What does it mean to be trauma informed, and why is it important?
In the last decade we have become increasingly aware of the role trauma, especially early childhood attachment trauma, plays in all of our lives. Trauma impacts everything from our physical health to our ability to learn and the kinds of relationships we experience. Having a trauma informed work place can reduce conflict and improve workplace culture, dramatically improve the delivery of services and outcomes (i.e. medical and educational), limit professional burnout, reduce secondary trauma and stress, and dramatically increase creativity and innovation. Being trauma informed is therefore critical to maximizing performance, productivity, and culture in the work place.
What is trauma?
Any life event which causes significant physical and /or emotional distress, in which the person feels significantly overwhelmed, helpless, trapped, and/or generally powerless, can become a traumatic event. Trauma is stored in the body and tends to repeat itself until appropriately processed. Trauma can be the result of a single incident, such as sexual assault, or the product of subtler, long-term assaults to the nervous system, like childhood neglect. For example trauma can be caused by divorce, abandonment, humiliation, injury, natural disaster, accidents, work place conditions, war, civil conflict, emotional, sexual and physical abuse, bullying, parental conflict, and much more. Trauma can have physical as well as emotional manifestations. It is important to realize that trauma is our body’s response to feeling out of control or in danger, not our minds.
Could you give me some examples of trauma informed programs?
I have been conducting trauma informed leadership and professional development programs in Fort Collins and throughout Colorado since 2011. These programs have included a conventional educational piece as well as an experiential component using Equine Assisted Learning. Horses are perfect co-facilitators for this work because they are prey animals with hypersensitive nervous systems. They are at once very limbic (meaning their flight, fight, freeze instincts are keen) and very empathic. They can feel our intention, think in pictures, and speak in body language. They give immediate, non-judgmental feedback and are therefore excellent teachers when it comes to informing people about how they are impacting others’ nervous systems. When we do the horses work, people show up like they do in life. All horse work is done on the ground. No prior horse experience is needed. The work often leads to profound insight and learning in a very short period of time
To see a sample description and agenda for a trauma informed class, please see below. This is for attorneys and other family law professionals.
Trauma, Ethics, And Family Law
Are you wondering what it means to be trauma informed?
Are you looking for new techniques in client management that result in better long-term outcomes for children and parents and less burnout for you?
Have you grown weary of perpetual conflict, drama, and fighting?
Do you struggle with the ethical demands of being an advocate for clients, knowing that their behavior is not necessarily in the best interest of children?
This course can help by offering a clear understanding of the role that trauma and neurobiology play throughout the divorce and post decree process. Clients, like all of us, have many complex parts (known as ego states) to their personalities. How attorneys engage with clients can dramatically inform which parts show up. Attorney interactions with clients can escalate trauma and conflict and generally expose children to greater harm and less resiliency throughout the divorce and/or post decree process. It can also further commit clients to a path of perpetual conflict and re-litigation.
On the other hand, attorneys can choose to help move clients out of trauma into a calm grounded state from which logical empathic decisions can be made for both themselves and their children. Being a “zealous advocate,” therefore involves numerous choice points for both attorneys and clients. Understanding these choice points and “contracting” with clients to represent their highest self can be a relatively simple process that we will demonstrate in theory and in practice. With this new understanding, attendees will leave with concrete skills for better client management and enhanced outcomes for families. Consideration will be given to ethical issues related to tension between treating divorce as a law suite, versus an intimate and profound family transition. To do so, we will be looking at The Preamble for the Colorado Rules for Professional Conduct and Rules a 1.1. Competence) and 2.1 (Advisor) and associated comments.
The first part of the day will be spent learning about trauma, the brain, and the human nervous system. We will focus on the long-term impact of attachment trauma and how this plays out in the divorce process. Similarly, we will examine the Adverse Childhood Experience Study (ACES) and the long-term effects of divorce trauma on children. We will also look at Child Alienation and the role litigation and attorneys can play in contributing to adverse impacts on children. We will look at the Drama Triangle and explain how dis-engaging from the triangle can limit attorney burnout, improve client management, and promote better outcomes for parents and children. We will examine how all of this interfaces with specific provisions in the Colorado Code of Professional Conduct.
The second part of the day will be spent working with horses putting theory into practice. Horses are perfect co-facilitators for this work because they are prey animals with hypersensitive nervous systems. They are at once very limbic (meaning their flight, fight, freeze instincts are keen) and very empathic. They can feel our intention, think in pictures, and speak in body language. They give immediate, non-judgmental feedback and are therefore excellent teachers when it comes to informing people about how they are impacting others’ nervous systems. When we do the horses work, people show up like they do in life. All horse work is done on the ground. No prior horse experience is needed. The work often leads to profound insight and learning in a very short period of time
FACILITATORS:
Jill Cantor Lee M.S., M.Ed., LPC is a mental health therapist, Parent Coordinator, CFI, Decision Maker, Mediator, life long horse woman and EAGALA Certified Mental Health Specialist. She is also a cultural ecologist and has worked for the United States Agency for International Development as a researcher and policy coordinator in Africa. Currently, she has a private counseling and mediation practice in Fort Collins and specializes in helping families and individuals navigate conflict, the divorce process, and trauma. She has been practicing equine assisted learning and therapy, as well as Brainspotting for over seven years.
Claire N.L. Havelda is an attorney mediator committed to ensuring that children’s best interests are protected in the divorce process. As a Guardian ad Litem, Ms. Havelda has dedicated her professional career to ensuring that the best interests of children are represented in Court and protected outside of it. Prior to becoming a GAL, Ms. Havelda worked at the Denver Children’s Home, served as an AmeriCorps V.I.S.T.A., litigated divorces, worked as Mediator, Parenting Coordinator and Decision-Maker. As a trial and appellate attorney, Ms. Havelda has the unique ability to help families navigate the complexities of family law, and draft durable and quality final agreements for families.
SCHEDULE
9:00-9:30 Coffee and Reception
9:30-11:00 Introductions. Discussion of the Preamble of the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct. How do we resolve the inherent tension between parental conflict being traumatic for children, and the need for zealous advocacy of a parent’s position as defined in the Preamble to the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct? In other words, what is the interface between parents’ rights and the best interest of the child?
Rule 1.1 Fulfilling the Competency requirement. An overview of trauma and neurobiology. Divorce has profound long-term emotional and psychological ramifications for all involved (including attorneys and judges). An understanding of trauma, attachment trauma, the brain and how this relates to clients in family law is critical for adhering to ethical competency requirements. It has profound implication for both the process of divorce proceedings (client management) as well as for settlement outcomes.
11:00-11:15 break
11:15-12:15 Rule 2.1 The trauma informed Advisor. In this segment we explore how knowledge of trauma impacts the role of attorney as Advisor. How can they effectively promote alternative dispute resolution to mitigate trauma, conflict, and re-litigation? Explanation of the “drama triangle” (ego states) and how this relates to attorneys, mediators, PC’s, judges, and clients in the divorce and post decree process. How does it relate to ethical obligations to your clients as well as your own burnout? How can attorneys best incorporate mental health practitioners into the process?
12:15-1:15 Catered lunch
1:15- 2:30 Equine assisted session: Move Your Client Through the Divorce Obstacle Course. Ethics, and the neurobiology of trauma in action.
2:30- 3:00 Conclusion
Please feel free to contact me so we can start designing your professional development workshop today.