Course will help mental health practitioners respond to complex trauma
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) June 12, 2013
The suffering related to traumatic stress has reached epidemic proportions.
Perhaps that’s not surprising given the levels of international disaster, displacement, war, and terrorism we live with. A recent magazine article posited that we live in “The Age of Trauma,” noting that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder rates are rising precipitously. Suicide rates are spiking as well.
Mental health practitioners need to keep up with the new levels, and new kinds, of trauma that we’re seeing all around us. That’s why Saybrook University is now offering a certificate program in Complex Trauma and the Healing Process.
Provided by the School of Clinical Psychology, the Trauma Certificate program provides a whole-person, context sensitive, training to students and professionals from across the globe while addressing the rising demand for specialized skills to deal with the mental health issues that result from complex trauma.
“The effects of traumatic stress are being seen throughout the world, and with tragic outcomes,” said certificate co-chair Daniel Pitchford. “It is crucial then that training brings together cutting edge research and holistic practice, preparing students and professionals to not just respond to the diverse, complex results from traumatic experiencing, but doing so in a way that inspires transformational healing and change to our communities – to the world.”
Saybrook’s curriculum and training is designed to address the gap in education surrounding traumatic stress and effective, innovative healing processes by offering a “first of its kind” program for emerging scholars and practitioners.
The program integrates crucial humanistic understandings of the human condition with providing basic knowledge about the established foundations of trauma, and its intricate, complex, and often tragic impacts upon mind, body, spirit, and culture, with special attention to exploring both conventional and non-conventional healing processes. The curriculum and training also provide learners with a broad and rich understanding of trauma history, theory, research, practice, and cultural implications allowing for a pursuit of a specific area of interest. In addition, students are invited to collaborate with instructors in developing practical opportunities for unique field and research experiences and for scholarly publications, nationally and internationally.
The certificate is a 16-credit program including five 3-credit courses and a final paper. Topics covered include
- Perspectives and Foundations of Traumatic Stress
- Trauma: Mind, Body, and Spiritual Dynamics
- Traumatic Stress within Culture, Context, and the Self
- Trauma Assessment, Risk, and Ethics in Practice
- Conventional and Non-conventional Healing Approaches to Trauma
The certificate will be offered beginning in the Fall Semester of 2013. For more information, visit our website.