The lack of trauma-informed training in counselling courses

Recently I conducted a poll in the Counselling Tutor Facebook group. 

I asked the question.

"How much trauma-informed Infomation did you receive as a student?" 

I posed three possible responses - 

1. None at all
2. Some but not enough 
3. Well covered 

At the time of writing, 100 people had responded (A useful number if, like me, you are poor at working out percentages...)

The responses were as follows -

1. None at all, 52% (52 people)
2. Some but not enough 41% (41 People)
3. Well covered 7% (7 People)

I was not surprised by these figures. Historically initial training has always focused on the meta-models of therapy, such as psychodynamic, Person-Centred, Cognitive Behavioural or an integrative mix of therapeutic models. 

These models stand up well to contemporary research, and all who train student counsellors would acknowledge that an in-depth understanding and practice of the chosen model is essential before moving on to more complex and integrative ways of practising.

Learning to walk before you can run is a helpful analogy here. 

There is a tacit agreement between training providers and placement agencies that clients are 'filtered' by practice managers, so students work with the worried well and clients presenting issues are a good fit for the therapy model students are learning. 

Students should not be referred complex/traumatised clients - that's the theory.

It was not the case when I was a student nealy 20 years ago, and from conversations with supervisors and supervisees over the last year, it's not the case now.

Students are working with more and more clients where trauma is the presenting issue. 

And here is the challenge -

The design of theory curriculums is based on modalities used well before clients or therapists had an understanding and a vocabulary around trauma. 

The term PTSD first appeared in 1980 in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-lll) published by the American Psychiatric Association.

A little perspective: In 1980, Carl Rogers would have been 78 years old. He died in 1987.

Recently, our understanding of how trauma impacts brain function and emotional regulation has become more straightforward. And easier to explain to clients. 

Sometimes, sharing a small amount of psychoeducation with a client can be more beneficial than some well-intentioned reflection and paraphrasing.

However, psychoeducation is only the tip of the trauma-informed practice Iceberg, which leaves just one final question to answer. 

If you are one of the 93% of students who graduated, your core training with little or inadequate information or skills to work in a trauma-informed way, what is your next move?

Rory Lees-Oakes 30th of May 2023