Greetings one and all,
Welcome back to my blog post. Last week saw the launch of my brand new course, created specifically for local authorities; ‘Making the Connection’ - Trauma and Change. Stoke-on-Trent City Council have invested a great deal of time and energy in upskilling their staff in a ‘trauma informed approach.’ I’m afraid often times, this term gets banded around and I swear some professionals have no idea what it actually means. ‘Psychologically Informed Environments’ what does it actually mean? What would a psychological informed environment actually look and feel like? I can’t bear the buzz words which is why my training is always delivered in plain English. And more importantly do citizens of Stoke and Staffordshire know what these things mean?
I have spent just short of twelve months creating the course. This has entailed my:
Interviewing a raft of people from across Staffordshire and beyond to capture their lived experience of life after traumatic events and living with trauma.
Attending various group supervisions, in which I have observed professionals dealing with the effects of trauma on children, families and young people.
Creating training films that educate, inform and entertain.
And creating kinaesthetic, hands-on learning tools that engage the learners and embed learning.
And always remembering that the course does not have to be a dour, navel gazing affair. Instead, I wanted to share the stories of people who are living with their trauma, functioning and thriving. It was great to hear the views of children, both Ellie and Brent have experienced a great deal of trauma and it was important to hear what they had to say about recovery. We also have Charlotte and Ryan, two pretty inspirational people who allowed me into their lives. It has been incredibly rewarding for me to have both of them in my life and now we are life-long friends.
Feedback was collated by Jonathan from the Insight Academy - which by all accounts took him a great deal of time! So Cheers fella me lad, and as you can see it is superb.
Please take a look and let’s continue spreading the word. A massive thank you to everyone who attended and everyone who helped me in creating this thought-provoking course.
On completion of this training has your knowledge increased
Yes – 19/19 No – 0/19
Would you recommend this training to others and why?
• YES, very well delivered
• Most definitely
• Yes, ongoing CDP opportunities, challenging assumptions
• Interesting, based on real people’s situations and informative, Ryan & Charlotte were inspirational in how they turned their lives around
• Yes!
• Excellent session, learning invaluable
• Yes
• Yes
• Yes! Steven was brilliant, the day went quickly + the use of lived experience from Ryan & Charlotte was wonderful to see
• Yes, very informative & at ease
• Session was very in-depth, trainer had excellent knowledge & delivery skills
• YES!
• Yes – Really informative, everyone should be accessing this
• Yes, engaging trainer, interesting real-life stories & examples from Ryan & Charlotte
• Yes – very informative & interactive + lived experience of Ryan & Charlotte was really helpful & inspiring
What did you learn during this session?
• Been empathetic + approach + listen. Training was very good
• EVERYTHING RYAN + CHARLOTTE – EXCELLENT!!
• No. The training was superb, very informative – just brilliant
• Use of language – what we say & discuss with people. Ryan & Charlottes story were very insightful and interesting – Ryan in particular
• No – Very in depth & covers variety of areas
• Understanding & empathy, movies inspiring, causes vs symptoms, real people / real stories
• How to consider approaching people in different ways to achieve better results & more understanding
• Learnt how to support people living with trauma, reflect from situations I’m not comfortable with
• Gained lost optimism – people who go through trauma – can survive and thrive with the right support
• More about how trauma affects people physically as well as psychologically
• Learned about more background on trauma and to communicate more efficiently with trauma victims
• More trauma centred responses and how much unresolved trauma can affect your life, self-esteem + others’ perceptions
• I have learnt of ways of communicating with service users, such as how, when, where to enable them to open up more, that having more information of the individual is important in knowing or identifying where historic events have impacted on a person’s character / actions
• Learnt better skills on dealing with trauma, learnt what people who may be experiencing trauma maybe encountering. Videos from Ryan & Charlotte – lived experience were excellent, provided deep insight into how people really feel
• Very informative session – much needed!!! Impact of ACES / Trauma on brain development & function in adulthood, Ryan + Charlottes films were amazing! Thanks for sharing
• Very informative, recognition on how best to support people wo have experienced trauma
• Causes & effects of trauma, how to work with people who’ve experienced trauma
• Very informative – increased knowledge impact of trauma & how to support people who have experienced trauma
How will the training you experienced shape your practice in the future?
• Make me more awareness – approach – when assessing people
• Approach, Engagement
• Good starting points – this informs my practice, Ryan & Charlotte – keeping informing others this is your vocation
• More reflection on approach
• Specifically found Ryan & Charlotte's real life journey inspiring – WELL DONE BOTH!!!
• 90 second pause
• Ryan & Charlotte WOW Thank you for sharing your experiences 😊
• Encourage more reading, reflection, learning
• Think about how to speak to people, how / who / what / where / when
• More knowledge and confident
• Understanding the importance of prompting questions and building trusting relationships
• Listening, information gaining for wider picture, getting to know the individual, Ryan & Charlottes video – sharing their personal stories had a huge impact on how services can support / where to improve
• I now feel I have a better understanding of how to support people encountering trauma
• Yes, RE: Significant impact – link to care act 2014 + MCA ( Executive functioning ) need more resources ( psychological & preventative ) in Stoke
• Yes, will take all the knowledge from the course with those that I support
• The types of questions I will ask and approaching people who have experienced trauma
• Reminder to use motivational interviewing techniques + making assessment +support trauma informed
I’ve been asked to share the content of the course and who am I to argue:
Aim: The aim of this session is to equip you with the skills to work compassionately with people who may have experienced traumatic life experiences and are now living with trauma.
Objectives: By the end of the one day’s training all learners will have
1. Analysed what is meant by traumatic experiences and the feeling of trauma.
2. Described the signs of trauma and creating trauma responsive approaches.
3. Observed what customers have experienced and how this impacts how they relate to services.
4. Discovered the emotional and psychological needs of service users.
5. Explored what is meant by Psychologically Informed Environments (PIEs).
6. Described how to create environments that aid and do not impede people's recovery.
7. Explained the importance of self-care through reflective practice.
8. Discovered how to continue to develop and transform the way services are delivered.