Training Descriptions

Training Descriptions

Arizona Trauma Institute provides a foundation in contemporary trauma theory and practice which includes the latest contributions in neurobiology and attachment theory. Our focus is on seeing each client as a whole person who has a possibility for growth and a positive life. We also provide self-development courses and support to clinicians, para-professionals, and supervisors.

Arizona Trauma Institute trains professionals and para-professionals to assess and treat trauma while utilizing regulated trauma therapies to improve the overall outcome. All of our trainings, consultations, and supervision are trauma and resiliency informed. They also share a common thread of the impact of trauma on the nervous system, behavior, and family dynamics as well as resilience restoration throughout the healing process.

If there is a training class below you would like to provide for your organization please fill out request a training form.


Arizona Trauma Institute has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6677. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Arizona Trauma Institute is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Available Trainings

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Introduction to Trauma Informed Care

Not available for NBCC credit

Free 3 Hour Online Resource: Trauma-Informed and Sensitive in Practice

This training is a discussion of the elements of trauma informed care and supporting materials on the nature of how trauma can impact life and health throughout the lifespan. Attendees will be introduced to how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can affect developmental milestones and can lead to frustrating relationships and behavioral problems in the lives of individuals and families. Focus will be on understanding how to help bring peace and healing through the application of compassion, safety and respect using the Arizona Trauma Institute’s philosophy of healing.

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Trauma and Addiction

12 CE Hours

Training Description

This training will provide a basic review of trauma, exploring how trauma is created and stored in the brain, body and nervous system.  Fundamental information provided regarding how substances and their long- and short-term effects help people deal with trauma symptoms in the form of mitigating and adapting behaviors.  Training includes exploration of motivation and meaning behind behaviors related to addiction and recovery from addiction.  Attendees will also receive thorough overview of various types of compulsions and addictions as well as biology and predisposition to addiction. Training will provide explanation of the culture of addiction and treatment, a focus on moving from a pathogenic approach of treating addiction to a salutogenic approach. Finally, the discussion will look at current assessment tools and treatment processes for addiction offering insight and direction on how to enhance trauma informed delivery.

TRAUMA AND ADDICTION OBJECTIVES

  1. Participants will demonstrate an enhanced focus on self-regulation and engage in practice of self-regulation tools to be utilized for nervous system regulation.
  2. Participants will demonstrate understanding of medicated assisted treatment, peer support and recovery support groups and be able to discuss how these treatments and tools impact addiction.
  3. Participants will discuss how trauma is reflective of changes in the brain, nervous system and body and explore how the threat response system changes the chemistry of the body thus impacting thinking, feeling and behaving.
  4. Participants will explore Adverse Childhood Experiences data and understand impact of ACEs on health outcomes and adaptive/mitigating behaviors through creation of procedural memory.
  5. Participants will be able to explain how to support resiliency and competency in recovery from trauma and addiction, and how to support resiliency and competency via treatment delivery and assessment.
  6. Participants will identify evidence-based treatment interventions for substance use disorders/addiction and co-occurring disorders and explore use of active ingredients approach for trauma healing.
  7. Participants will understand cultural humility and cultural competency with expanded ability to offer services to diverse and minority populations through trauma informed and inclusive treatment approaches.
  8. Participants will differentiate between Salutogenic and Pathogenic approaches to treatment and utilize case studies to gain a better understanding of positive treatment outcomes using Salutogenic model.

This training meets the educational requirements to apply for the Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist – Addiction (CCTS-A) certification available through the Trauma Institute International.

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Creating Safety and Stability

6 CE Hours

This training for caregivers, professionals, and para-professionals establishes a foundation for healing. By identifying and exploring the role of the environment as a priority for intervention. A discussion of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), the physiology of trauma, and healing tools will be introduced to help promote safety for clients and families. Skill development around how to model and practice emotional regulation, felt safety, and predictability will be practiced within the context of the Arizona Trauma Institute’s philosophy of healing.

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Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist- Individual (CCTS-I)

18 CE Hours
The Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist – Individual (CCTS-I) is a 3-day training designed to give the participant a working knowledge of how to engage in the process of trauma treatment. Focusing not only on interventions, but how to sequence the interventions to maximize outcomes. This training is designed to improve the quality of treatment for those that have experienced trauma. There will be a focus on the active ingredients – the things that are common factors that help all treatment work become better and work more efficiently.

Objectives:

  • Compare and contrast evidence-based-interventions, common factors, and emerging trends for effective treatment of traumatic stress
  • Identify the common factors for healing traumatic stress
  • Comprehend the importance of therapeutic relationship and positive expectancy (relational factors) for positive outcomes in treatment
  • Articulate the role of reciprocal inhibition, relaxation, self-regulation, exposure and narrative in the treatment of traumatic stress
  • Understand concept and procedure for enhancing therapeutic relationship as method for increasing positive outcomes
  • Appreciate the potential deleterious personal effects associated with treating traumatic stress

This course meets the educational requirements for The Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist– Individual (CCTS-I) certification available through the Trauma Institute International. 

