Train the Trainer: The Three Pillars of Transforming Care

Train-the-Trainer Course

The three-day train-the-trainer course is designed for organizations that wish to develop an in-house capacity to provide the Three Pillars of Transforming Care.

The course is targeted at senior practitioners, trainers, clinicians and others with responsibility for training, program design, case management or supervision. The program will cover the full two-day training material as well as the skills and program requirements for providing the training to others. It will include an option for participants to present some of the material to other course participants.

It is assumed that participants are experienced practitioners who have some familiarity with the issues involved and experience working with children and young people who have experienced severe adversity.

Topic Areas:

1. The need to understand the impact of severe adversity and trauma from within a positive-growth context rather than an exclusive focus on harm and dysfunction.
2. The fundamentals of trauma theory including types of trauma, arousal and stress mechanisms, the impact on brain development, the role of memory and dissociation.
3. Research on the behavioral, social, cognitive and emotional difficulties that may affect young people who have been exposed to the various types of trauma
4. The Three Pillars of transformation - the need to FEEL SAFE; the need for positive, trust-based CONNECTIONS with caring adults, engagement with the ‘normal’ community and cultural roots; and the need to develop adaptive COPING strategies for complex external life circumstances as well as a turbulent inner world.
5. An exploration of key ‘everyday’ skills for addressing the three core trauma-related needs.
6. Principles of effective implementation.

Approach and materials

Instructional methods include:

• brief presentations,
• videos,
• worksheets,
• group discussions and
• a small number of role plays.

Trainers receive a comprehensive training manual covering all course material as well as a guidebook that includes all PowerPoint slides and handouts.

The textbook The Three Pillars of Transforming Care: Trauma and resilience in the other 23 hours (2018, H. Bath & J. Seita, Faculty of Education Publishing, University of Winnipeg) provides a resource and reference guide for course material. This book is provided to participants to read before the course.

A knowledge test based on the contents of the book and training manual, is undertaken at the conclusion of the course. Upon successful completion of the course and knowledge test, participants receive a certificate and certification to provide the course for staff and carers within their agencies.