Trauma Essentials (level 1)  

Recognise trauma in any clinical setting, and know exactly what to do next.

Trauma Essentials (Level 1)

Trauma is everywhere in healthcare, and it usually arrives without a label. It sits in medical consultations, mental health care, disability services, community practice and emergency settings, and when it is missed or misread the cost is real: misdiagnosis, treatment that stalls or fails, frustration, and harm to patients and clinicians alike.

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Most of us were never taught this properly. You are left unsure what is in scope, what actually helps, and when to treat, educate, contain or refer. You can end up overstepping, oversimplifying, or quietly avoiding the work.

If that sounds familiar, this is the course that closes the gap.

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What you will be able to do

By the end of the four days, you will be able to:

• Recognise trauma across settings, cultures and the lifespan, including the presentations that usually get missed

• Tell trauma apart from the things it mimics, particularly ADHD, Autism and BPD, and spot when a "treatment-resistant" patient is actually carrying unprocessed trauma

• Screen confidently, and know what to do in the five minutes after a positive screen

• Respond within your scope, and refer well when it is beyond it

• Notice trauma's effect on you, and leave with a plan to sustain your own practice

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The full Learning Outcomes are found HERE:

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Is it trauma, or is it ADHD?

It is one of the most common questions in practice right now, and one of the easiest to get wrong. Developmental trauma and ADHD share a lot of surface: inattention, restlessness, emotional dysregulation, trouble with memory and follow-through. They also co-occur often. With adult ADHD referrals climbing, the risk runs both ways: trauma missed because ADHD is the easier frame, and ADHD assessed without anyone asking what else happened.

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Trauma Essentials will not turn you into an ADHD expert, but it does is give you the lens to hold the question well: to recognise where trauma and ADHD (and Autism, and BPD) overlap and where they diverge, to spot when a "treatment-resistant" presentation is unprocessed trauma, and to know when to screen, when to sit with uncertainty, and when to refer for proper assessment. Better questions before firmer answers.

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What you will learn to see

Much of trauma-informed practice is learning to read what is in front of you differently. The "difficult, demanding" patient may be hypervigilant after past medical traumatisation. The "non-compliant, treatment-resistant" one may be in shutdown, or mistrustful for good reason. The "drug-seeking" patient may be self-medicating unprocessed trauma. The patient labelled "borderline" may be carrying complex trauma and attachment injury.

Trauma Essentials teaches you to hold both readings at once, and to respond to the second.

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How the four days work

The course moves from understanding to application:

• Foundations: the neurobiology of trauma and evidence-based models framed as patient psychoeducation (attachment theory, the predictive brain, the window of tolerance)

• Recognition: common, hidden and culturally distinct presentations across the lifespan

• A working framework: the Power Threat Meaning Framework as a practical alternative to asking what is wrong with someone

• Clinical skills: trauma-informed assessment, screening tools, sensitive history-taking, trauma-informed language, and referral that patients will actually follow

• Sustaining yourself: recognising vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue, and building a plan

At key points you split into profession-specific streams, so the application fits your scope, whether you assess, treat, educate or refer.

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Full Learning Objectives

By the end of the Escape, you will be able to:

• Explain the neurobiology of trauma using current models, and why this changes how you see patients, and how they feel seen

• Recognise common, hidden and culturally distinct trauma presentations across physical and mental health settings, including First Nations, refugee and migrant populations, and across the lifespan

• Use the Power Threat Meaning Framework as a practical, non-pathologising alternative

• Differentiate trauma responses from other clinical presentations, particularly ADHD, Autism and BPD, and recognise how trauma underlies many "treatment-resistant" cases

• Use validated screening tools confidently (PC-PTSD-5, PCL-5, ACE, K10) and know what to do in the five minutes after a positive screen

• Take a trauma history sensitively and communicate findings across a multidisciplinary team

• Apply trauma-informed language, and understand how trauma shapes trust, disclosure and engagement

• Create a trauma-safe and culturally safe environment aligned with the national standards

• Know when, how and where to refer, and what to say to both the patient and the receiving clinician

• Support patients already engaged in trauma therapy elsewhere

• Recognise vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue in yourself, and build a self-care plan you will use

• Leave with a Quality Improvement Plan for your own service​

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The emphasis throughout is on clarity, safety, and practical application—not overwhelm or overreach.​​

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What you will leave with

A trauma lens you can use on Monday morning.

A screening toolkit.

A referral map.

A Quality Improvement Plan for your service.

A self-care plan.

A knowledge assessment.

And the option of a six-month community of practice to keep all of it alive.