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Advanced Training for Trauma Treatment of Complex PTSD

24 CE Hours

Course Description

The focus of this course is to arm the learner with skills and knowledge to step past the treatment of single event trauma and deal more effectively on resolving Complex PTSD training is acquiring skills for effectively treating those challenging clients with complex post-traumatic stress, can present with a myriad of difficult symptoms including intense abreactions/flashbacks; severe “depression-like” shutdown and avoidance; dissociation; relational difficulties and challenges; chronic emotional and somatic dysregulation; chronic pain; and psychotic symptoms. training that discusses the established and emerging research on the phenomenon of dissociation as well as clinical approaches for clinicians treating dissociation. The curriculum will include a review of dissociation research, an overview and application of structural dissociation, the prevalence of dissociation in trauma clients, and clinical approaches. The initial sessions will outline how dissociation develops and how to identify it in clients. The subsequent sessions will detail various dissociation presentations and discuss dissociative identity disorder, prevalence, and treatment approaches. The second day will focus on strategies for working with clients with dissociation at various levels.

Focusing upon working in a Salutogenic and phasic model, the participant will learn how to titrate treatment to minimize discomfort and crises while, at once, accelerating treatment gains in early, mid and latter stages of treatment. The course provides a balance of current evidence/science-based interventions and protocols paired with experiential practice wisdom from clinicians who have successfully worked with population for decades. Participants completing this course will discover a newfound sense of competency and excitement for working with these clients who, in the past, have baffled even seasoned clinicians.

Learning Objectives

  1. Articulate the differences between simple and complex trauma and identify the distinct challenges for diagnosis, treatment planning, stabilization and treatment of COMPLEX TRAUMA.
  2. Understand the neurobiology of COMPLEX TRAUMA and how chronic exposure to threatening environments can produce the spectrum of symptoms of COMPLEX TRAUMA.
  3. Appreciate the role that attachment trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) play in risk for and creation of COMPLEX TRAUMA; and how successfully addressing attachment issues can accelerate treatment for COMPLEX TRAUMA.
  4. Articulate the causes of attachment trauma (e.g., relational threat/anxious attachment; avoidant attachment; disorganized attachment) and how these adaptations are easily misunderstood as personality disorders.
  5. Articulate the importance of neuroplasticity/pruning and understanding neuronal sequencing (i.e., “neural networks”) in treating COMPLEX TRAUMA and all post traumatic conditions.
  6. Understand the important role that conditioned threat response and subsequent ANS dysregulation play in generating and sustaining the symptoms of all post traumatic conditions including COMPLEX TRAUMA.
  7. Articulate and explain how dissociation symptoms (e.g., numbing; derealization; depersonalization; hearing “voices”; fractured multiple ego-states; dissociative identity) are adaptations to recurring (usually developmental) trauma.
  8. Understand symptoms of COMPLEX TRAUMA as adaptations to ongoing developmental trauma that can include extreme symptoms including self-injury; suicide; dissociation; numbing; addiction (process and substance); eating disordered behavior; chronic & intractable depression; hyper/hypo sexuality; and rage.
  9. Articulate the role of crucial non-specific factors of positive expectancy and therapeutic relationship using Feedback Informed Therapy (FIT) as central focus of treatment with COMPLEX TRAUMA.
  10. Learn and appreciate the pivotal role of psychoeducation in treating COMPLEX TRAUMA to help survivors to begin to honor their survival, ameliorate shame and move towards self-compassion.
  11. Learn and implement the four “common factors/active ingredients” shared by all effective trauma therapies for clients with COMPLEX TRAUMA.
  12. Appreciate the ubiquitous role of reciprocal inhibition embedded in all evidence-based trauma therapies.

Skills

Preparation/Assessment/Treatment Planning/Relationship-Building

    1. Master self-regulation of ANS dysregulation (i.e., anxiety) for clinician resilience and optimization of treatment delivery.
    2. Become intentional with maximizing positive expectancy as crucial early treatment intervention for engagement and ongoing intervention to enhance outcomes.
    3. First-session Interventions to enhance safety, stabilization, positive expectancy and therapeutic relationship.
    4. Skilled implementation of Feedback Informed Therapy using Miller’s Session Rating Scale.

This course meets the educational requirements for the Advanced Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist (ACCTS) certification available through the Trauma Institute International. 

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Driving Out Stress: Overcoming Compassion Fatigue With Professional Resiliency

6 CE Hours

This is an intensive one-day experiential training for organizational leaders and employees to reduce stress and compassion fatigue in the workplace. This course serves to counter the impact stress and body arousal has on workplace communications and relationships. This training is also intended to improve current compassion fatigue symptoms that participants may be experiencing. The day includes didactic information, experiential processing, and transformative techniques that assists leaders and employees in resolving symptoms of compassion fatigue while, at once, developing resiliency skills and practices that prevent compassion fatigue symptoms in the future.

