This training program - Trauma-informed Care - is designed for a range of frontline workers and volunteers who engage with communities in East Gippsland and North East Victoria affected by the 2019-20 bushfires, as well as more recent disasters and stressors.

Trauma-informed Care (TIC) uses strengths-based approaches to help build a person’s sense of safety, control and empowerment after experiencing trauma. This course is designed for frontline personnel to support you in your work with communities and colleagues who have experienced a potentially traumatic event such as a bushfire.

In this training, you will learn about and practise key aspects of Trauma-informed Care, including:

how to safely talk about trauma
simple strategies to teach trauma-impacted individuals to help them deal with their distress
how to foster independence and recovery
how to encourage connection with others.

You will also learn how to apply these skills in your own work setting.

Please note: A brief online training module needs to be completed prior to attending the three-hour workshop. You will receive access to the online component once you have registered for this training.

Who should attend this training?

While this training is particularly suited to frontline workers and volunteers, a range of other people with no or minimal mental health skills training would benefit, such as legal professionals, pharmacists, council workers, as well as those who provide clinical or therapeutic care such as aged care workers, healthcare staff, and financial counsellors.

More experienced mental health professionals may also find the training useful to refresh or further their understanding of trauma.

Cost

Phoenix Australia typically delivers this training for $390 per person. However, the development and delivery of this training has been generously funded by the Victorian Government’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Bushfire Recovery Package. As such, registration is free of charge to eligible participants.

The Victorian Government’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Bushfire Recovery Package

The Victorian Department of Health has engaged Phoenix Australia – Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health to deliver free training programs to aid frontline workers in order to better support community members affected by the 2019-20 bushfires in North East Victoria and East Gippsland. The training aims to enhance the ability of frontline workers and community leaders to:

support communities to recover from the bushfires
promote their own resilience and psychological recovery from the bushfires
support the resilience and wellbeing of their teams and organisations