FOR ORGANISATIONS ACROSS THE THIRD SECTOR, SCHOOLS AND CARE SETTINGS
Trauma-Informed Training
Three specialist training modules for organisations, charities, and secondary schools whose staff work with people affected by trauma — helping teams understand trauma, reflect on their work, and communicate in ways that build safety rather than harm.
WHY THIS TRAINING
Most frontline staff encounter trauma regularly. Few receive adequate training in what it actually is, how it affects the people they support — or what it does to them over time.
These sessions are built on over a decade of specialist clinical practice, designed to be honest, practical, and immediately relevant to the people in the room.
WHY IT MATTERS
Understanding how trauma is present in organisational life
Teams may encounter behaviour, distress, and disengagement rooted in traumatic experience. Without a shared understanding of trauma, even well-intentioned responses can sometimes be less effective than intended. At the same time, staff are directly affected by the work they do. Primary and Secondary trauma are not abstract concepts - they are well-recognised and predictable responses in roles involving sustained exposure to distress. The focus is therefore not whether this happening, but how organisations are supporting their teams to recognise, understand, and respond in a sustainable way.
WHAT CHANGES AFTER TRAINING
Staff better able to make sense of behaviour in context
Reduced risk of inadvertent re-traumatisation
Staff who can recognise secondary trauma in themselves and colleagues
A shared language across the team for discussing difficult material
Reduced isolation — staff feeling less alone with what they carry
Organisational culture that takes staff wellbeing seriously
THE TRAINING
Three modules, each bookable separately.
01
​Understanding Primary & Secondary Trauma
This module builds a clear, accessible understanding of trauma. It moves beyond simplified definitions to give teams a genuine, clinically grounded picture of trauma's impact.
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Primary trauma refers to the direct experience of traumatic events. Secondary trauma — sometimes called secondary traumatic stress — develops in those who work closely with people who have been traumatised. This session explores both: what they are, how they present, and what the difference means for how your organisation responds.
Foundation training for frontline teams
THIS MODULE COVERS
What trauma is and how it affects the brain and nervous system
Primary trauma — direct experience and its lasting effects
Secondary traumatic stress — how it develops in caring roles
How trauma presents in the people your team supports
Recognising trauma responses that look like something else
Practical implications for how your team works day to day
BOOKING
Flexible duration — half day or full day · In person or online
02
Vicarious Trauma
Staff wellbeing
Vicarious trauma is one of the most significant and least acknowledged risks in frontline caring work. Unlike burnout — which is primarily about workload — vicarious trauma is a change in the way a person sees the world, caused by sustained exposure to others' traumatic experiences. It is not a sign of weakness. It is an occupational hazard.
This session is honest and direct about what vicarious trauma is, how it takes hold, and what individuals and organisations can do about it. It is designed for staff at all levels — including managers and leaders who carry the additional weight of holding their teams.
THIS MODULE COVERS
What vicarious trauma is — and what it isn't
How it differs from burnout and compassion fatigue
How to recognise it in yourself and in colleagues
The cumulative nature of exposure over time
What organisations can do structurally to reduce risk
Individual strategies for long-term practitioner sustainability
Understanding the cognitive shifts that can emerge through vicarious trauma, including changes in beliefs, perception, trust, and professional confidence
BOOKING
Flexible duration — half day or full day · In person or online
03
Trauma-Informed Communication with Children & Young People
For secondary school staff — teachers, pastoral leads, SENCOs & leadership
Secondary school staff are often among the first professionals to notice when a young person may be experiencing distress. Making sense of what is being observed - and responding in a way that is attuned, proportionate, and supportive - requires more than instinct and goodwill.
This module is designed specifically for school settings. It explores how trauma and adverse childhood experiences may present in adolescence, often through patterns such as disengagement, defiance, withdrawal, emotional dysregulation, or heightened reactivity. It also considers how these presentations may overlap with neurodivergent experiences, where communication, sensory processing, and regulation can be misunderstood or misinterpreted in educational settings.
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These responses are understood as potential adaptations to experiences, rather than simply behavioural difficulties. The training supports staff to respond in ways that promote felt safety, trust and connection, while maintaining curiosity about what may be communicated through behaviour and supporting more inclusive, informed understanding of children and young people's needs
THIS MODULE COVERS
How trauma and adverse childhood experiences affect adolescent development
Why challenging behaviour is often a communication of unmet need
Trauma-informed communication — what to say, how to say it, and when
Building relational safety in the classroom and pastoral setting
How to avoid inadvertent re-traumatisation in school interactions
Supporting staff wellbeing when working with highly complex young people
BOOKING
Flexible duration · In person only · Bookable standalone or as part of a programme
HOW IT WORKS
Tailored to your setting.
All three modules are adapted to the context of your organisation or school — the people you work with, the experience level of your staff, and the specific pressures your team faces. Before each session, there is a brief scoping conversation to make sure the training lands well. Modules can be delivered independently or combined into a structured programme.
IN PERSON
Tailored to your setting.
Works well for whole-team training days, staff development sessions, or away days
ONLINE
Remote delivery via video
Fully interactive online delivery for remote or hybrid teams — particularly useful for organisations spread across multiple sites.