Learning Outcomes:
- Define different forms of vicarious trauma and how they might arise within our work as practitioners regularly engaging with people experiencing their own traumas
- Identify ways to create space for and move with vicarious trauma(s)
- Examine options on how to promote holistic wellness for ourselves and others as we partake in conversations involving trauma
Facilitator: Jodie McVicar is the National Training Manager with Scottish Women’s Aid, overseeing national training and strategic partnerships across Scotland. Jodie has previous experience working within refuge at Edinburgh Women’s Aid, and as a Trustee with Fife Women’s Aid. Jodie also has experience working within child protection, including leading CLD and assessing practice of safeguarders via the National Safeguarders Panel team with Children 1st. Jodie is also an accredited Safe and Together trainer, and has extensive experience of embedding training and implementation into wider systems change – particularly in relation to domestic abuse and other human rights issues.
Over recent years much attention has been given to the subject of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The long-term impacts of ACEs are of increasing interest to researchers and practitioners, including much discussion of the ethics and efficacy of screening for ACEs to improve health and social outcomes for women and children impacted by domestic abuse. While ACEs are important, an exclusive focus on adverse experiences risks labelling children and their families, and it neglects to turn attention toward the possibility for flourishing even in the face of adversity and the promotion of the positive experiences that children need. Understanding the dynamics of domestic abuse, the role of resilience and why some children do well despite early adverse experiences is crucial. This session will explore emerging research which addresses the common narrative high ACEs equate to an inevitable pathway as offender or victim. We will consider how identifying ‘protective factors’, an understanding of resilience and post traumatic growth can mediate the effects of childhood adversity and trauma can and should be used to inform policy and practice responses.
Participants can expect to:
- Understand the impact of domestic abuse on individuals and explore how experiences in day-to-day relationships and interactions children experience in childhood can, despite adversity, have lasting impacts on adult health
- Understand that brain development continues throughout our lives, providing later possibilities for changing neural pathways to develop healthier ones.
- Reflect on current research in child development, adding to our current understanding of the power of positive experiences to mitigate the negative role played by adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
- Identify and utilise the key principles of trauma informed and domestic abuse informed practice
- Reflect on their understanding of, and current practice in, working with women and children who are impacted by domestic abuse and have experienced ACEs.
Facilitator: Judy Ferguson, SWA National Training Coordinator.
Judy has worked with Women’s Aid since 2011 and also worked with the Scotland SafeLives training team delivering the DA Matters Training Programme to 14,000 Police Scotland staff. Judy regularly provides training and consultancy to a wide range of multi agency statutory and voluntary bodies including the COPFS, Police Scotland, Social Work, Law Society Scotland, Criminal Justice Workers, Heath, Housing and Violence Against Women & Girls Partnerships etc. Judy has a wealth of experience informing her practice and a burning passion for working to end domestic abuse and violence against women in all its forms.
We can also offer tailor made, bespoke support with training needs analysis, training, policies and procedures and implementing new legislation. We are happy to build a package specifically relevant to your organisation and the needs of your team, building on the work of our domestic abuse specialist trainers across the country.
We are happy to deliver both virtually and face to face, and can accommodate any number of learners. Our training and inputs are fully interactive, engaging and will support your team with practical application of their learning journey with us.
Please contact judy.ferguson@womensaid.scot Scottish Women’s Aid’s National Training Co-ordinator to discuss your requirements.
Dr Mairead Tagg’s session is for anyone wanting to enhance their understanding of the relationship between mental health and domestic abuse, and a trauma-informed approach to working with women and young people to support their recovery. This session is designed to raise awareness about how domestic abuse and mental health intersect and to offer effective ways to engage with and support women impacted by these issues.
Aims:
- Debunk myths about mental health, domestic abuse and sexual abuse
- Understand how the human brain responds to trauma and abuse, how this affects how people may present and be responded to, and creates barriers to seeking help
- Understand the short and long term effects of domestic abuse on women and children
- Understand the intersections between experiences of domestic abuse and Mental Health
- Increase your knowledge about how to provide a trauma and domestic abuse informed response
Facilitator: Dr Mairead Tagg
Dr Mairead Tagg is a clinical psychologist who worked for Glasgow East Women’s Aid for 19 years, working directly with survivors of domestic abuse and child sexual abuse and providing specialist training on issues relating to psychological trauma in adults and children. She now works as an independent clinical psychologist specialising in gender based violence. As well as working with individuals, she provides court reports in criminal and civil cases where domestic abuse is an issue. Dr Tagg is also a visiting lecturer at Glasgow University and an associate lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University.
Helpline: 0800 027 1234
helpline@sdafmh.org.uk
