Who Should Attend:
Those who work with survivors of sexual abuse and want to integrate working with partners as part of their treatment approach