Training is an important factor in preparing and protecting staff and individuals when working in high stress environments. FD Consultants offers many training programmes, as shown below, and we can create bespoke training programmes as required.
Trauma Information Sheets
FD Consultants Individual support At FD Consultants we can help individuals recover from PTSD, vicarious trauma, stress, anxiety, depression and burnout. We are a network of accredited therapists. Organisational support For organisations looking for employee psychological support, FD Consultants are the well-being service who will best deliver a reliable, quick, and bespoke support system in the workplace. FD Consultant’s team of accredited specialists will offer ongoing support to help manage stress, prevent burnout and provide specialist trauma care where required, enabling your staff with the tools to cope, and recover more quickly.
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Back in 2016 an article was published (101 Fundraising) regarding the mental wellbeing of professional fundraisers and how they can be exposed to vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and burnout and yet even today very little support is given to staff in these roles.
It is widely recognised that those on the frontline of caring for others e.g. firefighters, aid workers, paramedics etc are at risk of developing mental health issues, potentially leading to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There are also so many other roles that could be categorised as high risk due to the level of exposure to traumatic material, such as fundraisers, researchers, and front-of-office staff. While these roles are not on the frontline, pulling bodies from collapsed buildings, medically caring for someone who is severely injured, or supporting a survivor of sexual violence, their role is indeed to help. They are often exposed to listing to traumatic stories of supporters and donors. There is a great deal of research now to show the risk of being effected by traumatic material indirectly, known as vicarious trauma. At FD Consultants we make sure organisations do not overlook the corrosive impact of vicarious trauma, sometimes known as secondary trauma. Research states that by listening to stories of trauma, we can start to be impacted by trauma symptoms, especially if we are empathic or intuitive, as our mirror neurones start to fire in the same way as the person telling us the story. Listening to the media or reading traumatic material can impact us vicariously. We also offer a half-day ‘Trauma and Vicarious Trauma Workshop’. Staff that are identified in ‘high risk’ roles, possibly through the location or intensity of their work, or the risk of being exposed to traumatic material, whether directly or indirectly, would benefit from this workshop. There are many myths and misunderstanding about how to best treat individuals who are traumatised. There is also a great risk of re-traumatising someone, who is suffering from trauma symptoms, without the knowledge from this workshop. Therefore, this workshop is also helpful for managers supporting staff who may be suffering from PTSD or vicarious trauma. Peer support programmes train peers to offer early and good quality support which can prevent an individual’s vicarious trauma developing into post-traumatic stress disorder, or stress developing into burnout. If someone goes off work with stress-related issues they may be off work for a few days, if someone goes off work with burnout, they may be off work for weeks or even months and may never return to the workplace. Additionally, research shows that when an individual receives support early, they will recover quicker, therefore preventing long-term health problems. Please do contact us at [email protected] if you require our psychological support services. For organisations looking for employee psychological support, FD Consultants are the trauma specialists and well-being service who will best deliver a reliable, quick, and bespoke support system in the workplace. FD Consultant’s team of accredited specialists will offer ongoing support to help manage stress, prevent burnout and provide specialist trauma care where required, enabling your staff with the tools to cope, and recover more quickly. With the recent news that Facebook has agreed to pay £42m to content moderators as compensation for mental health issues developed on the job, it highlights the significant increase in staff being exposed to traumatic material via social media. In 2018, a group of US moderators hired by third-party companies to review content sued Facebook for failing to create a safe work environment. The moderators alleged that reviewing violent and graphic images - sometimes of rape and suicide - for the social network had led to them developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Untreated PTSD can cause permanent damage to the brain due to the person living in a hyper-aroused state. The effects of PTSD can cause someone to put him/herself in danger or even endanger others including his/her family members. Misdiagnosed or untreated PTSD is commonly associated with substance abuse. Drugs or alcohol can act as a coping mechanism, provide a temporary escape or chance to get away or relieve physical and psychological pain. The misuse of alcohol or drugs can lead to a number of other complications in a life already complicated by PTSD. Alcohol and drug use only serve as a temporary solution. Once the substance wears off, a person will be in the same position or a worse one than before. One of the most popular workshops we offer at FD Consultants is our trademark Trauma and Vicarious Trauma awareness workshop for individuals and organisations. The training enables individuals to identify trauma symptoms, triggers, and have resources to process traumatic material. As a preventative training it helps to build a healthy organisational culture, with wellbeing at its heart, ensuring staff are working in a psychologically safe and compassionate work environment. Managers also feel confident to recognise the risk of trauma and help or signpost staff to the most appropriate support. We have seen an increase in demand for these workshops from Journalists, IT Companies, Artificial Intelligence Organisations, Mental Health charities and the Humanitarian Sector where teams are identified as in ‘high risk roles’ likely to be exposed to traumatic material directly or indirectly. FD Consultants are trained in the recommended (WHO, APA and NICE) treatments of trauma and PTSD which are Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT). Please do contact us at [email protected] if you require our psychological support services. For organisations looking for employee psychological support, FD Consultants are the trauma specialists and well-being service who will best deliver a reliable, quick, and bespoke support system in the workplace. FD Consultant’s team of accredited specialists will offer ongoing support to help manage stress, prevent burnout and provide specialist trauma care where required, enabling your staff with the tools to cope, and recover more quickly. The image of an elephant, in its original habitat, roaming through the Kruger Park, South Africa, is imprinted on my mind today; watching the magnificent stillness, at sunset and sunrise, as the red blanket radiates over the landscape. I have also witnessed elephants in India during festival times, although equally magnificent creatures, this was a harder observation, as the elephants had large chains around their ankles and had become subdued to the loud bangs of celebration all around them. In Hinduism, Ganesha, one of the most worshipped Gods, is easily recognised by his elephant’s head. Ganesha is characterised as the remover of obstacles. The large elephant headed deity, removing that which is negative in its path.