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Hit & Kiss: Attachment and Intimate Violence

6 CE Hours

This 1-day training examines the role of attachment as an innate motivating force. A secure adult attachment builds a secure dependency which encourages autonomy. The accessibility and responsiveness of a secure attachment figure creates bonds through emotional engagement, and development of trust (Sable, 2008). Fear and uncertainty activate the attachment behavioral system that is reactionary and aggressive, or reactionary and rejecting, which negatively impacts emotional engagement as well as trust. When attachment behavior fails, stress is predictable, and based on the developmental history of the individuals involved, aggressive and hostile means may become a defensive or protective part of the relational strategy.

Course Learning Outcomes

  • Participants will understand the impact of trauma.
  • Participants will be able to identify the myths of domestic violence.
  • Participants will develop an understanding of relationship patterns as a result of adaptation.
  • Participants will be able to define and identify phases of adaption.
  • Participants will be able to identify how the threat response system changes the chemistry of the body.
  • Participants will develop skills for helping trauma survivors rapidly stabilize and utilize skills for self-regulation.

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Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist – Family (CCTS-F)

18 CE Hours

The Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist – Family (CCTS-F) course presented by Camea Peca, PhD, is designed using evidenced-based leading edge interventions and protocols that clinicians can immediately implement to augment their work treating survivors of trauma within a family context. This course is taught using demonstrations, role play, simulations, and the utilization of a clinician intervention implementation format. The Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist – Family (CCTS-F) course examines the (dynamic elements/active ingredients) of trauma treatment, allowing the learner to increase their effectiveness with any model of family treatment in which they have training. The (dynamic elements/active ingredients) approach will aid clinicians in addressing and resolving client and family traumatic stress even when other primary diagnoses are present. The design and implementation of treatment can have a powerful transformational effect that rapidly accelerates treatment.

Professions Applicable:

Counselors • Social Workers • Psychologists • Case Managers • Addiction Counselors Therapists • Marriage & Family Therapists • Other Mental Health Professionals

Learning Objectives:

The Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist – Family (CCTS-F) course emphasizes a balance between the science and skill of treating traumatic stress, and the development of cross-cutting competencies in clinicians. Clinicians will learn both principles and techniques for rapidly and safely accelerating treatment with clients who suffer from traumatic stress. The course teaches clinicians how to think critically and incisively to:
(1) conceptualize the specific tasks within each of the (dynamic elements/active ingredients) of treatment;
(2) efficiently and effectively bring resolution and healing;
(3) learn how to explain the symptoms of traumatic stress to clients and their family in a way that helps makes “good sense” of their experiences;
(4) maximizes engagement and collaboration in the healing process;
(5) develop skills for helping trauma survivors rapidly stabilize and utilize skills for self-regulation;
(6) learn empirical markers to know when it is safe to transition from the safety/stabilization phase of treatment into the trauma memory processing phase without guesswork and minimal crises;
(7) construct verbal, graphic, and non-verbal trauma narratives—identified by research as one of the critical ingredients in resolving traumatic stress;
(8) demonstrate state-of-the-art techniques and activities for supporting and facilitating healthy bereavement;
(9) learn when to support natural mourning processes; and,
(10) learn when to offer facilitation when the natural mourning processes become thwarted to be able to confidently manage the trajectory of treatment with survivors of trauma from diagnosis to termination.

The goal is to build both clinical trauma expertise and professional confidence to significantly reduce client crises and allow treatment to move forward at an accelerated pace.

Course Competencies:

1. Demonstrate the ability to identify and utilize the evidence-based “Active Ingredients” for successful trauma treatment;
2. Demonstrate the ability to conceptualize and organize family treatment to implement the active ingredients to improve clinical outcomes
3. Demonstrate the ability to develop and enhance therapeutic relationship & positive expectancy with the entire family through the application of the active ingredient
4. Demonstrate the ability to teach families the role that perceived threat and the Autonomic Nervous System plays in the development and continuation of traumatic stress symptoms and other difficult behaviors
5. Demonstrate the ability to achieve, maintain and teach relaxation and self­-regulation skills
6. Demonstrate the ability to understand causes, symptoms and treatment of traumatic stress sufficiently to provide comprehensive psychoeducation to clients
7. Demonstrate the ability to assess family dynamics sufficiently to identify the impact of traumatic stress
8. Demonstrate the ability to help trauma survivors achieve “good enough” safety and stabilization
9. Demonstrate the ability to utilize Cognitive-Behavioral Method(s) to help survivors successfully desensitize and reprocess trauma memories 3rd active ingredient
10. Demonstrate the ability to assist clients successfully resolve the grief and other peripheral issues accompanying treatment of traumatic stress
11. Demonstrate the ability to assist clients with the re-connection phase of treatment and the moving forward into a future that is deliberate and intentional
12. How can Trauma interventions and evaluations be conducted to sustain therapeutic alliance?

