Trauma-Informed Care and Vicarious Trauma Workshops
Sharon Gold-Steinberg, Ph.D., a fully licensed psychologist with training and expertise in the area of trauma treatment, offers a series of 3 workshops to support mental health, social service, educational, legal, medical, public health, or social justice organizations to provide trauma-informed care that supports both their clients and staff members.
Why is trauma-informed care training helpful?
It is common to feel overwhelmed or despairing when working with populations who are traumatized.
An understanding of the impact of trauma from a biological, sociological, and psychological perspective can increase both the compassion and effectiveness of care providers.
Trauma-informed care strives as well to ameliorate the impact of vicarious trauma—the inevitable symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), burn-out, or disillusionment that care providers can feel as a result of witnessing how trauma impacts their clients, students, or patients.
Workshop Format
Dr. Gold-Steinberg is a dynamic and engaging speaker who integrates educational information with experiential practices. She is happy to design or adapt each workshop to best suit the needs and scope of your organization. The series can be purchased as individual workshops, integrated into a half or full-day event, or structured as a 3-part presentation delivered over a span of weeks or months.
Workshop Content
Trauma 101: Understanding the Impact of Trauma
This workshop reviews the basics of how trauma impacts the human nervous system and multiple aspects of human development. It differentiates the effects of: life and death threats that can lead to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; relational or attachment-based losses that can result in heartache and can alter one’s sense of self; and child abuse and neglect that can contribute to complex trauma involving not only symptoms of PTSD, but also possibly of dissociation or fragmenting of the personality. Experiences of discrimination and systemic oppression also contribute to trauma. The ACEs (Adverse Childhood Events Study) pyramid demonstrates how early childhood trauma can curtail brain development, economic opportunities, and health outcomes across the lifespan. Yet, the workshop also honors the creativity and adaptability of human resilience as it presents a compassionate view of not only of the suffering, but of the strengths, of trauma survivors.
Regulation and Respect: Providing Trauma-Informed Care
An understanding of the impact of trauma on human development informs an approach to care for trauma survivors that promotes safety, respect, resilience, and empowerment. Participants learn to observe and identify nervous system states related to trauma. Opportunities are provided to experiment with somatic and mindfulness-based strategies to regulate distress (including anger, fear, and shut-down) in oneself and others. As trauma itself is unpredictable and overwhelming, trauma-informed care must be transparent and collaborative.
Put On Your Own Oxygen Mask First: Dealing with Vicarious Trauma
Trauma-informed care prescribes that organizations attend to the needs of their staff as well as to those of their clients, students, or patients. Exposure to witnessing the trauma of others is the primary risk factor for developing vicarious trauma. This workshop validates the inevitability of vicarious trauma and advocates that organizations anticipate it as a workplace hazard. Dr. Gold-Steinberg offers both individual and organizational level strategies to ameliorate this risk. She invites audiences to practice relevant skills during the workshop and to brainstorm together interventions to promote well-being and sustainability in the workplace. Upcoming: April 30,2020 at Brattleboro Retreat in Brattleboro, VT; Click here to register
Trauma-Informed Consultation
Dr. Gold-Steinberg also is available to provide one-time or on-going consultation for organizations on the topics of trauma-informed care or vicarious trauma.
HELPFUL RESOURCES AND LINKS
“Understanding Trauma: Easing the Drama of Trauma Symptoms”: Dr. Gold-Steinberg has created a 7-episode video series to model the clear, compassionate, and affirming language she uses in teaching therapists, allied professionals, and trauma survivors how to understand and manage trauma symptoms.
To register to receive a link for the series, click here.
To register to view the first episode for free, click here.
To view “The vicarious trauma tool kit,” by the Office for Victims of Crime, click here.
To view “Helping those who help: vicarious trauma, supporting staff dealing with traumatic situations,” an article by Anna Kelsey-Sugg, click here.
Contact
You can reach Dr. Gold-Stenberg by email or phone (734-996-9065).
Praise from Past Participants
“As a result of this session, I will really be focusing on the effects of secondary trauma and the impact that the day to day grind of the court can have on mental wellbeing of judges and court staff. Also will use this info to better structure sentencing for defendants suffering from trauma/secondary trauma and PTSD.” –participant from training for judges and family law attorneys
“Dr. Sharon Gold-Steinberg leads her audience toward a better understanding of how trauma impacts us all directly or indirectly. As professional educators, we must consider how trauma affects our daily work and how we can help mitigate its impact. After a recent workshop, an educator reflected, ‘This is the single-most important, useful workshop I have experienced!’ Life is complicated and sometimes traumatic; Dr. Gold-Steinberg helps others learn about the impacts of trauma and how to best work with those impacted by trauma providing them a safe place to heal and learn.”
—participant from workshop for teachers and school administrators
Photo above by Kayla Steinberg
