Vicarious Trauma Training Certificate Program
The Vicarious Trauma Training Certificate Program is a comprehensive framework for understanding and managing the impact of trauma exposure in professional roles. The curriculum is designed to cover these topics with greater breadth and depth than one-time trainings in order to build a skill set that is personalized and developed over time. Topics covered include neurobiology of trauma response, moral injury, nervous system regulation, impacts of trauma work on personal relationships, and skills for addressing each of these areas of impact.
Practitioners who complete all 8 modules will receive 3 CEUs.
听Target Audience:听Social workers, those in social services, advocacy, health care professionals, lawyers, and anyone who has high-trauma exposure in their job.
Asynchronous Modules - Pre-Recorded
- Online participants are required to have a computer with video and audio capability.
- The modules below are pre-recorded, comprising eight 20-minute sessions.
- Participants will have 120 days from the date of registration to complete the modules.
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Online via Canvas Catalog 鈥 20 minutes
Instructor:听Kathleen Flinton, MAR, MSW, LICSW, and Anna Mancuso, ScM, MSW, LICSW
This module provides an introduction to the course and an overview of the neurobiological response to trauma. It also introduces the concept of Vicarious Trauma and why it can make 鈥渉ard jobs鈥 seem even harder by interfering with personal and professional well-being.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will understand trauma as a neurobiological response.
- Participants will describe the Window of Tolerance and begin to apply it to their own regulation system.听
- Participants will understand a framework of Vicarious Trauma and connect it to their "why".
Online via Canvas Catalog 鈥⑻20 minutes
Instructors: Kathleen Flinton, MAR, MSW, LICSW, and Anna Mancuso, ScM, MSW, LICSW
This module describes how trauma responses show up in our professional roles and have an impact on our identities. It introduces Polyvagal Theory, the theory of how we manage and respond to threat, and is related to terms such as neuroception. It uses a traffic light analogy to demonstrate the differences between different forms of trauma/stress adaptation.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will understand the impact of trauma on the autonomic nervous system and the general concepts related to Polyvagal theory.
- Participants will differentiate between positive and toxic activation and the varied forms of adaptation.听
- Participants will recognize what it looks like to be "stuck" in a particular nervous system state, such as yellow or red.听
Online via Canvas Catalog 鈥⑻20 minutes
Instructors: Kathleen Flinton, MAR, MSW, LICSW, and Anna Mancuso, ScM, MSW, LICSW
This module differentiates between different forms of self-care and the related connection to how we manage affect (feelings). It also challenges the 鈥渨ork-life鈥 balance paradigm and gives examples of how different forms of self-care can look similar but function differently.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will define a framework for self-care and its relationship to managing trauma exposure in hard jobs.
- Participants will discern between self-care, self-rescue, and self-preservation.
- Participants will understand the need for a diversified skill set to help manage vicarious trauma.听
Online via Canvas Catalog 鈥⑻20 minutes
Instructors: Kathleen Flinton, MAR, MSW, LICSW, and Anna Mancuso, ScM, MSW, LICSW
This module examines the concept of boundaries and the challenges with putting work down given personal missions and often proximity to the spaces in which we engage in 鈥渉ard jobs鈥. It also defines context changes, how we go between different professional and personal spaces, and encourages the development of routines and rituals to aid in that process.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will define boundaries and how they apply to their work.
- Participants will understand the relationship between boundaries and Vicarious Trauma.
- Participants will reflect on a plan to use for their context changes.
Online via Canvas Catalog 鈥⑻20 minutes
Instructors: Kathleen Flinton, MAR, MSW, LICSW, and Anna Mancuso, ScM, MSW, LICSW
This module presents the foundational concept of moral injury in relationship with working in certain types of jobs. It provides vignettes about moral injury and makes connections to the challenges of working in situations that feel high-stake.
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will understand moral injury's place in the Vicarious Trauma framework.
- Participants will identify several ways in which moral injury manifests in different professional settings.
- Participants will examine different interventions for managing moral injury.