Trauma-Informed Care: Movement Towards Practice

This webinar was presented by Beth Farmer, Senior Technical Advisor, Safety, Education and Wellness, IRC and Sasha Verbillis-Kolp, Consultant, Sasha Verbillis-Kolp Consulting Services. 

Refugee service providers work with individuals and families who have experienced significant trauma. This webinar gives key insights on defining trauma-informed care within the refugee context and adopting trauma-informed practices on the individual and organizational levels. 

Lesson Objective

Why should I attend?
After attending this 75-minute session, you will be able to:  

• Define trauma awareness and recognize it through practical examples;
• Describe principles of trauma-informed care in practice; 
• Name at least two strategies (individual and agency-based) that nurture trauma- informed programming; and
• Discuss the role of cultural considerations in trauma-informed care.

Webinar Facilitators           

Beth Farmer is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over three decades of experience working with marginalized and vulnerable populations, including over a decade of experience in the field of refugee mental health. She has helped design and deliver holistic integrated programming to survivors of torture, returning prisoners of war, and unaccompanied refugee minors. Beth currently serves as IRC’s Senior Technical Advisor: Safety, Education and Wellness within the Resettlement, Asylum, and Integration unit.         

Sasha Verbillis-Kolp is a consultant, clinical social worker, cultural anthropologist, evaluator, and teacher. She’s worked in refugee programs, trauma and torture treatment, human trafficking, child welfare, international human rights, immigration, and social services. Recently, she was an evaluation manager for an internationally recognized refugee mental health project, where she helped field test a culturally validated mental health instrument for refugees experiencing emotional distress and trauma.