Participants are required to have their cameras on for an interactive experience.
Maximum of two people per screen
Sessions are recorded for quality assurance purposes. They are only viewed by SCTS staff and deleted within 14 days.
£35.00 3 hours
This course provides comprehensive, hands-on training for integrating acceptance-based skills, primarily from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), into a trauma-informed practice. Participants will learn how to assist clients and service users who have experienced trauma in developing psychological flexibility—the ability to remain present, confront difficult internal experiences (such as thoughts, feelings, sensations, and memories), and take committed actions toward a values-driven life.
The primary aim is to equip practitioners with the knowledge and skills to enhance clients' resilience and quality of life by encouraging non-judgmental acceptance of trauma-related internal distress.
1. **Foundations in Trauma-Informed Practice**
- **Recognize and Respond**: Understand the prevalence and impact of trauma (including complex and developmental trauma) on physical, emotional, and relational well-being.
- **Safety and Trust**: Learn and apply the core principles of Trauma-Informed Care—Safety, Trustworthiness, Choice, Collaboration, and Empowerment—to ensure that all interventions, especially acceptance-based ones, minimise the risk of re-traumatisation.
2. **Master Acceptance and Psychological Flexibility Skills**
- **The ACT Model**: Gain a clear understanding of the six core processes of psychological flexibility: Acceptance, Cognitive Defusion, Contact with the Present Moment (Mindfulness), Self-as-Context (The Observing Self), Values, and Committed Action.
- **Target Experiential Avoidance**: Understand how a history of trauma can lead to high levels of experiential avoidance (struggling against painful memories, thoughts, and feelings) and learn how acceptance skills can provide an alternative to this painful struggle.
3. **Application of Acceptance Skills for Trauma-Specific Issues**
- **Mindfulness and Presence**: Use trauma-sensitive mindfulness and grounding techniques to help clients safely increase their contact with the present moment and regulate their nervous system while staying within their Window of Tolerance.
- **Working with Cognitions**: Apply cognitive defusion techniques to help clients detach from fused, unhelpful, or self-critical thoughts that often stem from trauma (e.g., "I am broken," "It was my fault") without attempting to change or suppress these thoughts directly.
- **Embracing Difficult Emotions**: Teach practical acceptance (willingness) skills to create space for painful trauma-related emotions (such as shame, fear, guilt, grief) and bodily sensations, thereby reducing the secondary suffering caused by resisting these feelings.
4. **Promoting Post-Traumatic Growth and Committed Action**
- **Values Clarification**: Guide clients in identifying their core personal values (what truly matters to them) as a source of direction, motivation, and meaning beyond their trauma narrative.
- **Value-Driven Action**: Facilitate the development of concrete, committed actions that align with clients' values, even in the presence of difficult thoughts and feelings, helping them foster a life filled with meaning and purpose.
- **Therapist Self-Care**: Promote a trauma-informed approach to practitioner self-care, focusing on acceptance and personal values to mitigate the effects of compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma.
**Who Is This Course For:** This course provides an in-depth exploration of trauma-informed care and communication. It is specifically designed for professionals working with vulnerable populations, including those in healthcare, social services, education, and community services.
**Format:** The training will be conducted live via Zoom and will include taught sections, small group activities, pair work, and whole-group discussions.
**Handouts & Certificates:** Participants will have access to a downloadable resource library and will receive certificates of attendance.
You can take a look at what people are saying about our training HERE.
Those seeking to be certified in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) or to further explore PACE in action are invited to visit the founder's website.
This option is aimed at an audience with prior knowledge of the subject and isn’t suitable for. Those that are new to the subject would be better with our standard course.
Generic training can leave staff feeling unprepared for the real-life scenarios they face. Our tailored approach ensures the content, delivery method, and case studies are directly relevant to your sector (e.g., education, healthcare, sport, charity, corporate), your local policies, and the specific vulnerabilities and risks present in your community.
We design engaging, practical, and compliant training across three core areas:
Invest in training that transforms knowledge into action. Equip your team with the confidence and competence to protect those in your care proactively.
We recognise that sometimes groups need more time for discussions and group work. This can mean that a two-hour session is just not long enough to explore the curriculum and engage in question and answer sessions. So we are you offering the opportunity to extend the session by an hour to allow your trainees the chance to explore the curriculum fully!