This course meets the educational requirements for The Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist – Family (CCTS-F) certification available through the Trauma Institute International. 

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Disciplining Foster and Adopted Children with Behavior Problems

Not available for NBCC credit

The goal of this training is to help care-givers and parents balance discipline and nurture. It is discipline and nurture that helps a child mature into an emotionally, spiritually and physically healthy individual. If the focus is primarily on behavior change, one will not raise a healthy individual. This training lays out the foundation of why a deep and abiding connection with child is essential.

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Loving Them is Not Enough: What Every Parent Should Know

Not available for NBCC credit

Click HERE for online Home Study course

Families with adoptive and foster children sometimes struggle to understand and support their children because these children react differently than biological children and the problem behaviors they exhibit do not fit the experience of the fostering or adopting parents. Many children that desperately need to experience safety, connection, and strong cohesive relationships struggle with behaviors that make those things difficult to achieve. Many have experienced significant trauma prior to their current foster placement that has created adaptive behaviors that were protective in nature in the child’s past but that are now seen as intentionally provocative and willful behaviors. This training will help participants understand why many of these children may view and react to people and events in ways that may seem unusual, exaggerated, or irrational. Recent advances in developmental science are revealing how significant adversity in childhood alters both the way the genome is expressed and the developing brain is wired and this training is designed to help the participant not only understand the function of the problematic behaviors, but how to begin helping the child and the parents achieve the connection that will help the child heal.

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12-Hour Initial Clinical Supervisor Training

12 CE Hours

This training will provide the participant with 12 hours of education in supervision methods, models and techniques, roles and responsibilities of a clinical supervisor, techniques specific to supervising counselors in the tasks of diagnosis, treatment planning and providing treatment and evaluation of supervisees in their work of assessment, treatment planning and providing treatment. This training will also cover the ethical guidelines and legal requirements for supervisors, using the 2014 Code of Ethics from the American Counseling Association and the most recent Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners statutes and rules.

Who should attend?  Those supervising associate level mental health professionals on their journey to independent licensure.

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Participants will be able to identify the basic tenants of three clinical supervision models.
  2. Participants will be able to identify key roles and responsibilities of clinical supervisors.
  3. Participants will be able to identify specific skills needed to oversee and evaluate supervisees.
  4. Participants will be able to identify ethical guidelines and legal requirements for supervisors.
  5. Participants will be able to identify signs of burnout and techniques for self-care for supervisees.
  6. Participants will be able to practice skills in providing feedback to supervisees.

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6-Hour Clinical Supervisor Refresher Course

6 CE Hours

This training will provide the participant with 12 hours of education in supervision methods, models and techniques, roles and responsibilities of a clinical supervisor, techniques specific to supervising counselors in the tasks of diagnosis, treatment planning and providing treatment and evaluation of supervisees in their work of assessment, treatment planning and providing treatment. This training will also cover the ethical guidelines and legal requirements for supervisors, using the 2014 Code of Ethics from the American Counseling Association and the most recent Arizona Board of Behavioral Health Examiners statutes and rules.

Who should attend?  Those supervising associate level mental health professionals on their journey to independent licensure.

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Participants will be able to identify the basic tenants of three clinical supervision models.
  2. Participants will be able to identify key roles and responsibilities of clinical supervisors.
  3. Participants will be able to identify specific skills needed to oversee and evaluate supervisees.
  4. Participants will be able to identify ethical guidelines and legal requirements for supervisors.
  5. Participants will be able to identify signs of burnout and techniques for self-care for supervisees.
  6. Participants will be able to practice skills in providing feedback to supervisees.

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Prenatal Trauma: Raising Children Who Have Been Exposed to Substances In-Utero

12 CE Hours

This 2-day training is designed to enhance the clinical care professional’s understanding and comprehension of the impact of in-utero exposure to substances, trauma and toxic stress on neurodevelopment, sensory needs, and attachment with children. You will recognize behaviors, emotions and thinking that are a result of prenatal exposure and understand how to approach these biological challenges in the most effective and reliable ways. Completing this training will arm you with ways to help parents of and children who have been exposed in-utero through a well-being and whole person approach that considers sensory integration, understanding behavior and ways to effectively discipline, and needs unique to these children.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Comparative look at impact of marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, and methamphetamine in-utero exposure;
  2. Understanding the impact of in-utero exposure has on self-regulation;
  3. Review neuro-deficits on children exposed in-utero;
  4. Review sensory integration needs of children exposed in-utero;
  5. Review behavioral concerns associated with in-utero exposure;
  6. Understanding the risk factors of children exposed to substances in-utero;
  7. Understand cognitive challenges;
  8. Building behavioral resilience;
  9. Building self-regulation; and,
  10. Interactive practice in working with/parenting children with in-utero substance exposure.

