Trauma-informed care: from theory to practice (DAB004)

Explore the principles of trauma-informed care and how to implement the approach in your setting

Fee: £1400

Duration: 120 hours

Delivery: Online: self-study

Qualification: CPD certificate

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This 12-week, online course explores the rationale and principles of trauma-informed care and how the approach can be implemented across the health and care sector.

Through an interactive platform and live seminars, you will explore the core psychological processes involved in trauma and discover how an understanding of these can enhance your day-to-day frontline practice and service development. Guided by an expert tutor in a safe and supportive learning environment, you will be encouraged to reflect on your own practice and work area through a trauma-informed lens.

On completing the course, you will have an increased awareness of the impact of trauma and the confidence to apply a trauma-informed approach in your own setting.

Want to learn more? Watch our open event recording.

Aims and learning objectives

Throughout the training, you will:

broaden your understanding of trauma, including complex trauma and developmental adaptation to trauma
recognise and appreciate the range of impacts that trauma has upon survivors’ wellbeing and life chances
reflect upon your practice, your service and the wider system through the lens of trauma-experienced individuals
consider how the principles of trauma-informed care can be applied to create safety, promote engagement and provide a context of recovery for trauma-experienced individuals
use your awareness of trauma, and its psychological impact, to adapt your practice, service delivery, review processes and promote recovery from trauma
develop the confidence to contribute to a trauma-informed culture within your setting
critically reflect on the personal, professional and societal implications of what you have learned and the wider context in which trauma-informed care needs to be considered

Who is this course for?

This training is best suited for front-line workers with some health care experience and is applicable for those working with adults, children and young people. You might be working in:

acute or hospital care
primary care
mental health care
community care
teaching
social care
youth services
addiction services
a setting that supports domestic abuse survivors

Course details

Applications for the 2023/24 academic year have now closed. Please “register your interest” using the button on the top of the page to be the first to hear when applications re-open for the next 2024/25 academic year.

This course will be hosted online via our Digital Academy and will run for 12 weeks, comprising two six-weeks blocks with a break in the middle. During the course, you can take part in three, live one-hour seminars with the course tutor and your peers. To learn more about the course structure, watch this short clip from Dr Sheena Webb.

Two cohorts will take place across the 2023 / 2024 academic year and key dates for each are given below. Please specify which cohort you are interested in on the application form.

Cohort 1 (Applications CLOSED – submission deadline 15th October):
• Course start date: 6 November 2023

Live seminar dates

Session 1/3: Thursday 9 November 2023, 1pm – 2pm
Session 2/3: Thursday 14 December 2023, 1pm – 2pm
Session 3/3: Thursday 25 January 2024, 1pm – 2pm

Cohort 2 (Applications CLOSED – submission deadline 17th March 2024):
• Course start date: 15 April 2024

Live seminar dates

Session 1/3: Thursday 18 April, 1pm – 2.30pm
Session 2/3: Thursday 16 May, 1pm – 2.30pm
Session 3/3: Thursday 20 June, 1pm – 2.30pm

Places will be assigned on a first come, first served basis to suitable applicants. We therefore advise you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

This course will introduce you to thinking reflectively about your experiences and how this impacts your work with trauma. Through self-reflection and experiential exercises, you will consider how an understanding of psychological trauma has evolved over the past century and the implications this has for survivors of trauma. You will analyse the evidence linking trauma with psychosocial outcomes and learn how services can evolve to meet the needs of survivors.

You will be encouraged to explore the rationale for trauma-informed systems and learn how to critically evaluate trauma-informed care in the broader context of the systems in which you operate, and the intersectionalities that affect those with whom you work. You will be invited to think about diversity and structural inequality and how this can exacerbate trauma for individuals and groups.

If you’re a frontline practitioner, manager or service lead working in any health or social support sector, you will find the course particularly relevant in supporting you to understand and respond to the impact of trauma on service users, spending time on how to establish foundations for recovery and healing.

Throughout the course you’ll discover how you can share and implement your learnings so that you can create a trauma-informed culture in your workplace.

The course will combine an academic and practical approach to engage students and you will need to be prepared for reading academic texts.

Assessment

During the course, you will participate in weekly quizzes. To receive a course completion certificate, you must complete all the course content and satisfy the 60% minimum pass rate for each of the quizzes.

At the end of week 12, you can choose to submit an optional written assignment and receive a full Trust certificate. There’s no grading on this final assignment, but it will be considered and reviewed by the tutor, who will provide written feedback. The assignment consists of a 2,500 word case study which demonstrates how the principles of trauma-informed care can be applied to your workplace – whether a situation, process, relationship or aspect of your role.

Planning and preparation for the written assignment will be incorporated throughout the 12 weeks and form part of your weekly tasks. You will receive support in choosing your topic through the seminar in week six and the discussion forum. At the end of this week, you can consider your topic for the final written assignment and upload a 500-word piece for the tutor to review and add feedback.

Included in your course fee, you will receive online membership to the Tavistock’s internationally renowned library for one year. Our friendly and knowledgeable library team will help to support you through your specialist CPD course, whatever your level of professional or academic experience. You will have access to an extensive online range of eBooks, journals, all the relevant key databases and our specialist audio-visual collection.

Why study with us?

The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust has been at the forefront of exploring mental health and wellbeing for over 100 years. We bring our extensive experience to this course as the only NHS Trust to be registered as a Higher Education Provider by The Office for Students. This means your learning will be grounded in practice and real life application. With our Digital Academy, we have made our training accessible and available to everyone to explore in your own time, at your own pace. Find out more.

Course facilitators

Sheena Webb

Clinical psychologist

Apply now

To apply for this course, please submit an application form using the ‘Apply Now’ button.

Once you have submitted your form, the course team will review your application within two to four weeks of your application being made. No interviews or references are required. If you are successful in being offered a place you will need to book, and pay for, your place as soon as possible, otherwise it may be offered to someone else.

Payments:
You can pay for this course by invoice or by debit/credit card. This will need to be via a one-off online payment during the booking process. Unfortunately we are unable to arrange instalment payments for this course. Sponsorships from employer are welcome – please obtain a purchase order from your organisation which you will need to upload when making your online booking. Please contact digitalacademy@tavi-port.ac.uk if you need a quote to support the production of a purchase order.