Trauma-informed care from a social justice and strength-based perspective

This interactive workshop will explore trauma, vicarious trauma, and trauma-informed practice through a social justice lens and strength-based lens. Participants will consider the fundamentals of trauma (brain, body, nervous system and systems), explore and reflect on trauma-informed approaches and tools to use in their work and in building confidence to interact with diverse persons and communities that have experienced trauma. 

Through considering the teachings and writings of Vikki Reynolds, Resmaa Menakem, Kai Cheng Thom and others, participants will be encouraged to analyze the ways trauma overlaps with chronic and systemic experiences of oppression and racism and how their own lived experiences might impact their work. 

Participants will be encouraged to be curious, to question and to consider the ways in which a social justice lens can enrich their work and their own experiences.

Learning objectives:

• Insight into ways to politicize and de-pathologize trauma
• Gain a deeper understanding of how trauma impacts the body (brain, body, nervous system)
• Develop insight into connections between oppression and trauma
• Gain confidence in applying trauma-informed tools and strategies
• Be able to reflect and gain insight into one’s own individual trauma experiences