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Facing Suicide in Clinical Practice

6 CE Hours
Facing Suicide in Clinical Practice will provide guidelines on suicide assessment, treatment, and management. This training will identify prevalence of suicide while also identifying both risk and protective factors of clients who are classified as suicidal. This training will also take a look into ethical treatment of those clients who are suicidal and what evidenced based tools are available for assessing risk.

Objectives

  1. Become aware of the prevalence of suicide
  2. Become more aware of warning signs which may indicate
    suicidality
  3. Become more aware of protective as well as risk factors to
    suicide
  4. Learn about evidence-based tools for assessing risk
  5. Increase ability to intervene with appropriate resources and in a
    trauma informed manner
  6. Build hope in recovery

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Mental Health Needs of Law Enforcement

6 CE Hours

During this course we will look into the mentally, emotionally, and physically demanding world of a law enforcement officer that rarely gets examined in a solution-based way. We will explore a career choice that requires “Protecting and Serving” others before self, and what impact that has on the individual and the family system. This training will examine the significant and unique ways that law enforcement officers experience their career and how stress impacts them. Participants will learn how repeated exposure to extreme and continuous job-related stress and personal stress can alter the neurophysiology of law enforcement officers over time. We will explore the idea of stress vs. trauma, and the perceptual & cognitive impacts of continuous exposure to human tragedy and extreme emotions, experienced by first responders. We will look at how the internal politics of law enforcement agencies, societal views, and the internal leadership structure of agencies can help fuel hypervigilance and create negative pressure on mind/body balance. This course will look at emotions, their biological roots, and their purpose for our survival and healthy existence. At the end of this course, participants will have a better understanding of themselves, their peers, and the public at large. Students will be better equipped to function effectively in crisis and peer support situations. They will possess the understanding and knowledge to work with vs. against their own biology, and as a result, will be able to help others see the importance of doing the same.

Learning Objectives:

  • Participants will be able to identify the unique mental health challenges and taxations faced by law enforcement officers operating in today’s society.
  • Participants will be able to identify the commonly held myths about emotions, their function for us as biological organisms, and how they impact mind/body health.
  • Participants will be able to assess the different impact of job-related stress vs personal life and the cumulative impact of both on the individual.
  • Participants will be able to illustrate an understanding of the human nervous system that can be utilized to help craft more effective programs of intervention & assistance for employees and the general public.
  • Participants will be able to identify tools, tips, strategies for working with vs against the human mind/body’s naturally capability to restore balance.
  • Participants will be able to evaluate participants individual & environmental challenges and formulate direct strategies for overcoming obstacles and achieving an empowered perspective.

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Sex Trafficking & Sex Industry Exploitation: Understanding and Treating the Multidimensional Needs of Victims

18 CE Hours

Sex Trafficking & Sex Industry Exploitation: Understanding and Treating the Multidimensional Needs of Victims is a 3-day certification training course designed to provide the participant with a working knowledge of the global sex trafficking trade. Clinicians will learn about the different forms of exploitation utilized to bring victims into the trade as well as how the international community is responding to fight the proliferation of this devastating abuse. Practitioners will develop a working knowledge of the traumatic elements unique to the women and children who have been exploited for profit. Through discussion, case studies, and experiential exercises, participants will gain knowledge regarding current research, theories, empirically supported treatment models and techniques, assessments, and treatment structures that minimize resistance & maximizes effectiveness. Clinicians will also learn about unique challenges related to this population and develop strategies to reduce treatment failure. Upon completion of the course, participants will be equipped to understand, identify, assess, and treat victims of human sex trafficking.

Learning Goals/Objectives:

  1. Participants will learn about the sex trafficking trade
  2.  Participants will learn about the people who engage in trafficking
  3.  Participants will gain an understanding of the trafficking customers
  4.  Participants will learn about the victims of trafficking
  5.  Participants will acquire knowledge of trauma and how to effectively treat it
  6.  Participants will explore special issues related to working with trafficking victims

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Mental Health First Aid

6 CE Hours

Training Description

This 6-hour course is geared to the non-behavioral health practitioner, paraprofessionals, graduate students and interested and concerned family, friends and neighbors who oftentimes are the first to witness the signs of distress that may indicate a need for professional intervention.

Mental Health First Aid has been described as a “blueprint for providing comfort, promoting recovery, and helping to reduce distress related to stressful situations, trauma and crisis.” (p. v Mental Health First Aid USA 1999).

