Building a Trauma Informed Faith Community Training

Building a Trauma Informed Faith Community

One of the most compelling reasons I was impacted by the message of trauma informed care and the Adverse Childhood Experiences study (ACEs) is because of the importance of faith in my life.  The faith-based community should be a place of safety and trustworthiness for healing and restoration for trauma survivors, yet many people experience trauma in a church or by the hands of a spiritual authority figure.  Houses of faith of any religion by nature are a place where people turn when vulnerable, hurting, lost and confused.  To think when coming to church to find answers and help, there are occasions where people have experienced further victimization is tragic.   Building Trauma Informed Faith Communities is a training that provides the basic principles of trauma, resilience, understanding ACEs and using a trauma informed approach.  It also is designed to help church leaders to consider how to avoid worship settings that are retraumatizing and develop skills for restoring trauma survivors within their congregations.