Denise Tordella
Pryzbyla 321
Friday February 24
9am to noon  3 CE credits

Registration

Regular Registration Rate: $60
Current NCSSS Field Instructor Rate: $45
Current NCSSS Student Rate: $25

Trauma-Informed Social Work Practice

A trauma-informed practice is the emerging standard of care for clinicians in therapeutic and social service practice settings.  Utilizing a trauma-informed lens provides clinicians with tools that support: an individualized approach to working with clients; a systemic approach to the practice of social work, therapy and counseling; and an awareness of the need for self-care for the clinician.

What do we mean when we say, “trauma-informed?”   Maxine Harris and Roger Fallot  (2001) state that trauma is viewed not as a single discrete event, but rather as a defining and organizing experience that forms the core of an individual’s identity. The explanations about abuse, the far-reaching impact, and the attempts to cope with the aftermath come to define who the trauma survivor is.  Trauma informed care focuses on what happened to the person and what adaptations did that person have to make as a result of what happened to them, rather than what is wrong with that person.

This workshop will define trauma-informed practices to create a strengths-based approach to working with clients.

Upon completion of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify trauma informed practices;
• Define the components of trauma informed practices;
• Use ‘”people-first” language to promote healing and empowerment;
• Explore self-care strategies for the clinician to support the management of secondary trauma.

Denise Tordella is a licensed professional counselor in Alexandria, Virginia, whose area of clinical specialization is integrated, trauma-informed, mental health and substance abuse treatment. She is a workshop presenter who provides training and consultation to universities, non-profit organizations and municipal mental health/substance abuse treatment service providers on the local and national level. She has taken post-graduate training that includes Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. Her clinical focus includes incorporating mindfulness and body-oriented therapies to support individuals in managing the neurobiological effects of trauma, including emotional dysregulation and dissociation. Ms. Tordella is on the Board of Directors of Friends of Guest House, a non-profit organization that supports women making the transition from incarceration to re-entering the community. Ms. Tordella was selected by her peers as one of the Top 200 Therapists in Washington, DC, and can be reached via her website at www.denisetordella.com.