We will review the prevalence of Mental Health issues in the USA; make distinctions between distress and disorders, discuss and define Mental Health Action Plans, and their use when presented with individuals with depressive symptoms, self-injurious behavior and/or suicidal behavior, anxiety, panic and trauma. Further, the application of Mental Health First Aid techniques when faced with acute psychosis with/without disruptive and potentially aggressive behaviors.

The presentation will utilize lecture, power point, videos and participation of the attendees in non-threatening demonstrations.

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Participants will be able to list the 5 components of the Mental Health First Aid action plan.
  2. Participants will be able to name the 5 mental health disorders most prevalent in the USA.
  3. Participants will be able to identify signs of anxiety, panic, depression and psychosis.
  4. Participants will be able to distinguish between emotional distress and a mental health disorder.
  5. Participants will be able to identify the warning signs of suicide and the appropriate Mental Health Action Plan.

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An Introduction to Healing With Trauma Yoga

6 CE Hours

Training Description

This is a one day experiential training course for clinical and non-clinical care professionals looking to enhance their knowledge of self-care practices and expand their tools for use in then mental health and substance use fields.  This course is designed to provide participants with an overview of the history of yoga and a working knowledge of how trauma impacts the mind and body.  Facilitator will present research that supports the benefits of yoga on the brain and body in regards to addressing stress, trauma, depression, anxiety, addiction recovery, and personal growth.  Participants will learn basic trauma informed yoga skills and will engage in the demonstration of applicable skills including hand yoga, meditations, breath control and intuitive movement.  Facilitator will provide local resources where participants can continue their education and exploration of trauma informed yoga.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  1. Participants will be able to define yoga, understand the basic origins of yoga and discuss types of trauma yoga available.
  2. Participants will gain a working knowledge of the basic impact of trauma on the brain and the body.
  3. Participants will be able to identify the benefits of yoga on the mind and body as supported by current research.
  4. Participants will learn several mudras (hand yoga), meditations, controlled breathing techniques and postures to aid in healing trauma and self-regulation.
  5. Participants will demonstrate intuitive movements to be used with clients or as part of a self-care practice.

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Trauma and Childhood Obesity

6 CE Hours

The session titled Trauma and Childhood Obesity will begin with an overview of childhood obesity statistics and the ACE study, followed by a discussion on how trauma is related to the increased prevalence and relationship to obesity in childhood. This section will also discuss social, economic, and biological factors contributing to childhood obesity. The last section will illustrate the steps necessary to prepare a client and the client’s family for treatment as well as options for advocacy and community support. The session will conclude with an overview of potential next steps and additional assessment and screening measures.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Participants will be able to identify factors to improve treatment outcomes for child and adolescent clients with co-morbid obesity and trauma.
  2. Participants will be able to identify several factors associated with childhood obesity.
  3. Participants will learn how to address childhood obesity through a traumatic stress lens.
  4. Participants will learn about different assessment measures to increase efficacy of treatment.
  5. Participants will be able to identify biological factors associated with stress and obesity.
  6. Participants will be able to identify community actions to support a reduction in childhood obesity rates.

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Health and Wellness for Trauma: Sleep, Nutrition, Movement & Stress Management

6 CE Hours

This 1-day training examines the role of Sleep, Nutrition, and Movement as a motivating force in stress management, mental and physical health.  Stress and chronic health are increasing problems in all areas of society.  As clinical professionals come learn how stress creates these and how you can successfully support and create change for your clients and yourself.  There is a link between trauma, stress, and ill health.  There are fun and useful ways to protect and improve health for people who have experienced trauma.  Learn how to create routines and implement trauma informed strategies for sleep, nutrition, movement, and relaxation.

Course Learning Outcomes

  • Participants will learn how to use nutrition to activate stem cells and reduce inflammation.
  • Participants will learn about how an over activated system is related to physical health and the gut brain interaction.
  • Participants will learn how exercise and movement can improve brain function.
  • Participants will learn how to increase immunity and reduce the chances for the diseases identified in the ACEs.
  • Participants will learn the importance of sleep and rest and how to create routines.
  • Participants will gain an understanding on how a salutogenic approach can be applied to work and lifestyle.

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Trauma and The Sensory System

12 CE Hours

Trauma & The Sensory System is a two day training course that will be presented from an Occupational Therapy Lens. This course will emphasize trauma’s effect on the physiology of the body with an emphasis on the sensory system. Intervention approaches to using the body’s sensory system as a channel to effective treatment will be provided and will follow the active ingredients guidelines. The goal of this course is to better understand how we can utilize the body as a way to more efficiently and effectively heal the mind.

