Training Offerings for Professionals

This training is focused on the types of trauma children may be exposed to; the impact of trauma exposure on the developing brain and the subsequent impact on cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral functioning; and signs and symptoms of traumatic stress and how it may manifest in a variety of settings. Participants have the opportunity to practice application of an array of trauma informed approaches to build resilience in children and reduce traumatic stress symptoms. The effects of secondary exposure to trauma on professionals is discussed and participants learn to recognize the signs of secondary traumatic stress. Participants are guided to identify trauma informed practices they can utilize in their workplaces. This training can be adapted for a wide variety of professionals and is available in several formats ranging from half day events to multi-day learning collaboratives. Advanced Trauma Informed Care curriculum can be developed according to the needs of your agency. Please contact our Training and Education Manager, joshua.fisherkeller@uky.edu with any questions.

Secondary traumatic stress is the emotional distress that occurs from indirect exposure to traumatic material (e.g. first-hand accounts, visual images) experienced by others. Its symptoms mimic those of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Secondary Traumatic Stress is an occupational hazard of working with victims of violence, abuse, disasters, or any other traumatic event. This cost of caring can cause job turnover, absenteeism, tardiness, and can threaten service delivery. 

This interactive workshop is designed to assist individuals in preparing for and addressing secondary traumatic stress in their work settings and is ideally suited for helping professionals in the fields of behavioral health, health care, child welfare, emergency services, corrections, law enforcement, or any field that works with trauma exposed persons.

Topics covered will include:

• Understanding compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress and burnout;
• Screening methods for determining areas of risk, vulnerability and strength;
• Developing a personalized plan for identifying and treating compassion fatigue.

Visit the Secondary Traumatic Stress Innovations and Solutions Center for more events and resources.

Trauma exposure can have a profound impact on a child’s developmental trajectory across multiple domains of functioning. Traumatized children are often misdiagnosed and provided ineffective psychosocial and medication treatment, and the underlying reasons for their symptoms are not addressed. A trauma-informed assessment assists with guiding adequate treatment for children.

This 3 hour workshop is designed for licensed mental health practitioners who work with traumatized children across various developmental stages and want to learn how to effectively and ethically provide a comprehensive framework for assessing the impact of trauma exposure on a child’s functioning. Learning objectives include being able to assess for trauma exposure and symptoms at various points of development (preschool, school-aged, and adolescence to late adolescence), understand differences among symptom presentations (trauma verses ADHD or co-occurring disorders), learn specific trauma assessment measures for children and their caregivers, and learn how to provide feedback to children and their families as well as other service providers working with the child.

This training provides an overview of the impact of trauma exposure on youth and their functioning in school environments. Participants will learn: the types of trauma school-aged children may be exposed to; the impact of trauma exposure on the developing brain and the subsequent impact on cognitive, social, emotional, and behavioral functioning; and signs and symptoms of traumatic stress and how it may manifest in the school setting. Participants have the opportunity to practice application of an array of trauma informed approaches to build resilience in children and reduce traumatic stress symptoms. Strategies for use at universal, targeted, and intensive levels of student intervention are provided. Effects of secondary exposure to trauma on professionals is discussed and participants learn to recognize the signs of secondary traumatic stress. Participants are guided to identify trauma informed practices they can utilize in their workplaces.

TF-CBT is an evidence-based treatment that is widely utilized with children ages 3 to 18 who have been exposed to a traumatic event and experience posttraumatic stress and other trauma-related symptoms. This intervention has been highly effective in improving symptoms and adaptive functioning in traumatized children and supporting non-offending parents participating in the treatment. TF-CBT can be used with a wide variety of populations including children living in foster care, military families, and ethnically diverse families, and it has been applied in multiple settings such as outpatient centers, homes, and residential treatment facilities.

This training will prepare licensed mental health practitioners to be proficient in delivering the treatment and for certification test requirements. The training will include the initial program as well as 12 monthly consultation calls with a certified TF-CBT trainer. The focus of the training will be on the PRACTICE components of the model:

• Psychoeducation,
• Parenting skills,
• Relaxation and Affective modulation,
• Cognitive processing,
• Trauma narrative,
• In vivo mastery of trauma reminders,
• Conjoint child-parent sessions, and
• Enhancing safety and future developmental trajectory.

This training is offered to both individuals and agencies.

Trauma Affect Regulation: Guide for Education and Therapy (TARGET)

TARGET is a phase-based trauma-focused treatment for school-aged youth and families that can be delivered in an individual, family, or group format. TARGET was developed for youth who have experienced complex trauma, and is particularly appropriate for youth who struggle with daily stressors and affect regulation. TARGET provides a 7 step sequence of skills—the FREEDOM steps—that are designed to help youth understand and gain greater control of trauma- and stress-related reactions that may be triggered by daily life stressors. The FREEDOM steps were developed around the following components:

Focus

Recognize triggers

Emotion self-check

Evaluate thoughts

Define goals

Options

Make a contribution

The Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS) program is a school-based, group and individual intervention. It is designed to reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and behavioral problems, and to improve functioning, grades and attendance, peer and parent support, and coping skills. CBITS has been used with students from 5th grade through 12th grade who have witnessed or experienced traumatic life events such as community and school violence, accidents and injuries, physical abuse and domestic violence, and natural and man-made disasters. CBITS uses cognitive-behavioral techniques (e.g., psychoeducation, relaxation, social problem solving, cognitive restructuring, and exposure).

Trauma-Informed Parenting Skills 4 Resource Parents (TIPS 4 RP) TIPS 4 RP is a phase-based intervention for resource parents caring for trauma-exposed youth that is currently in the development and piloting phase. The intervention rests upon the premise that caregivers—and their relationship with the child—is often the most productive vehicle for healing and change. TIPS 4 RP has four key learning components:

• Trauma Awareness,
• Interpersonal Relationships Matter,
• Positive Parenting to Increase Adaptive Child Coping,
• Safety as the Context for Healing and Recovery.

The intervention grew out of the Caring for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma: A Workshop for Resource Parents curriculum developed by the NCTSN. TIPS 4 RP is appropriate for any resource parent—a relative, foster or foster-adoptive caregiver—and caregivers may be new or experienced in their role. TIPS 4 RP may be delivered to multiple adult caregivers in the family or to a single caregiver who may share the information with others. This intervention can serve as a follow-up to Caring for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma: A Workshop for Resource Parents, but that course is not required for participation in TIPS 4 RP. TIPS 4 RP is appropriate to address caregiver needs for children of any age who are placed in out of home care. The intervention may be used with children who have a history of any type of trauma exposure and is particularly relevant for children who may have experienced familial maltreatment and the consequent effects on attachment relationships. TIPS 4 RP may be provided regardless of the child’s current engagement in mental health treatment services, including those that include caregivers in the treatment, as TIPS 4 RP will be congruent with other trauma informed interventions for children. Children and adolescents who are engaged in treatment should continue with that intervention — TIPS 4 RP is not necessarily a replacement for other trauma-focused interventions. TIPS 4 RP is also appropriate for caregivers of children with a range of mental health concerns and is not predicated on any particular diagnosis of the child.