Trauma Informed Interviewing, 19 February 2027

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Understand the Impact of Trauma on the Brain and Body: Gain insight into how trauma affects memory, behaviour, emotion, and the nervous system, including dissociation, freeze responses, hypervigilance, and shutdown.

• Build Rapport and Emotional Safety: Use empathic, culturally safe communication strategies that build trust and promote client agency, even in institutional or high-stakes settings.

• Use Trauma-Informed Interview Techniques: Learn how to structure interviews to maximise clarity and safety, with an emphasis on free recall, open-ended questions, and emotional attunement.

• Manage Triggers and Trauma-Related Distress: Identify signs of distress, dissociation, and emotional flooding, and apply grounding and containment strategies to keep clients safe and engaged.

• Work with Vulnerable Populations with Cultural Sensitivity: Understand how neurodiversity, systemic injustice, and cultural difference affect communication and engagement, and how to respond respectfully and effectively.

• Avoid Re-traumatisation and Promote Agency: Ensure your process respects the survivor’s sense of control, dignity and emotional safety, and complies with trauma-informed best practice standards.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

This workshop is ideal for:

• Interviewers and case managers

• Legal, advocacy and migration professionals

• Refugee support workers and peer workers

• Health, mental health and social service staff

• Program assessors and intake staff

• Researchers, evaluators and ethics board members

• Anyone conducting interviews with people who may have experienced trauma

FORMAT AND INCLUSIONS

• Online and in-person delivery

• Facilitated by an experienced trauma-informed practitioner

• Includes interactive activities, real-life scenarios, and skill practice

• Claim 6 CPD points

• Receive a certificate of completion

• Receive a PDF of the workshop slides

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Payment of the registration fee is online by credit card and a receipt/confirmation will be automatically emailed to you. An administration fee of $30 applies to all cancellations made more than 14 days the day before the start of the event. Registration once paid cannot be cancelled 14 days or less the day before the start of the event, regardless of personal circumstances. Registration can be transferred to another delegate only if STARTTS is informed of the name change. Registration cannot be transferred to another workshop. The concession price is for full-time students, seniors and the unemployed. A photocopy or pdf of a valid concession card must be forwarded to the STARTTS training team upon registration. Registrations will not be confirmed until full payment is received. The deadlines for the early bird and standard prices cannot be extended. Sometimes STARTTS will need to change the trainer of a particular workshop. The STARTTS Training Team can be contacted at stts-training@health.nsw.gov.au or (02) 9646 6700.