Learning Objectives

1. Define trauma and adverse experiences. Understand the physiological effects they have on the body.

2. Articulate the meaning of a solutogenic approach to treatment.

3. Understand the role of Occupational Therapy in a care team for trauma survivors.

4. Identify all parts of the sensory system and their relation to function.

5. Comprehend the importance of a regulated body and nervous system for ultimate healing and function.

6. Identify sensory-based intervention and assessment strategies to utilize in order to achieve a regulated body.

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Trauma and Dissociation

12 CE Hours

The session titled Trauma and Dissociation: A Clinical Approach will be a two-day training that discusses the established and emerging research on the phenomenon of dissociation as well as clinical approaches for clinicians treating dissociation. The curriculum will include a review of dissociation research, an overview and application of structural dissociation, the prevalence of dissociation in trauma clients, and clinical approaches. The initial sessions will outline how dissociation develops and how to identify it in clients. The subsequent sessions will detail various dissociation presentations and discuss dissociative identity disorder, prevalence, and treatment approaches. The second day will focus on strategies for working with clients with dissociation at various levels.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Participants will be able to identify factors to improve treatment outcomes for dissociative clients.
  2. Participants will gain a clearer understanding of dissociative disorders.
  3. Participants will learn how to identify dissociation and prepare clients for treatment.
  4. Participants will learn about different assessment measures to identify dissociation.
  5. Participants will learn approaches to work with dissociative disorders and clients with dissociation.
  6. Participants will be able to identify several factors that contribute to dissociation.

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Adolescent Sexual Misconduct from a Trauma-Informed Lens

12 CE Hours

This 2-day course will focus on working with adolescents that act out sexually and how to approach work from a self-regulation and trauma informed approach. Practitioners will discover ways to regulate themselves and to understand the need to take a different approach to treatment and support that is strength and growth based. The training will introduce models (including the good lives model and attachment based work) that support longer terms of change and are based in research.

Course Learning Outcomes

  • Participants will be able to understand sexualized misconduct from a trauma informed lens.
  • Participants will be able to understand ways of working with adolescents that target self-regulation.
  • Participants will be able to understand why this type of trauma response can be more treatment resistant.
  • Participants will be able to learn how to stay regulated when working with this client group.
  • Participants will be able to learn self-regulation activities and interventions that can used with this client group .
  • Participants will be able to understand the importance of psychoeducation for this group and draft useable scripts for adolescents and their families.

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Treating the Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse and Incest

6 CE Hours

This course will focus on working with adults and children that have experienced sexual abuse and incest. It will focus on how to approach work and healing from a self-regulation and trauma-informed approach. Participants will discover ways to regulate themselves and to understand how to take a different approach to treatment and support that is strength and growth based. The training will use somatic and attachment-based work that supports clients in healing from the inside out.

Arizona Trauma Institute is approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) to grant Continuing education credit for live workshops. ACEP number is 6677. Total Clock Hours Awarded: 6

Professions Applicable:

Counselors • Social Workers • Psychologists • Case Managers • Therapists • Marriage & Family Therapists • Other Mental Health Professionals

Learning Objectives:

(1) Participants will know how to heal sexualized trauma from a trauma-informed lens;
(2) Participants will know ways of working with survivors through targeting self-regulation;
(3) Participants will know types of trauma responses that can be unique to sexualized trauma and incest and the impact on relationships;
(4) Participants will know how to stay regulated when working with this client group;
(5) Participants will know self-regulation activities and body-based interventions that can be used with this client group;
(6) Participants will know the importance of psychoeducation for this group and draft usable scripts to help clients understand how their brains and bodies may have been impacted by this trauma..

The goal is to build both clinical trauma expertise and professional confidence to significantly reduce client crises and allow treatment to move forward at an accelerated pace.

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Trauma, Attachment, and Eating Disorders

6 CE Hours

The session will begin with an overview of eating disorders and attachment theory, followed by a discussion on how trauma is related to the development of eating disorders with an emphasis on the role attachment trauma plays in the epidemiology of eating disorders. The last section will illustrate the steps necessary to prepare a client who suffers from trauma, attachment ruptures, and eating disorder symptomology for treatment. This section will include techniques for self-regulation, safety and stabilization, and psychoeducation. The session will conclude with an overview of potential next steps and treatment prioritization.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Participants will be able to identify factors to improve treatment outcomes for eating disorder clients.
  2. Participants will gain a clearer understanding of attachment theory.
  3. Participants will learn how to prepare eating disorder clients for treatment and potential trauma resolution.
  4. Participants will learn about different assessment measures to increase efficacy of treatment.
  5. Participants will be able to identify stages for treating complex cases involving eating disorders and trauma.
  6. Participants will be able to identify several factors that contribute to eating disorders.

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Stepping Into a Future Free of Historical Trauma

12 CE Hours

Join Iya Affo in this comprehensive 2-day analysis of Historical Trauma. Iya uses the ancient tradition of storytelling and visual representation to facilitate visceral learning as the foundation. The indigenous teaching methods are woven with current academia to further study indigenous wellness, epigenetics, colonization, decolonization, and healing from a multicultural lens. Additionally, we explore the impact of trauma on the family unit and methods for providing culturally competent services to BIPOC communities. The purpose of the presentation is to take participants on a journey from wellness to disease and finally to the restoration of equilibrium for tribes, communities, families and individual survivors of Historical Trauma.

