Trauma-Informed Training for Organisations
People working in complex relational roles — including healthcare workers, educators, clinicians, community workers, and care workers — are doing some of the most meaningful and consequential work in our communities.
That work can also be heavy at times, so much so that it can take a serious toll on our own mental health and wellbeing. Effective trauma-informed training supports and protects both those we work with, and our teams.
What it is
Developed through 17 years of direct trauma-informed practice in the social, education and mental health sectors, Jo offers a uniquely practical, embodied and effective approach to trauma-informed training.
Trainings can be delivered in full-day, workshop, online and in-person formats.
Effective trauma-informed practice is systems-aware, strengths-based and culturally safe.
Jo’s trauma-informed trainings integrate:
The why: research, theory, and evidence
The how: practical frameworks and tools
The felt sense: somatic and reflective practice
The systems dimension of this work is also held seriously throughout. Individual and collective experiences of trauma are shaped by structural, cultural, and political conditions, and this training holds that complexity alongside the practical and the personal.
As an education specialist, Jo’s approach to training is grounded in the philosophy of engaged pedagogy (bell hooks, 1994) - a holistic and transgressive teaching approach that aims to engage learners in critical thinking, applied practice, and social justice awareness. In practice, this is characterised by:
Academically and scientifically rigorous content
Practical, applied examples
Engaging prompts (hooks) and reflective questions
Opportunities for practice, discussion, and debate.
Who it’s for
All trainings are tailored to your team's existing knowledge, sector context, and the specific communities you work with. Trainings acknowledge lived and learned experience, and build on what's already in the room.
Trainings are designed for practitioners and teams working in:
Social services, community services, and case management
Housing and homelessness services
Education - from early childhood through to tertiary
Mental health and wellbeing programs
Family violence and crisis services
Education and youth work
Employment services
Peer work and lived experience roles
Leadership and management in any of the above
Outcomes
Outcomes are agreed upon with partner organisations and clients utilising a co-design process. This ensures that trainings reflect the needs of the group. The outcomes listed here are examples from previous trainings.
Depending on the format and focus of the engagement, participants develop:
A grounded understanding of trauma: what it is, how it shows up, and why it matters in their specific context
Practical frameworks for creating safer, more attuned interactions with the people they work with
Deeper awareness of their own strengths and responses as practitioners
Tools for working skilfully with activation, dysregulation, and the sustained demands of complex work
A shared language across the team that strengthens consistency, culture, and collective care
Confidence to bring trauma-informed principles more fully into everyday practice
Examples
Over the past 5 years, Jo has trained 300+ practitioners and staff in trauma-informed practice.
Examples in practice:
Trauma-Informed Facilitation Skills for Educators, a 12 hour online training program delivered to 150 artists and teaching staff working within the Department of Education and Regional Arts Victoria
Trauma-Informed Practice Training, a 6 hour training for 25 staff working with young people at St Martins Youth Arts Centre
Foundations of Trauma-Informed Practice, a 12 hour in-person training delivered to a mixed group of clinical and health practitioners through Collective Being
Trauma-Informed Yoga and Somatic Practice - 60 hour and 200 hour programs, delivered to 125 participants through the social enterprise Yoga for HumanKIND