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Cultural safety

Cultural safety runs through the whole program rather than sitting in a single module. The teaching draws on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social and Emotional Wellbeing framework and the work of leading First Nations psychologists in Australia and internationally, and aligns with the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards and the National Scheme's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Safety Strategy.

Trauma presents differently across cultures, and recognising that is core clinical skill, not an add-on.  We look at the concepts of Cultural Humility and how culture as a context (across all cultures, including intergenerational effects) are key to a good trauma formulation.

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Who this is for?

Trauma Essentials suits any health professional who meets traumatised people but does not provide trauma therapy: GPs, nurses, doctors at all levels, psychologists, social workers, counsellors, Aboriginal health practitioners, emergency clinicians, dentists, midwives, pharmacists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other allied health, who:

• Encounter trauma in their work but have had little or no formal training in it

• Want a clear, ethical, evidence-based foundation rather than overwhelm or overreach

• Are unsure how trauma fits within their scope of practice

• Want more confidence in assessment, communication and referral

• Are considering further trauma training and want to build knowledge step by step

No prior mental health training required.

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Who it is not for: this is a foundational (Level 1) course. It will not make you a trauma therapist, and it is not meant to. If you already work confidently in trauma treatment and want advanced skills, Levels 2 and 3 run later.

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Your facilitator

Trauma Essentials is designed and facilitated by Dr Alice Morgan, a clinical psychologist with a Masters of Public Health and over 20 years across public hospitals and medical teams, community settings, psychiatric hospitals, refugee services, Doctors Without Borders, WHO consultancy and private practice. She is an EMDR Consultant in training, and was Director of Psychology and Head of Clinical Psychology at the Royal Children's Hospital. Her honours research focused on secondary traumatic stress in hospital staff and first responders, and she has made staff support a constant part of her work.

Unlike many introductory trauma offerings, this program is grounded in:

• The current national and international trauma guidelines (Phoenix Australia, ISTSS, NICE and APA)

• Real clinical decision-making through multidisciplinary workshops and case discussion

• A strong public health and systems lens

• Respect for professional boundaries, regulatory expectations and scope of practice

Common questions before you book

• "I don't have the time."

  • Four days, and you leave with CPD hours logged and tools you use immediately, not a reading list for later.  Plus, return feeling like you've had a holiday that has filled your cup and made a dent in that emerging feeling of burnout.

• "Is it the right level for me?"

  • It assumes no prior trauma training. If you have some, it consolidates and fills the gaps. If you have none, it starts where you are.

• "Will it actually be practical?"

  • The emphasis is application, not theory: case discussion, screening you can use, referral pathways, and a quality improvement plan for your service.  

• "Can I use this in my role?"

  • Yes. The profession-specific streams make sure the learning fits your scope, whether you treat, educate, assess or refer.

• "Is it evidence-based?"

  • It is built on the current national and international trauma guidelines and the PsyBA professional competencies.​

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Supervision and Integration Package: a Community of Practice

Starling Health Collective offers a six-month program of clinical and peer group supervision as an addition to its standard package of care. Once a month for 60 to 90 minutes, reconnect online with your Escape peers to consolidate learning, discuss cases that have tested your boundaries or regulation, and work through them in real time.

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Evidence suggests as little as 7% of workshop content is retained per day without follow-up. This package protects your investment and gives you a genuine collective of knowledgeable peers to come back to.

Add it when you book and save $200 (our Early Starling discount).

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Accreditation

Trauma Essentials is designed to meet professional education and ethical standards, with documented CPD hours provided for your logging. It is built around the PsyBA professional competencies and the current national trauma guidelines. Full accreditation and CPD alignment detail is on our [CPD and accreditation page].

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Dates and booking

16 to 19 March 2027 (Tuesday to Friday). Eight Willows Retreat, Margaret River.

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Room options (all fees + GST):

• Two-bedroom chalet (shared): $4,100 pp + GST 

• One-bedroom King studio: $4,500 pp + GST

Early Starling special: $250 off either room. A deposit reserves your place, and the balance is invoiced separately in instalments.

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A few quick questions

• How much CPD do I get? 20 hours. Documented for your logging.

• Is it in person? Yes, fully residential in the Margaret River region.

• What experience do I need? None in trauma. It is a foundational course.

• What happens after I book? You pay a deposit to reserve your place, and we invoice the balance in instalments. Full details on booking.  See payment schedule in our Terms and Conditions

More on our CPD and FAQ page.

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Final call

Trauma turns up in your work whether or not you were trained for it. Four days in March will change how you see it, and what you do next. Places are limited to keep training and reflective discussion useful - Reserve your place now.

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