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square bulletImplementation, Training & Education Updates March/April 2018

April 5, 2018

From Ana Hristić, MA, MSW, CSWA, Training and Education Coordinator, Trauma Informed Oregon

Train the Trainer in Central Oregon

I was honored by the invitation to facilitate a Train the Trainer cohort in Central Oregon in February. An exceptional group of 21 individuals from across the region and sectors gathered to hone their craft of delivering the Foundations of Trauma Informed Care curriculum. Each individual clearly came with a lot of lived and professional experience, including a chaplain, an attorney, a school principal, a CASA supervisor, school counselors, human resource staff, and medical and mental health professionals.

In addition, the region itself was ready for this next step because the Train the Trainer was part of a larger community initiative of addressing adversity in this area. Here is an excerpt from their recent press release.

“The Central Oregon Health Council (COHC) has recently awarded a three-year, $2 million grant to TRACES (Trauma, Resilience, and Adverse Childhood Experiences): a United Way-led community initiative, with a goal to improve health and wellbeing in Central Oregon by building resilience and helping people thrive.  TRACES is a long-term effort focused on systemic change, building resilience, and shifting our culture to become more trauma-aware and informed.”

Part of their sustainability and culturally sensitive plan is to build a cohort of trauma informed care (TIC) trainers who will be able to provide foundational training to their professional and personal communities. I think that this model of regional transformation shows promise.

This experience further inspired me to clarify the key topics and their corresponding components and skills of a foundational training in TIC. As different industries and settings gain interest in TIC, it feels important to focus on what basic knowledge everyone would benefit from having—regardless of position and/or job description. In the next newsletter, I’ll go into some detail outlining the learning objectives for each.