Learning Objectives

1. Participants will understand how BIPOC wellness and the salutogenic model of health impacts goal setting and health outcomes in BIPOC communities.

2. Participants will understand how the impact of historical trauma currently affects individuals and communities from various ethnic backgrounds.

3. Participants will recognize how epigenetics and intergenerational trauma manifests in BIPOC communities.

4. Participants will begin to identify characteristics of prejudice and how it can be detrimental in various settings.

5. Participants will gain an understanding of how to support racial justice and healing for BIPOC across the social ecological model.

6. Participants will have the ability to apply knowledge about historical trauma to effectively serve, with cultural competence, families from various communities.

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Trauma and Inflammation

6 CE Hours

This is a one day training course for clinical and non-clinical care professionals looking to enhance their knowledge of self-care practices and expand their tools for use in the mental health field. This course is designed to provide participants with an overview of systemic inflammation and the effect of trauma on the body. The trainer will present research on how trauma is related to the development of inflammation with an emphasis on chronic illness and trauma recovery. Participants will learn the steps necessary to prepare a client who suffers from trauma and inflammation for treatment utilizing nutrition, lifestyle modification, and trauma processing.  The session will conclude with an overview of potential next steps and treatment prioritization as well as protocols and assessment measures for beginning assessment and treatment.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Participants will be able to identify factors that contribute to inflammation.
  2. Participants will gain a clearer understanding of the relationship between trauma and inflammation.
  3. Participants will learn how to use new health research to support client goals.
  4. Participants will learn about different nutritional and lifestyle modalities to support mental health goals.
  5. Participants will be able to identify how inflammation affects how clients show up in therapy.
  6. Participants will be able to identify protocols for reducing inflammation to support nervous system regulation.

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Body Based Self-Regulation: Introduction to Somatic Techniques in Therapy

12 CE Hours

This 2-day training provides an introduction to the theory behind use of the body in therapeutic practice. The presenter will introduce poly-vagal theory, and the principals of sensorimotor psychotherapy and somatic therapy. Relational neurobiology and concepts from attachment theory will also be integrated into the presentation. The impact of trauma on the body will be explored throughout the presentation. The presenter will provide multi-sensory body-based experiential activities for professionals to use for themselves and also to introduce with their clients.

Course Learning Outcomes

  • Participants will understand the impact of trauma on the body.
  • Participants will understand the theory behind common body-based therapies.
  • Participants will understand the role of the therapist in body-based healing and the role of the relationship.
  • Participants will learn exercises to use for themselves using the body.
  • Participants will lean body-based exercises to use with their clients.

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Cultural Humility, Curiosity, and Collaboration: Pathway to Cultural Competence

6 CE Hours

The foundation of cultural competence relies on a clinician’s awareness about themselves and the client as “cultural beings”, engaging in a therapeutic alliance from their lived experiences within intersecting social systems.

The participant will learn how to broach discussions and exploration of culture with clients to develop a multicultural case conceptualization beyond the perceived “cultural differences”.  The learner will learn how practice in a culturally competent way as well as know the best practices and how to address common challenges.

Course Learning Outcomes

  • Participants will be able to explain the domains of cultural competence.
  • Participants will learn how cultural competence is ethically competent practice.
  • Participants will learn the research on cultural competence and treatment outcomes.
  • Participants will be able to discuss the intersectionality of cultural identities and power and privilege within the therapeutic alliance.
  • Participants will learn how to broach discussions and exploration of cultural factors with clients.
  • Participants will be able to integrate cultural factors into case conceptualization.

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Certified Trauma Support Specialist

12 CE Hours

This 12 hour training is designed to enhance non-clinical care professional’s knowledge and skills to support the healing process for those they care for who struggle because of a history of trauma and adversity. Learn the essential information and skills to help trauma survivors recover fully from the events of their past.  Those that care will increase their ability to use the active ingredients that are vital and fundamental to effective recovery and resilience of a trauma history.   The program objectives upon which this training will focus are:

  1. Understanding how to have high quality deliberate relationships with co-workers, clients and your own family.
  2. Improving your ability to respect and believe in others, regardless of their emotion, thinking and behavior.
  3. Increased ability to create a growth oriented environment characterized as nurturing, open, accepting while promoting high ethical standards.
  4. More focus on managing one’s self than trying to control others.
  5. Greater ability to encourage and empower others to live their values and have integrity.

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Upcoming Training

Arizona Trauma Institute
49 South Sycamore Street, Suite 2
Mesa, Arizona 85202

Office: (480) 442-1840

Email: aztinfo@aztrauma.org