This certificate will provide the clinician with:

1. Trauma 101–Provides an overview of trauma, and an understanding of trauma informed principles and practices
2. Trauma-Informed Care: Increases awareness of the different types of trauma, their impact and individual differences in the experience of traumatic events.
3. Trauma Informed Care: Impact of Trauma: Overview of the effects of trauma on the brain and physical health; social relationships; mental health; and the community/society at large.
4. Trauma Informed Care: Screening and Assessment
5. Trauma Informed Care: Trauma Specific Services reviews many of the current best and promising practices for survivors of trauma, ranging from child abuse to natural disasters.
6. Trauma and Resiliency: Highlights the concepts and components of individual, family and community resiliency.
7. Neurological Impact of Trauma: Provides an overview of the human brain and its response to stress and trauma.
8. Pharmacotherapy for Trauma: Reviews current practice guidelines for the use of SSRIs, Benzodiazepines, Rapid-Acting Antidepressants, Alpha-1 Antagonists and Mood Stabilizers
9. Acute Stress Disorder: Assessment and Treatment
10. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Trauma
11. Cognitive Processing Therapy for Trauma
12. Intro to Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Trauma

By the end of the training, the clinician will:

1. Understand the difference between trauma-informed and trauma-specific services
2. Understand the differences among various kinds of abuse and trauma, including: physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; domestic violence; experiences of war for both combat veterans and survivors of war; natural disasters; and community violence
3. Understand the different effects that various kinds of trauma have on human development and the development of psychological and substance use issues
4. Understand how protective factors, such as strong emotional connections to safe and nonjudgmental people and individual resilience, can prevent and ameliorate the negative impact trauma has on both human development and the development of psychological and substance use issues
5. Understand the importance of ensuring the physical and emotional safety of clients
6. Understand the importance of not engaging in behaviors, such as confrontation of substance use or other seemingly unhealthy client behaviors, that might activate trauma symptoms or acute stress reactions
7. Demonstrate knowledge of how trauma affects diverse people throughout their lifespans and with different mental health problems, cognitive and physical disabilities, and substance use issues
8. Demonstrate knowledge of the impact of trauma on diverse cultures with regard to the meanings various cultures attach to trauma and the attitudes they have regarding behavioral health treatment
9. Demonstrate knowledge of the variety of ways clients express stress reactions both behaviorally (e.g., avoidance, aggression, passivity) and psychologically/emotionally (e.g., hyperarousal, avoidance, intrusive memories)
10. Expedite client-directed choice and demonstrates a willingness to work within a mutually empowering (as opposed to a hierarchical) power structure in the therapeutic relationship
11. Maintain clarity of roles and boundaries in the therapeutic relationship
12. Demonstrate competence in screening and assessment of trauma history (within the bounds of his or her licensing and scope of practice), including knowledge of and practice with specific screening tools
13. Show competence in screening and assessment of substance use disorders (within the bounds of his or her licensing and scope of practice), including knowledge of and practice with specific screening tools
14. Demonstrate an ability to identify clients’ strengths, coping resources, and resilience
15. Facilitate collaborative treatment and recovery planning with an emphasis on personal choice and a focus on clients’ goals and knowledge of what has previously worked for them
16. Respect clients’ ways of managing stress reactions while supporting and facilitating taking risks to acquire different coping skills that are consistent with clients’ values and preferred identity and way of being in the world
17. Demonstrate knowledge and skill in general trauma-informed counseling strategies, including, but not limited to, grounding techniques that manage dissociative experiences, cognitive- behavioral tools that focus on both anxiety reduction and distress tolerance, and stress management and relaxation tools that reduce hyperarousal