Certificate in trauma counselling for mental health professionals: Level 1

Dates: April 13, 15, 20, 22, 27 and 29, 2026

Time: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET

Facilitator: Natalie Zlodre Choy, MSW, RSW.

CE hours: 36

This training is suitable for: Experienced front-line workers (nurses, clergy, social workers, residential workers, addiction counsellors and psychotherapists ) who provide short-term counselling contact with vulnerable populations in community based settings.  

Client age category: For professionals who work with adult clients.

Trigger warning: During this program, the facilitator will be showing explicit video images of trauma reactions (popular film and clinical tapes).

Please note: This is a six-day program, you must complete all six days in order to receive the certificate of participation.

Description: This six-day certification program will provide the most current information on the biopsychosocial phenomenon of trauma, along with training in how to assess and respond ethically and appropriately to adult clients, given the parameters of the workplace.  

The trauma issues experienced by adult clients/consumers may include: early childhood trauma, violent crime, domestic violence, sexual assault  and chronic and terminal illness.

Participants will examine how workers and organizations are affected by and respond to working with traumatized individuals and develop trauma-informed approaches to work that enhance personal and professional resilience.

Program schedule and clinical focus by day: Below is an overview of the daily structure and key clinical themes explored throughout the six-day training. Please see the Agenda tab at the top of this page for further information on the daily learning breakdown.

Day 1: Neurobiology of Trauma.

Day 2: Reactions to Traumatic Experiences.

Day 3: Trauma Risk Factors and Flashback Management.

Day 4: Nightmare Management.

Day 5: Developmental Trauma, Complex Trauma, Assessment Tools.

Day 6: Effective Treatments for Single Incident Trauma and Complex and Developmental Trauma.

Learning objectives:

• Identify: Participants will learn to identify and understand the range of reactions traumatized individuals may experience such as: Acute PTSD, PTSD, Grief/Bereavement Reactions, Complex Trauma, Developmental Trauma, chronic frustration and misery, dissociative reactions and  anxious and disorganized attachment patterns.
•  Assess: Participants will learn key questions to ask clients in acute and complex situation to assess and guide interventions.   
• Intervene: You will learn strategies that will assist clients in adaptive coping and overcoming that debilitating effects of:  Hypo/hyperarousal, affect dysregulation, sleep dysregulation, intrusive imagery, flashbacks and nightmare management, guilt shame, blame, client paralysis and therapeutic impasses.
  • The objective with clients who have experienced a single incident trauma is to help clients recover to base-line functioning by using psychoeducation and symptom management strategies.
  • The objective with clients, who have experienced complex/developmental trauma, is to mitigate layers of human suffering that has manifested in entrenched rigid maladaptive patterns. Our work with clients is to bring clarity to the origin, presence and manifestations of these patterns and to develop a systematic process for changing the core belief system/schema that drives these patterns.

Secure your place in this highly sought-after certificate program and gain advanced trauma-informed strategies you can implement immediately to support client recovery and resilience.