When we are impacted by trauma, we may feel chained, restricted, fragmented, subdued, and penned in by unmoveable obstacles. There is a great deal of research now that shows when we recover from trauma, we can experience post traumatic growth. My book “Psychosocial Support for Humanitarian Aid Workers: A Roadmap of Trauma and Critical Incident Care” (Dunkley, 2018), is full of case studies of aid workers who have suffered acute stress, burnout or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The last chapter focuses on each and every one of these stories and describes a process of ‘post traumatic growth’, where many of these individuals have gone on to use their experiences to help others. My own story of post traumatic growth is described in my book, and perhaps is the main reason my work specialises in trauma care. I am able to sit in the most uncomfortable places and hold hope that each individual will recover. I strongly believe everyone can recover from trauma with specialist support. Unfortunately, there are many therapists that state they work with trauma, but are not specialists. Someone’s recovery of maybe six sessions, develops into years of talking therapy. Many of our associates at FD Consultants offer EMDR and TF-CBT trauma therapy (as recommended by WHO, APA and NICE). At FD Consultants we offer a half-day ‘Trauma and Vicarious Trauma Workshop’. Staff that are identified in ‘high risk’ roles, possibly through the location or intensity of their work, or the risk of being exposed to traumatic material, whether directly or indirectly, would benefit from this workshop. It is a more in-depth look at the neuroscience of trauma, physiology, symptoms and building resources, than our stress management workshop. There are many myths and misunderstanding about how to best treat individuals who are traumatised. There is also a great risk of re-traumatising someone who is suffering from trauma symptoms without the knowledge from this workshop. Therefore, this workshop is also helpful for managers supporting staff who may be suffering trauma or vicarious trauma, and staff who have been impacted by a critical incident. Over the last few years at FD Consultants we have supported staff who have experienced sexual violence, hostage and kidnapping, civil unrest, assault, bullying and harassment, road traffic accidents, natural disasters, death of colleagues through accident or suicide, and the impact of organisational restructuring. We have supported organisations’ whose staff have been impacted by the Ethiopian plane crash, conflict in Yemen and Syria, earthquakes in Indonesia, Australian bush fires, floods in India, the Persian Gulf crisis, further Ebola outbreaks, and the Myanmar Rohingya refugee crisis. But not only do we, as FD Consultants, recognise the direct impact of trauma, we also make sure organisations do not overlook the corrosive impact of vicarious trauma, sometimes known as secondary trauma. Research states that by listening to stories of trauma, we can start to be impacted by trauma symptoms, especially if we are empathic or intuitive, as our mirror neurones start to fire in the same way as the person telling us the story. Listening to the media or reading traumatic material can impact us vicariously. Organisations do not necessarily know what lies in someone’s past and whether they may have a deep-rooted trauma that can be triggered by the work they do. We have carried out psychological debriefings for staff who completed research on human rights issues, such as torture, false imprisonment, sexual violence or suicide. We support researchers, journalists, and legal staff. We have also helped frontline staff, such as reception staff, who may experience direct threat in the office, or indirect threat through social media or email. For one large international NGO (non-governmental organisation), we have started facilitating ‘threat communication’ workshops alongside security consultants, as we are finding this type of issue increasing. If you want to find out more about our workshops, please email [email protected]. If you are working in an environment where there is risk of being exposed to traumatic material, or you are managing staff that are at risk, please become trauma informed. Fiona Dunkley (Founder of FD Consultants) For organisations looking for employee psychological support, FD Consultants are the trauma specialists and well-being service who will best deliver a reliable, quick, and bespoke support system in the workplace. FD Consultant’s team of accredited specialists will offer ongoing support to help manage stress, prevent burnout and provide specialist trauma care where required, enabling your staff with the tools to cope, and recover more quickly. |
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