Identifying and Responding to Adult Survivors of Childhood Trauma (including abuse):
Professional Development for Primary Care Practitioners
Unresolved childhood trauma including abuse (complex trauma) affects 5 million Australian adults. Such trauma is associated with substantial physical and mental health challenges and psychosocial issues. Daily and often unknowingly primary care practitioners see a number of such patients – with diverse presentations, high co-morbidity and/or unspecified pain (MUS).
By attending this training, GPs and nurse practitioners will be alert to the possibility of trauma underlying presentations and discrete diagnoses. They will also acquire the skills to recognise, identify, respond and refer appropriately to improve patient health and wellbeing outcomes as well as practitioner self-care.
By attending this two hour, professional development training, primary care practitioners will be able to:
- Differentiate between single incident and complex trauma
- Identify possible adult health presentations of complex trauma
- Identify symptoms and signs with a trauma-informed lens
- Implement the 5 principles of trauma-informed care – safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, empowerment into daily practice
- Implement strategies to respond and/or refer identified patients appropriately
Material presented in the training will be comprehensive, and will draw on the research based on the Blue Knot Foundation's Practice Guidelines for Treatment of Complex Trauma and Trauma Informed Care and Service Delivery www.blueknot.org.au/guidelines and other relevant research.