Current Treatment for Trauma Survivors

The purpose of this mini-course is to gain a holistic understanding of the impact of trauma and to acquire general clinical skills in treating traumatic stress.

The effects of trauma and traumatic stress can be profound whether the trauma was a single episode/event, or was experienced over a period of time. Trauma impacts many components of overall development and health including but not limited to in the areas of attachment, cognition, emotion regulation, dissociation, and ability to self-regulate and self-soothe.

One primary objective of the course is to develop a framework for understanding the way that traumatic events impact people in a multidimensional way. We will draw on knowledge from the fields of attachment, neurobiology, and child development as well as data from current studies such as the ACE study. Special attention will be given to the way that discriminatory, intergenerational and systems-level traumas impact individuals. We will examine the classifications of trauma-related disorders in the DSM-5.

The second primary objective of the course is to build clinical skills for interventions with traumatized individuals. Participants will gain knowledge about the range of current evidence-based treatments for PTSD in specific and traumatic stress more generally. We will cover EMDR, Trauma-Focused CBT, mindfulness-based interventions, and strategies for incorporating the body in treatment. There will be special emphasis on building self-regulation/self-soothing skills, working with trauma narratives, and vicarious trauma. We will also consider posttraumatic growth. We will work on treatment planning and general skills.

Each participant in the course can expect to leave with an enhanced ability to engage in trauma-sensitive assessments, to understand the impact of trauma across the lifespan, to implement trauma-informed interventions, and to build resilience for secondary traumatic stress.

Registration for this course is closed. Visit the CE Course Catalog for more offerings.