Addressing Indirect Trauma by Caring for the Caregivers
Given the complex needs and demanding conditions of working with people who have experienced trauma and adversity, helping professionals often experience persistent, cumulative stress. If left unrecognized and unmanaged, practitioners are at increased risk for acquiring indirect traumatic stress symptoms such as severe exhaustion, isolation, reduced capacity to connect with others and burnout. It is important for those in helping positions to learn to recognize the signs of indirect trauma and associated syndromes like secondary traumatic stress, vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout.
This institute attracted more than 150 helping professionals including mental health professionals (social workers, counselors), medical physicians, nurses, educators, direct service providers (child welfare, residential staff) and peer support professionals.
The goal of the institute was to provide resources and information in order to promote a more resilient, interdisciplinary network of practitioners; enhance interprofessional collaboration and connectedness among a network of transdisciplinary professionals providing trauma-informed care; and improve the quality of care for individuals, families and communities experiencing trauma and adversity.
Keynote Speakers
Laura van Dernoot Lipsky
Founder and Director
The Trauma Stewardship Institute
Laura van Dernoot Lipsky is the founder and director of The Trauma Stewardship Institute and author of Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others and The Age of Overwhelm. Widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of trauma exposure, she has worked locally, nationally, and internationally for more than three decades.
Learn more about Laura van Dernoot Lipsky.
Nkem Ndefo
Founder of Lumos Transforms and creator of The Resilience Toolkit
Lumos Transforms
Nkem Ndefo is the founder of Lumos Transforms and creator of The Resilience Toolkit. She is a skilled practitioner, dynamic speaker, and valued strategist. She is known for her unique ability to connect with people of all types by holding powerful healing spaces, weaving complex concepts into accessible narratives, and creating synergistic and collaborative learning communities that nourish people’s innate capacity for healing, wellness, and connection.