The Vicarious Trauma Initiative supports those working directly with refugees (members of the settlement, education, and public service sectors; interpreters, private sponsors; and ethno-cultural community leaders). Our services include mentorship for promoting wellness in the workplace, educational training and workshops for all levels of service and care providers, and peer debriefing opportunities.
Our goal is to foster resilience by focusing on the importance of compassion for self as well as others, and the necessity of taking care of ourselves physically, emotionally, spiritually, and relationally. This creates a starting point where those generally focused on the care of others can consider the need for their own wellbeing as best-practice to continue working in a meaningful, effective and sustainable way.
Support services and training are developed through consultation with each group’s unique needs in mind. Topics might include:
- Understanding burnout, empathic strain (caregiver/compassion fatigue) and vicarious trauma
- Signs and symptoms of vicarious trauma
- Vicarious resilience – building our own capacity as caregivers through witnessing the resilience of others
- Risk and resilience factors of trauma exposure in the workplace
- Risk and resilience factors of trauma exposure in our personal lives
- Empathy and compassion; Empathic distress
- Strategies for wellness and resilience
- Developing sustainable self and collective (multi-dimensional) wellness
- Benefits of mindfulness, self-compassion and gratitude
**NEW – We are now offering Community Resiliency Model (CRM)® training for service providers and newcomer community groups.
The Community Resiliency Model (CRM)® supports the wellbeing of service providers as well as the communities they serve. CRM is a trauma-informed and resiliency focused model that develops skills to help us tune in to, and respond, to our nervous system in recognition of our bodies biological response to trauma and chronic stress. In this series of training sessions we will focus on key concepts such as resilience, the nervous system, trauma response and memory while practicing six wellness skills that support regulation. These skills can be learned and practiced by anyone regardless of age, culture or literacy level and are a great way to create a common wellness language between service providers, clients, and community.
Support services are available at no cost for refugee serving communities and organizations. For more information, please fill out form below.
