Free eight module adult education course "Childhood trauma, Consequences and Essential Responses"

* Freely available for a limited period! (Extended due to multiple requests and my desire to make the content available to people who might benefit personally, professionally or both from it)

Email testimonial from 28/01/23

Hi Jane,

Just a quick note to say thank you so much for this powerful course. It was recommended to me by (name) Training Co-ordinator in Tusla, (place). I am a foster parent who has also had several ACEs.

I found the course to be informative, challenging, empathic, sensitive and gave me a huge awareness going forward with the little girl we foster who obviously has had many ACEs too in her life.

Everyone should do this course. I have learned so much about my own experiences but also how and why I chose the different roles I've played in my life. Thank you seems like such a small word but doing this course has changed my life and my perspective on my life and others.

In this free eight module course, participants will gain an understanding of how children’s earliest experiences and the nature and quality of their attachment to their primary care-giver can impact their ability to feel safe in the world, to regulate their emotions, to trust other people, to learn, experience good physical and mental health, enjoy positive, reciprocal relationships and behave in prosocial ways.

In particular, participants will learn about:

• Human brain development

• Attachment

• The importance of a felt sense of safety for flourishing

• Toxic stress

• Adverse Childhood Experiences

• Adverse Community Environments and inequity

• Historical, racial and cultural trauma

• The ecological context of child development

• Covid-19 as a form of collective trauma/overwhelm

• Resilience, relational health and positive childhood experiences

• The physical and mental health impacts of trauma

• Manifestations of trauma in the classroom

• The link between trauma, addiction and criminality

• Working more effectively and humanely with trauma survivors

• Signs of vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue and burnout

• The role of the community in preventing and healing trauma

Note: Trauma is prevalent in society. I believe that knowledge is power and can be life-changing. Depending on your own personal history, however, you may find some of the content activating (i.e. upsetting).

Please pay attention to the physiological signals of distress within your body and to any emotional overwhelm. Take a break when necessary. If distress persists, you might benefit from talking to someone about it. There are various ways that you can access support from the Samaritans. See https://www.samaritans.org/ireland/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/ Alternatively, you might feel that you would benefit from speaking to a professional counsellor face to face in your locality.

It is important to note that not all counsellors and mental health professionals are neurodevelopmentally aware and trauma-informed. It is advisable to research trauma-informed practitioners, before selecting a helping professional. Also, if you have already explored talk therapy and found that it did not help you to resolve your trauma fully, you might be interested in exploring body-based interventions that target the somatic, embodied residue of trauma such as Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Deep Brain Re-orienting, the Comprehensive Resource Model and EMDR. Practices such as Trauma Releasing Exercises, yoga, mindfulness, meditation and Coherent Breathing may also help you manage stress and physiological discomfort. Please take care of yourself and respect the safety-related messages that your body and emotions are giving you.

Module 1 : An introduction to interpersonal neurobiology: attachment, the science of safety and “good enough" parenting

Module 2: The Pair of ACEs: Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adverse Community Environments

Module 3: Resilience and Positive Childhood Experiences

Module 4: Understanding trauma as an embodied experience: exploring health impacts

Module 5: State-dependent functioning: trauma in the classroom

Module 6: ACEs, trauma and behaviour: a spotlight on addiction and criminality

Module 7: Working with trauma survivors in a neurodevelopmentally-aware, trauma-responsive way

Module 8: The role of community in preventing and healing trauma