About the Trauma-Informed Care Certificate
Learn discipline-specific approaches to care that promote healing and recovery.
Trauma can have serious impacts on behavioral health, mental health, and school or work performance, as well as overall health and well-being.
The trauma-informed care certificate program at PennWest California is designed for students who are seeking careers in psychology, social work or other human services professions. It prepares them to acknowledge the impact of trauma, understand paths to recovery, and utilize practices that respect and respond to trauma’s effects on the individuals they someday will serve.
PennWest California’s 12-credit, on-campus program introduces trauma-informed approaches to care that are drawn from the disciplines of psychology and social work. Undergraduate students gain a well-rounded perspective on this contemporary model of care.
What is trauma-informed care?
The Center for Health Care Strategies Inc. explains that “trauma-informed care shifts the focus from ‘What’s wrong with you?’ to ‘What happened to you?’” – an approach that benefits both clients and service providers.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, trauma is highly prevalent and can affect individuals, families, groups and communities over a lifetime.
Nationwide, community studies estimate that as many as 2 in 3 children and adolescents have been exposed to at least one traumatic event, such as:
- Psychological, physical, or sexual abuse.
- Community or school violence.
- Witnessing or experiencing domestic violence.
- National disasters or terrorism.
- Sudden or violent loss of a loved one.
- Military family-related stressors (e.g., deployment, parental loss or injury).
- Neglect.
- Serious accident or life-threatening illness.
The agency calls trauma-informed care training a “promising model for organizational change in health, behavioral health, and other settings that promotes resilience in staff and patients.”
