Trauma-Informed Advocacy
Introduction
This online course has been developed over a number of years in recognition of the wealth of rich research demonstrating how trauma impacts a person’s ability to function and navigate difficult situations.
One of those situations is attending court as a witness and relaying information in the court process about a traumatic event.
As advocates, there is much we can do to alleviate the impact of that situation. By adopting fairly simple measures to empower someone in a way that was not possible at all during the initial traumatic event, advocates can contribute to a form of resolution for some people, and can completely avoid the potential for further traumatisation.
The Trauma-Informed Advocacy Course
This course provides a guiding principle document which we have called ‘PROCESS’ to help advocates adapt their practice where there are elements of trauma in a case.
Initially, we advise how to prepare for those types of cases and to recognise potential trauma in our cases. Advocates can then onboard help and assistance from various sources to work collaboratively. Giving witnesses a choice, howsoever small, can make a significant difference as can explaining what may or may not happen. Finally, we offer a guide to secondary trauma and strategies for self-care which are critically important for all advocates.
The course will take no more than 3-4 hours to complete and will provide you with an opportunity to learn and test your knowledge as well as a downloadable set of resources to take forward into practice.
Some of the content is difficult to see and hear, and there are health and trigger warnings throughout the course to manage expectations.
We hope that this guided approach will make a significant difference to your practice, your wellbeing and to the experiences of those who have already been traumatised by an event or events before they come to court.
Access the Course
In order to register to access the materials, you will need to:
1. Click the red Access the Course link below (link opens in a new tab)
2. Follow the instructions to create a new user account (if you already have an account, please login instead)
3. Once your account has been created, log in and select Course Catalogue
4. Finally, choose the Trauma-Informed Advocacy course to access the materials straight away.
Access the Course
