Becoming a trauma informed and responsive faith-based communities

Australian churches and faith-based organisations in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse have put some effort into providing training and evidenced based frameworks for their organisations. For example, Recommendation 6.6 Standard 1. a, recommends that: The institution publicly commits to child safety and leaders champion a child safe culture. Therefore strategies are now being put in place to strengthen a sense of safety for those who participate in faith-based organisations.  Less effort has been put into helping those working in ministry and leadership teams in these organisations to understand the key features of trauma and how they affect organisation health and the place of spirituality. Training in trauma informed practice strengthens a child/ community safe culture within an organisation along with supporting people to make sense of challenging experiences.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reports that 57-75% of Australians will experience a traumatic event in their lifetime, and 62-68% of young people have experienced at least one event by age 17. This would suggest that not only many who participate in faith-based organisations are impacted by trauma, but also the many professional staff working in ministry. It would make sense for faith-based organisations to become trauma-informed and responsive to strengthen organisational health and protect the wellbeing of those in ministry and leadership roles as well as community members.

Building a trauma-informed and responsive organisation involves changes in vision, practice, and culture and requires ongoing efforts to ensure that all working in ministry and community members—including those affected by trauma—are experiencing social, emotional, and spiritual safety. Having a theological base that is informed by our understanding of trauma and recovery will help people in ministry to effectively support community members who might otherwise struggle to make sense of their experiences.

This workshop builds a shared understanding of the key features of trauma and how they impact at an organisational and spiritual level. A key focus will be what organisations can do to minimize rather than amplify the trauma impacts for their community members, as well as how to effectively support spiritual and post traumatic growth. The workshop will cover:

1. Key concepts regarding the phenomenon of trauma including how trauma changes peoples’ emotional regulation and behaviour.

2. Organizational processes that help to minimize the impact of trauma on those in ministry and community members.

3. Practices that help to safeguard wellbeing with a focus on emotional fatigue and secondary trauma.

4. The impact of trauma on spirituality and how to support meaning making in recovery.

5. The relationship between resilience and spirituality.

6. Positive and negative religious practices that are associated with post traumatic growth and post-traumatic stress.

7. Individual and universal strategies and practices that can enhance pastoral ministry and compliment the work that might be done for those in therapy.

This training can be offered as a 1- or 2-day reflective workshop and will be adapted to each faith based organisation’s context in consultation with their leadership team. The training is appropriate for people working in ministry, leadership teams, board/ councils, church elders etc. Opportunities for reflection and worship led by participants, will also be incorporated into the workshop. To access or discuss this training please contact Louise (Mob: 0417 262 028) to leave a message or via email below.