Training supports professionals to focus on their own wellbeing before they can help those experiencing emotional trauma.
Earlier this month, the second level of our Emotional Trauma Training was attended by professionals from a variety of sectors including education, health and social care.
Kids Inspire’s Chief Executive and Clinical Director, trauma specialist Sue Bell, supported attendees to experience and experiment with tools that can help to increase resilience and calm the nervous system.
A member of the Kids Inspire team tells us how they felt after they sat in on the session:
After I attended the first level of the Emotional Trauma Training, I felt I had a great base knowledge of how trauma can have an impact on every part of our being. I started to interpret the emotional responses of my friends and family members through a trauma lens, thinking about how events in their lives may have had an impact on them.
Sue Bell explained at the beginning of the session that before we can support those who have experienced emotional trauma, “we need to start with ourselves”. Over the next three hours, we would be led in a series of activities which would help us to seek calm and build resilience, Sue told us that the best way to talk someone through these activities, is to experience them yourself.
We were initially put into breakout groups to discuss what we took away from the Level 1 training in January. I spoke to a teacher who expressed how the session supported her through a difficult few weeks:
“With school closures, online classes and the imminent return of in-person lessons, these sessions have been a much-needed space for me to think about my own wellbeing and to learn some activities to help support others.”
Sue ran us through a number of activities, their core focus being to learn how to notice sensations within the body without judgement. We were asked to sit in a comfortable position, close our eyes and listen to our bodies:
Where was there tightness?
Where was there strain?
What were our bodies trying to tell us?
Sue then asked us to pay attention to these sensations, acknowledge them and see how/if the feeling changed.
I noticed a tension in the upper half of my back, between my shoulders and when I focused on it, without judgement as Sue suggested, I felt a definitive shift in sensation. The tightness lifted slightly and seemed to disperse across my back.
I was amazed at the power of these activities and now, having experienced them for myself, I have a new tool for helping to support those around me who may have experienced emotional trauma.
Some topics covered in the training:
One Mind, Three Brains
The Survival Brain
Symptoms of Un-Discharged Traumatic Stress
Language of Sensations