Bespoke Members
Introduction
This half-day webinar introduces trauma-informed care within mental health services. The session provides a shared language and practical foundation for trauma-informed practice across clinical settings. The webinar recognises the high prevalence of psychological trauma among people accessing mental health services and the increasing pressures faced by the clinicians. It offers an accessible, compassionate, and evidence-informed perspective on how trauma shapes experiences of care, relationships, and recovery.
The event will be equivalent to 2.3/4hrs of CPD.
Content
The webinar will explore the psychological, neurobiological, and relational impact of trauma, including how adversity affects emotional regulation, threat responses, and patterns of relating. Participants will examine the core principles of trauma-informed care - safety, trust, choice, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural humility - and how these are translated into practical, achievable actions within clinical settings. The session will consider how everyday clinical practices, pathways, and systems can unintentionally retraumatise service users, and how small, realistic changes can reduce harm and enhance engagement. Trauma-informed approaches to assessment, formulation, and therapeutic relationships will be discussed, supported by clinical examples. The emotional impact of trauma-exposed work on staff will also be considered, with a focus on reflective practice, compassion, and psychologically informed team cultures that support resilience and high-quality care.
Learning Objectives
• Describe trauma-informed principles
• Understand the impact of psychological trauma on service users, staff, and services
• Apply trauma-informed approaches to assessment, formulation, and care pathways
• Reflect on workforce wellbeing and identify strategies to support compassionate, sustainable practice
Training Modalities
Didactic content, Q&A, polls, reflective exercises
Key References
The Scottish National Trauma Transformation Programme
https://www.traumatransformation.scot
The Sussex Health and Care Trauma-Informed Framework
https://www.sussex.ics.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2025/07/Sussex-Trauma-Informed-Framework-2025-Final.pdf
About the presenter
Nick is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist at Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT)and University of Sussex, and a member of the Wellcome Anxiety Disorders Group at University of Oxford. Nick is a BABCP-accredited practitioner, supervisor and trainer.
Celia is the Director of Psychological Professions and the clinical lead for Trauma Informed Care in SPFT and Sussex Health & Care, the local Integrated Care System (ICS). Celia has been part of the NHSE expert reference group developing nationwide e-learning to support trauma informed care.
Louise is the Systems Change Lead for Changing Futures and chairs the Sussex Trauma-Informed Care Network & ICB Implementation Group and Changing Futures national learning group. She is the lead author of the Sussex Trauma informed framework and implementation strategy.
Who should attend
This workshop is for all practitioners.