Trauma-Informed Care: How to Promote Safety, Trust, & Healing (Whoever You Are!)

Time: 9:00am-4:00pm

Location: Virtual

Instructor: Ann Marie Roepke, Ph.D., Evoke Training and Consulting, PLLC

CE credits: 6 CE's (pending)

Course Description:

The majority of adults have experienced at least one traumatic event in life, and trauma exposure is even more prevalent for our Veterans. Trauma can be like a thief, stealing our sense of safety, our ability to trust, our hope, and our sense of control over our own lives. All of these difficulties can impact our ability to take part in, and benefit from, the very services that are designed to help with healing. Trauma-informed care (also known as healing-centered engagement) can help. Trauma-informed care (TIC) is not a specific therapy method; instead, TIC is an overall approach to providing any sort of healthcare or social services, designed to meet people where they’re at and help them regain a sense of safety, trust, connection, hope, and control. In this 6-hour training, we will explore what trauma is; how stress and trauma impact our brains, our minds, and our lives; how to use core communication skills to connect with individuals who have experienced trauma; and how to change the environments where we deliver services to maximize safety and healing.

Training participants will have the opportunity to learn in a variety of ways, including lectures, demonstrations, discussions, and experiential learning activities, designed to offer a richer understanding of trauma-informed care. This educational training is designed for people from a variety of professional backgrounds (i.e., it is NOT designed solely for mental health professionals); anyone who wishes to understand how they could play a role in making their professional environment more conducive to healing is most welcome.

NOTE: THIS IS A PARTICIPATORY WORKSHOP! Attendees are expected to actively participate in discussions, breakouts, and skills practice/role play, etc. 

 Objectives:

At the end of this training, participants will be able to:

1. Define trauma
2. Explain how trauma impacts the brain, the body, mental health, and relationships
3. Describe five key components of trauma-informed care
4. Explain two ways to tailor their own services and/or settings to be more trauma-informed

References:

Baek, K., Freeman, K. R., Truong, S., Bell, C., & Montgomery, S. B. (2024). Pilot study of a resiliency based and trauma informed intervention for veterans. Trauma Care, 4(1), 75-86.

Berring, L. L., Holm, T., Hansen, J. P., Delcomyn, C. L., Søndergaard, R., & Hvidhjelm, J. (2024, April). Implementing trauma-informed care—settings, definitions, interventions, measures, and implementation across settings: a scoping review. Healthcare, 12(9), 908-934.

Mahon, D. (2025). A systematic review of trauma informed care in substance use settings. Community mental health journal, 61(4), 734-753.