CERTIFIED TRAUMA INFORMED CARE SPECIALIST’S ROLE
Human existence since its primitive ancestors has been forced to find ways to survive. Critical survival mechanisms evolved to help humanity face external threats. These same survival mechanisms exist today in forms of fight, flight, freeze, fawn, or fade. These mechanisms are closely associated with humanity’s autonomous nervous system and the two branches of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems that prepare the body for survival. However, in many life or death cases, these traumatic events can leave a lasting imprint if not properly processed and leave these survival mechanisms continually activated. This leads to various trauma disorders and PTSD. Trauma Informed Care Specialists play a key role in helping individuals face unresolved traumatic events and learn to cope and turn off these mechanisms.
Trauma Informed Care Specialists help those suffering from past trauma, abuse, rape, or war, the ability to learn how to regulate emotions and enable one to again master one’s survival responses. Trauma Informed Care Specialists aid individuals into returning the survival response to its default setting and helping the person experience peace, healing and post traumatic growth.
As a Trauma Informed Care Specialist, one is not necessarily always expecting the worst, but one is alert for the signs and possibilities of abuse. As counselors, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, physicians, nurses, as well as pastoral caregivers, those trained in Trauma Informed Care are not only watchers for trauma, but also safe guarders for the abused. They serve as not only healers but also social justice warriors to help protect the most vulnerable within society.
Trauma Informed Care Specialists hence serve the public in this way:
By helping clients process past trauma and find post traumatic growth and healing
By guiding in skills to learn how to regulate emotions and ground oneself
By potentially diagnosing PTSD or other trauma disorders
By providing an important service marginalized and vulnerable communities that are more susceptible to abuse and becoming a watchdog and safeguard to those communities
Trauma Informed Care Specialists can supply these services to a variety of institutions:
Individuals
Churches
Schools
Hospitals
Law Enforcement
Pastoral Ministry
Post Crisis Organizations
Social Work Departments
State Services
Furthermore, Trauma Informed Care Specialists can also become certified in
Crisis Intervention
Anger Management
Grief Counseling
The pivotal role as a Trauma Informed Care Specialist in today’s society will grow as unfortunate events continue to mount in forms of shootings, terrorism, mass genocide, war and acts of nature. Trauma finds it way to many children, women and elderly through abuse and rape. Trauma Informed Care Specialists can not only heal but also become a watch guard and voice for the afflicted.
Behavioral Health BLOG: Please visit our interactive Behavioral Health web blog.
Are you interested in becoming a Certified Trauma Informed Care Specialist Professional?
If this practice specialty interests you then please review our program and feel free to speak with our advisors regarding our complete education program and courses leading to qualifications to achieve the certification.
