Adversity and Trauma Awareness training

Please describe a relationship, service intervention, program implementation, policy, or other that you initiated or know about that would be considered trauma-informed:

A number of experts by experience, NTW clinical staff and partners have collaborated to produce training to raise awareness and share our understanding of adversity and trauma with staff and supporters of people in statutory and voluntary sector organisations. This aims to (1) Introduce some knowledge and skills. (2) Increase confidence to talk about adversity and trauma and (3) Share how we can begin to help people who have experienced adversity and trauma.

 

What was the outcome?  

An active group of contributors to co-facilitate and disseminate a shared understanding of trauma informed approaches; creation of creative and interactive training that is influenced by people who have experienced trauma and mental health services. Next step is to pilot and evaluate the training.

 

What supported the positive outcome? (systemic supports? Organizational supports? Interpersonal supports?):

The process is rewarding due to the collaboration between experts by experience from different local organisations and NTW staff who are delivering direct interventions for people experiencing the effects of histories of adversity and trauma. Trauma informed practice has strategic and organisational support that is represented in NTW’s Adult Mental Health strategic clinical network and the NTW Personality and Complex Trauma strategic clinical network. This has enabled us to prioritise this work.

 

In what way has your example changed you, your practice or your goals:

The co- development of the Adversity and Trauma awareness training has raised the profile of the importance of trauma informed practice in inpatient and community services. It has helped us to understand how to pitch training in order to make it accessible and hopefully to influence practice, and has enabled us to disseminate well-structured stabilisation and Structured Clinical Management materials during the training development.

 

Tell us more about what motivated you to bring this example to discuss:

The benefits of co-production and putting this into practice. The emphasis and shift in culture and attitude this has to emphasise ‘what’s happened to you’ as opposed to ‘what’s wrong with you’?

 

Whose needs are met in the example that you outline:

Enabled service user experts by experience perspectives to be thoroughly represented and this will enhance the experience of services for people who use them. This approach to training gives the messages credibility with staff and volunteers.

 

Was there any one person or factor that was central to the success of your example and why:

The initiative has included a range of people, their commitment to trauma informed practice has been central to the work coming to fruition.

 

What can you or others do to spread this good practice to colleagues and services:

Implement and evaluate the training.  Implement feedback to future training to constantly improve and evolve. Ensure adversity and trauma is on everyone’s agenda as it’s everyone’s business.