Mental Health
– October 18 2021
New online course on trauma-informed care
A new e-learning course offers an introduction to and insights into applying a trauma-informed approach in care.
There has been an increasing recognition of the need to train professionals working with and for children in applying trauma-informed practice. A new e-learning course offers an introduction to and insights into applying a trauma-informed approach in care. The course is part of the project “Safe Places, Thriving Children: Embedding Trauma-Informed Practices into Alternative Care Settings.”
This awareness-raising course is for anyone who may come into contact with children and young people in alternative care settings. This can include caregivers and social workers but also judges, authority representatives and teachers.
The aim of the course is to provide a brief understanding of trauma, the impact it can have on the lives of children and young people and ways to support those who may be affected by it.
The free course is made up of six short modules. The first modules offer an introduction to the topic of trauma and trauma-informed practices, followed by modules that go more into depth on specific situations of children and families.
“When we understand what trauma is and how it can affect our lives, it is easier to develop our own mechanisms to deal with it and to approach a traumatic topic,” says Ivan, a 20-year-old young man from Croatia who grew up in alternative care. Child and youth care professionals trained in trauma-informed practices can make a difference in children’s lives. “It can help children and young people open up to caregivers when they see that caregivers are educated about trauma,” he explains.
“Safe Places, Thriving Children: Embedding Trauma-Informed Practices into Alternative Care Settings,” a project co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) Program of the European Union and run by SOS Children’s Villages International and its member associations in Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary and Serbia in collaboration with CELCIS, aims to give child and youth care practitioners the tools and knowledge required to understand trauma and address the needs of children and young people affected by it.