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Making Sense of Trauma: Practical Tools for Responding to Children and Youth

Photo Credit: Unsplash User Kai Pilger

The Making Sense of Trauma webinar is a condensed version of the full-day workshops run by New Directions for Children, Youth, Adults & Families, a community-service agency operating in Winnipeg, Manitoba, since 1985.  The webinar is designed to provide a clear and helpful understanding of trauma and its effects, and to provide the caregiver with practical skills and ways to conceptualize trauma that will be immediately effective.  It is designed to be accessible for all: caregivers, front line workers and therapists. 

The webinar was developed from a one-day workshop created by Kate Kiernan, M.Sc.,  and Billy Brodovsky, M.S.W., which they have presented to foster parents, Child & Family Services workers, and other professionals working with children and youth in Manitoba.  Kate and Billy are clinicians at the Families Affected by Sexual Assault Program for New Directions in Winnipeg, and they each have over 25 years’ experience working with children and youth who have experienced trauma. 

Trauma is pervasive and impacts all of us, children and adults. Becoming trauma-informed helps us when working with children to shift from saying “what is wrong with you” to “what has happened to you”. The webinar is designed to help understand the patterns of children’s behaviour and to learn some practical tools to begin helping children to manage those behaviours.

The webinar takes approximately 3.5 hours to complete.  A certificate of completion is available once the webinar and evaluation have been completed.

Topics include:

Getting Started (6 min)

What is Trauma (21 min)

The Nervous System (13 min)

The Brain & Development (17 min)

Working Towards Trauma Resolution (9 min)

Understanding Freeze (12 min)

Understanding Readiness and Flight (12 min)

Understanding Fight (12 min)

Mindfulness (7 min)

Making Sense of Trauma (13 min)

Staying Self-Regulated (5 min)

Becoming Trauma-Informed (5 min)