Trauma-informed training day: practical training for professionals & workplaces

Thursday 23 April 2026
St Werburghs Community Centre, BS2 9TJ

Join us for a practical training day exploring what trauma is and the impact of trauma on the people we support, our colleagues, and ourselves.

Learn the essentials of trauma-informed practice, gain practical tools that you can use straight away, and build your confidence in understanding and responding to trauma.

We’re offering two trauma-informed training sessions on 23 April:

Introduction to Trauma-Informed Approaches
9.30am-1.30pm

Vicarious Trauma
2pm-5pm

Attend one session or both:
£70 for one session | £120 for both

Training details

Introduction to Trauma-Informed Approaches

Who this training is for: Staff in mental health and social care settings

Working in a mental health or social care setting means regularly interacting with people who have faced adversity and trauma in their lives.

This course introduces what trauma and adversity means, why awareness is so important, and the impact experiences of trauma and adversity can have across a lifetime. We consider the risk of retraumatisation, explore pathways towards supporting resilience and growth, and show how a trauma-informed approach can be put into action.

What you'll learn

  • Recognise why a solid awareness of trauma & adversity is important working in support and community settings.
  • Introduce some definitions of what adversity & trauma is.
  • Explore the longer-term impact of traumatic/aversive events across a person's lifespan.
  • Consider the risk of retraumatisation.
  • Recognise the pathways that can facilitate resilience, growth, and sustainable change.
  • Begin to conceptualise how a psychological adversity and trauma-informed approach is put into practice.

Vicarious Trauma

Who this training is for: Staff and managers in mental health and social care settings to enhance understanding of how working in the helping professions can impacts us

Working in mental health can be very rewarding but it does come with its risks. Workers can experience compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma because of either witnessing or hearing another’s distressing experiences. Vicarious trauma can impact staff well-being, lead to toxic work environments, and ultimately affect the quality of support we provide.

This session explores how vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue impact on the individual, organisations and the client themselves. It highlights the importance of acknowledging and addressing vicarious trauma as an organisation to improve staff well-being, retention and organisational effectiveness.

What you'll learn

  • Understand the cause and impact of  vicarious trauma as well as ways in which we can both identify and protect ourselves from it.
  • Explore your own experiences of work and the impact it has on you.
  • Understand how vicarious trauma impacts services and consider how this can be addressed in your organisation.

When

Thursday 23 April 2026

Introduction to Trauma-Informed Approaches: 9.30am-1.30pm

Vicarious Trauma: 2pm-5pm

Where

St Werburghs Community Centre
22 Horley Road
Bristol
BS2 9TJ

Price

You're welcome to sign up to one session or both.

Price for individuals: £70 for one session | £120 for both

Why choose us?

Our training is developed and delivered by people with mental health expertise and lived experience to help you build your team's confidence, strengthen your organisation, and create a safer, more engaged and inclusive workforce.

head shot of Nick Booth

Nick Booth

Meet your trainer

Nick has dedicated his career to promoting social justice and addressing inequality and disadvantage through roles in both the voluntary and public sectors.

With over 25 years of experience in homelessness, substance use, and mental health and 18 years in teaching and training, Nick brings a wealth of knowledge and compassion to every session. His engaging facilitation style and deep expertise help create a safe, supportive space where participants can explore complex and sensitive topics with confidence.

Nick has developed and delivered mental health training at Second Step for five years, training hundreds of professionals in both frontline and strategic roles. His courses are grounded in real-world experience and designed to be practical, interactive, and immediately applicable.

Nick leads the learning and development team at Second Step and in collaboration with Dr Joanna Davies, Nick co-designs courses and the development of the psychological, adversity and trauma training for Second Step.

Book now

If you are interested in joining us for the Introduction to Trauma-Informed Approaches or Vicarious Trauma training sessions or both, please complete the enquiry form below and a member of our training team will be in touch shortly.

PAT 23 April Training Enquiry Form
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