THW Continuing Education

Trauma-Informed Peer Support Practices

Understanding Trauma, Creating Safety, Sustaining Yourself

Duration

2 Hours

CEUs

2.0

Competencies

6, 8, 11, 13, 25

Trauma is not what happens to you — it is what happens inside you as a result of what happens to you. As a Traditional Health Worker, you sit with people whose lives have been shaped by experiences that overwhelmed their nervous systems, relationships, and sense of safety in the world. Some of them know they carry trauma. Many do not. And often, your own story sits beside theirs, informing both your insight and your vulnerability.

This course gives you a working understanding of trauma and its effects on the brain and body, introduces SAMHSA’s six principles of trauma-informed care, builds practical skills for creating safety and responding to trauma responses in the people you support, and equips you to recognize and care for the cumulative weight you carry from this work.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

1	Define trauma and differentiate between acute, chronic, complex, and historical/intergenerational trauma.
2	Explain the neurobiological effects of trauma on the brain and body, including the Four F’s of trauma response.
3	Apply SAMHSA’s six principles of trauma-informed care to your THW practice.
4	Recognize trauma responses in the people you support and use grounding techniques and co-regulation to help them return to their window of tolerance.
5	Use trauma-informed language that empowers rather than retraumatizes.
6	Identify warning signs of vicarious trauma in yourself and build a personal wellness plan that supports sustainable practice.

Course Sections

Section 1 — Understanding Trauma

What trauma is and is not, the four types of trauma, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and historical and intergenerational trauma.

Section 2 — The Neuroscience of Trauma

The brain’s stress response, how trauma changes brain function, the Four F’s, and the Window of Tolerance.

Section 3 — SAMHSA’s Six Principles of Trauma-Informed Care

Safety, trustworthiness, peer support, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural responsiveness — in action.

Section 4 — Trauma-Informed Peer Support Skills

Recognizing trauma responses, grounding techniques, co-regulation, empowering language, and creating safety in hard conversations.

Section 5 — Self-Care and Vicarious Trauma

Recognizing the cumulative impact of this work and building a personal wellness plan across four domains.

A Note Before You Begin

This course discusses trauma, including types of abuse, neglect, and historical violence. Some of what follows may resonate with your own experience, your family’s story, or the experience of the people you support. That resonance is not a sign of weakness — it is part of why you do this work.

If you find yourself activated as you move through the material, take a break. Use one of the grounding techniques you’ll learn in Section 4. Come back when you’re ready. There is no time limit on this course.

The goal is not to become an expert in trauma. The goal is to become a steady, informed presence for the people you support — and for yourself.

“Trauma is not what happens to you; it’s what happens inside you as a result of what happens to you.”

— Dr. Gabor Maté

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Final Quiz

Trauma-informed Practice – Non Marion/Polk

Trauma-Informed Peer Support Practices

Learning Objectives

Course Sections

Section 1 — Understanding Trauma

Section 2 — The Neuroscience of Trauma

Section 3 — SAMHSA’s Six Principles of Trauma-Informed Care

Section 4 — Trauma-Informed Peer Support Skills

Section 5 — Self-Care and Vicarious Trauma

A Note Before You Begin

Course Content