Free Online Child Trauma Courses

Photo Credit: Free stock photography from Unsplash user Dmitry Ratushny.

The four courses offered on the Child Trauma Academy website offer an introduction to work with children who have suffered trauma or as a review of key principles.  The course materials are free and can be accessed directly from the website.

Beginning with the Human Brain

• The course, comprised of six lessons and five quizzes, is designed “to give an overview of the key principles of neurodevelopment which can help caregivers understand how we can create the environments which express a child’s potential – or not”.
• The course objectives include:

1. Providing an overview of key principles of neurodevelopment crucial for understanding the role of experience in defining functional and physical organization of the brain.
2. Describing the emerging clinical and research findings in maltreated children that suggest the negative impact of abuse, neglect and trauma on brain development.
3. Outlining the clinical implications of a neurodevelopmental approach to child maltreatment.
4. Discussing the role of public policy and preventative practices in context of the impact of maltreatment on children's emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social and physical health.

Surviving Childhood:  An Introduction to the Impact of Trauma

• This course, made up of four lessons, a quiz, and two assignments, looks at the impact of childhood trauma on child development, stating, “We now know that a child’s potential to be creative, productive, healthy, and caring depends upon his or her experiences in childhood, and if these experiences are threatening, chaotic, and traumatic, the child’s potential is diminished. Ultimately, we all pay the price exacted by childhood trauma, whether we are dealing with individual children or large numbers of scarred adults assuming their places in society.”
• The course objectives include:

1. Providing an overview of key principles or neurodevelopment crucial for understanding the role of experience in defining functional and physical organization of the brain.
2. Describing the emerging clinical and research findings in maltreated children that suggest the negative impact of abuse, neglect and trauma on brain development.
3. Outlining the clinical implications of a neurodevelopmental approach to child maltreatment.
4. Discussing the role of public policy and preventative practices in context of the impact of maltreatment on children’s emotional, behavioural, cognitive, social and physical health.

The Cost of Caring:  Secondary Traumatic Stress and the Impact of Working with High-Risk Children and Families

• This course comprises four lessons, two multiple-choice tests, and two assignments. The purpose of the course is to present an overview of the topic of secondary trauma, stating, “The better we understand how working with traumatized children affects us both personally and professionally the better able we will be to serve them….  All professionals working with traumatized children can learn approaches and strategies to protect themselves from being emotionally overwhelmed by this work.  In the end, the ability to help traumatized children depends upon our ability to stay emotionally healthy and motivated in difficult and often very frustrating situations.”
• The course objectives include:

1. Introducing and discussing the concepts of burnout and secondary traumatic stress.
2. Reviewing how unpredictable stress and trauma can negatively impact emotional, cognitive and physical functioning.
3. Describing individual, event-related and systemic factors that increase or decrease risk for developing trauma-related symptoms.
4. Helping individuals understand the value of developing individualized “protective” strategies when they work in conditions likely to cause secondary traumatic stress.
5. Directing individuals to additional resources that can further assist in meeting objectives.

Bonding and Attachment in Maltreated Children

• This course looks at the key principles of bonding and attachment in humans, pointing out, “Each individual’s ability to form and maintain relationships using this “emotional glue” [of attachment] is different. Some people seem “naturally” capable of loving.  They form numerous intimate and caring relationships and, in doing so, get pleasure.  Others are not so lucky.  They feel no “pull” to form intimate relationships, find little pleasure in being with or close to others.  They have less emotional glue with family and few, if any, friends.  In extreme cases, an individual may have no intact emotional bond to any other person.  They are self-absorbed, aloof, or may even present with classic neuropsychiatric signs of being schizoid or autistic.”
• The course objectives include:

1. Providing an overview of key principles of attachment and bonding critical for healthy development.
2. Understanding how healthy attachment is facilitated and maintained.
3. Discussing the various ways that neglect and maltreatment influence attachment. Learning to identify behaviours associated with attachment difficulties.
4. Discussing the role of caregivers in helping maltreated children and exploring ways to help this at-risk population.