Why trauma-informed trainings don't lead to trauma informed practice

We often attend trainings with:

- Trauma Theory

- Trauma Research

- Fancy Worksheets

And what we often overlook is the need for :

- Ongoing critical self-reflection

You can attend a bunch of trauma informed trainings and still your practice could remain unchanged.

Why? Because of the widespread (and shame based) belief that if we 'know' the theory and research, we can apply it to the children and families we worth it, end of story.

What is missing is the need for ongoing critical self-reflection. So you might apply some key take aways from the training, but when sh*t hits the fan...things don't go to plan...the training doesnt seem to be 'working', here's is where ongoing self-reflection comes in:
- how did I perceive this situation? how would this situation be perceived when I was growing up?
- how might the child perceive this situation? what would be their version of events?
- do any of my perceptions include; negative judgement, blame, shame, criticism of myself or the child?
- what could a more compassionate generous interpretation of the situation be?
- what was the child's unmet need in this moment?
- what fears did I have in this situation? was i worried about doing things the 'right' away according to the training that I wasnt present with the child in the moment and what we both needed
- If I don't think this approach is working, what would work? Or am I blocking any kind of 'solution'

And ultimately coming up with this answer in order to be able to take the next step; How can I tweak what i've learnt in a way that works for both me and the child with our current environment.

This is what I teach in Play Prescription and the most valuable part of it all; the process of how we undertake ongoing critical self-reflection. Because this is where the magic lies, the reconnection with ourselves to take an active part in using our own wisdom and insight into applying our learnings, to make it work for us and the child in front of us and feel a sense of clarity about why we do what we do 💕