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The Community Mental Health Action Plan partners with many organizations that play a significant role in improving addiction and mental health supports and services in Edmonton and surrounding areas. One of our valued partners is the Imagine Institute For Learning, a provincial organization dedicated to the advancement of best practices, research-based professional learning, and community engagement for everyone who works with children and families. Imagine offers a variety of training courses for mental health and suicide prevention, one of which is Trauma-Informed Care.
70% of people have experienced at least one traumatic event in their life.1
Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) training takes an in-depth look at what trauma is, the biological response to trauma, and behaviours that it may cause. It teaches people how to apply this knowledge to their work and personal life. Although this training is often taken by service providers in the social and mental health fields, it is a course that can be beneficial for anyone. There is a high likelihood that any person you interact with is coping with one or more traumas1. Most people do not develop a disorder from a traumatic event; however, it can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in some cases. Research shows that creating awareness and recognition in the community can go a long way to preventing difficulties for those coping with trauma.
“It is not what’s wrong with them. It’s what happened to them.”
Through understanding trauma, we can approach others with more empathy, and perhaps too, be kinder to ourselves as we may also be coping with trauma. TIC training has already been expanding beyond the service provider sector to areas such as education. Imagine Institute recently held a training session for teachers in the Red Deer area that demonstrated the need for this training.
“I believe every person involved in a child’s development (from parents to bus drivers to school staff) should have some level of training in Trauma Informed Care. It has been very informative and provides tools that can be employed starting today.” – Testimonial from a teacher in the Red Deer Trauma-Informed Care Training session
You can find upcoming courses for Trauma-Informed Care or other free training sessions on the Imagine Institute For Learning website. AHS also has online Trauma-Informed Care modules available that are valuable for learning about trauma for those who are unable to make the in-person (currently virtual) TIC training. If you want to find more opportunities to learn about TIC and other mental health training, check out the Mental Health Training Framework.
Please note: Course content has sensitive topics that may be triggering for some people.
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