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Introduction to Working with Torture and Trauma Survivors

1 day workshop

Dates:

Friday 16th August

COST:

$99.00 per participant (GST inclusive)

Workshop Outline

Australia accepts 1200 refugees each year and many have been tortured or traumatised in some way. This one day workshop is designed to provide workers with an understanding of the socio-political nature of war as well as issues facing refugee survivors of torture and trauma . At the completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Define the meaning of refugee
• Differentiate between refugee, asylum seeker, displaced person and migrant
• Contrast phases of refugee migration and the impact on survivors
• Identify symptoms that can indicate a person has been tortured or traumatised
• Discuss the physical and psychological needs of refugees
• Locate resources and services relevant for working with people from refugee backgrounds
  
• Recognise the importance of self care issues

Target Group

This introductory workshop is a prerequisite workshop that assumes little or no knowledge about refugee issues. The workshop is relevant for anyone interested in the issues faced by refugees and survivors of torture and trauma.

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Introduction to Community Development with Refugee Communities

1 day workshop

Dates:

Friday 20th September (Carramar)

COST:

$99 per participant (GST inclusive). Lunch provided.

Workshop Outline

State terrorism and organised violence target the very essence of a community – relationships and their meaning. When relationships are affected, communities fragment and lack of trust pervades social interactions. A fragmented community, suspicious of government related services with a lot of internal conflict, due to political, ethnic and religious complexities, and little structure is not easy to work with. This workshop is designed to address the issues of the impact of trauma and state terrorism on communities, and provide guidance for working with them. At the completion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Define organised violence and state terrorism
• Identify the effects of organised violence and state terrorism on communities
• Locate community development tools you can use in your work with refugee communities
• Integrate clinical services and community development models
• Identify cross-cultural issues in community development

Target Group

This course has been designed for community workers and social workers wanting to develop professional skills in community development with refugee communities in Australia. The course expects an existing understanding of basic community development principals. Prerequisite required.

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Working with Ageing Survivors

1 day workshop

Dates:

Friday 18th October

COST:

$99 per participant (GST inclusive)
Facilitated by STARTTS and Jewish Care

Workshop Outline

The Working with Ageing Survivors workshop aims to explore the relationship between ageing and the refugee experience, particularly in the context of disclosure of trauma experiences triggered by life cycle issues. As an interactive workshop, participants will be encouraged to share their own professional experiences of working with aged refugees. In the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to explore:

• The impact of lifecycle changes on the trauma experience
• Disclosure issues in older age
• Transgenerational issues
• Denial and guilt in ageing survivors
• The impact of changing relationships in the family
• Avenues for appropriate referral to relevant services

Target Group

This workshop has been developed by STARTTS and Jewish Care for professionals working with ageing survivors of torture and trauma, including nursing home and hostel workers, palliative care workers, community based health workers, Aged Care Assessment Teams and counsellors. Prerequisite required.

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Self Care Strategies for Working with Refugees

1 day workshop

Dates:

Friday 21st June

COST:

$99 per participant (GST inclusive) Lunch provided.

Workshop Outline

Working with survivors of torture and trauma can be rewarding and challenging work. At times, however, we can feel overwhelmed and exhausted by the nature of the work we do. In the ‘helping professions’ we need to take greater responsibility for looking after ourselves. This workshop looks at the nature of vicarious trauma, the impact of working with trauma survivors and ideas for self care strategies. At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Differentiate vicarious traumatisation from worker burnout
• Identify signs and symptoms of vicarious trauma
• Recognise contributing factors to vicarious trauma , both personal and systemic
• Identify transference issues and understand strategies for managing feelings and emotions when working with survivors
• Design a personal self care action plan

Target group

The March and August workshops are suitable for non clinical health professionals working with survivors in the community, including case workers, community workers, teachers, volunteers and other interested people.

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Skills for Working with Survivors

2 day workshop

Dates:

Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th May

COST:

$ 198.00 per participant (GST inclusive)

Workshop Outline

The Skills for Working with Survivors Workshop takes off where the Introductory workshop finishes. This workshop provides skills based learning for working more effectively with survivors and has been designed for people wanting to develop communication skills for working with survivors in a multicultural model. Where can we go after support? How can we address the needs of our clients who may not want or require psychotherapy? What other specific listening and communication skills would benefit our work with survivors. At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify communication strategies and initial assessment models relevant for work with survivors, within a cross cultural framework
• Explain the nature of PTSD and the impact of trauma on psychological and physical well-being
• Apply strategies for working with survivors in the workplace
• Apply self care strategies
• Locate avenues for STARTTS referral and consultation

Target Group

This workshop has been designed for people who are currently working with survivors in a range of non clinical areas such as casework, advocacy, teaching, youth work, welfare work or community development. Prerequisite required.

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Clinical Practice with Survivors of Torture and Trauma - A cross-cultural perspective

2 day workshop

Dates:

Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd August

COST:

$198 per participant (GST inclusive) Lunch provided

Workshop Outline

The 2 day Clinical Practice with Survivors of Torture and Trauma workshop is designed to provide clinicians currently working in the community with additional skills for clinical practice with survivors. At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify the sequelae of torture and refugee trauma on the individual, family and society, including the psychological, psycho-social and physical effects of torture and trauma.
• Critically analyse the nature of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and post traumatic symptomology
• Identify principles and methods for comprehensive assessment using STARTTS’ RCAT assessment tool
• Review therapeutic models appropriate for clinical work with survivors within a cross cultural framework
• Recognise transference and countertransference issues for the therapist as well as issues for self care
• Locate mechanisms for referral, clinical consultation and follow-up from STARTTS

Target Group

This course is specifically designed for clinicians. This may include psychologists, clinical social workers, clinical nurse consultants or psychotherapists. Prerequisite required.

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Introduction to Working with Child and Adolescent Survivors

1 day workshop

Dates:

Friday 7th June

COST:

$99.00 per participant (GST inclusive)

Workshop Outline

Children and adolescents are affected by direct exposure to war situations, are actively involved as child soldiers or through imprisonment and persecution of their families or themselves. They could also present with secondary traumatisation from the effects of their parents exposure to torture and trauma in the context of war and organised violence. This workshop is developed to address the issues surrounding the impact of refugee trauma on children and adolescents. At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Describe current thinking on the impact of torture and trauma on children and adolescents and childhood resiliance
• Recognise common experiences among refugee children and adolescents
• Identifiy symptoms in different developmental stages
• Verify the impact of refugee trauma on learning
• Discuss issues for working with the family unit
• Demonstrate strategies for working with children and adolescent survivors
• Explain cross cultural issues for working with child and adolescent survivors
• Identify models for working within a community framework

Target Group

This workshop has been designed specifically to meet the needs of professionals working with school aged refugee children, youth and families. It may be particularly relevant to youth workers, family therapists, teachers and school counsellors. This workshop assumes a working knowledge of child and adolescent development and lifecycle issues. Prerequisite required.

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