Trauma-Informed Care

Trauma can affect how people think, communicate, respond to stress, form relationships, and interact with healthcare providers, educators, employers, service professionals, and others in their daily lives.

A person’s behavior may be influenced by traumatic experiences that are not immediately visible. Understanding this can help us move away from asking, “What is wrong with this person?” and toward a more compassionate question: “What might have happened to this person?”

This introductory Trauma-Informed Care course provides a practical foundation for recognizing the effects of emotional and psychological trauma and responding to others with greater awareness, safety, empathy, and respect.

Throughout the course, you will explore different types of trauma, the potential effects of trauma on physical and mental health, and the findings of the Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACE, Study. You will also examine the major principles of trauma-informed care and learn how everyday interactions, policies, environments, and communication practices can either support a person’s sense of safety or unintentionally contribute to retraumatization.

You will learn why trauma disclosures must be handled carefully and how listening without judgment, respecting personal boundaries, offering appropriate choices, and avoiding assumptions can help create safer and more supportive interactions.

The course also addresses vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue, which can affect professionals, caregivers, family members, and others who regularly support people experiencing distress.

This course is taught by Donn Kropp, an experienced registered nurse and healthcare educator with more than 20 years of emergency and trauma-care experience.

Whether you work in healthcare, social services, education, customer service, hospitality, public safety, management, caregiving, or another people-centered field, this course will help you approach others with greater understanding and compassion.

No clinical or professional background is required. This course is educational and does not qualify participants to diagnose or treat trauma-related conditions.

Enroll today and begin developing a more compassionate, respectful, and trauma-informed approach to supporting the people around you.

What You Will Learn

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Define psychological and emotional trauma

• Identify different types and potential sources of trauma

• Recognize how trauma can affect behavior, communication, relationships, and physical and mental health

• Explain the significance of the Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACE, Study

• Describe the primary principles of trauma-informed care

• Recognize situations that may contribute to retraumatization

• Apply trauma-informed communication principles during everyday interactions

• Respond to trauma disclosures with greater sensitivity, safety, and compassion

• Recognize signs of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue

• Identify strategies that support personal wellness and healthy professional boundaries

• Apply trauma-informed principles in healthcare, education, service-industry, workplace, family, and community settings