Learn

This 5-day Trauma Essentials workshop (Level 1 of 3) is a skills-based retreat designed to equip medical and other health professionals with a clear, practical foundation in understanding psychological trauma - including its neurobiological and psychological impacts - and safe, effective clinical responses. The educational program blends structured teaching with reflective practice and applied skills you can immediately integrate into your therapeutic or clinical work.

Trauma is pervasive across healthcare settings. It presents in medical consultations, mental health care, disability services, community practice, and acute environments—often without being named. When trauma is misunderstood or missed, it can lead to misdiagnosis, treatment resistance and failure, clinician frustration, and harm to both patients and practitioners.

Many clinicians (whether GPs, emergency staff or psychologists) report feeling underprepared: unsure what is within scope, what is helpful, and when to treat, educate, contain, or refer.  Trauma Essentials addresses this gap.  The program is built on the premise that trauma-informed care is a shared responsibility across health professions, and that good trauma care begins with accurate understanding and recognition, ethical boundaries, and clear clinical decision-making.

Trauma Essentials is a clinically grounded educational retreat designed for experienced health professionals who encounter trauma in their day-to-day work but have had limited formal training in trauma theory or trauma-informed practice.  It provides a clear, structured foundation in understanding trauma—what it is, how it presents, and how to respond safely and ethically within your professional scope.

Led by Dr Alice Morgan (Clinical Psychologist with a Masters of Public Health; trauma expert; consultant/affiliations with WHO, Royal Children's Hospital, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, University of Melbourne), you'll receive expert knowledge grounded by her 20 years of experience working in public hospitals, NGOs (e.g. Doctors without Borders) and private practice.​​

Trauma Essentials combines structured education in mental health and trauma with the chance to visit the incredible Margaret River Wine Region, connect to a group of like-minded peers from a range of disciplines over an amazing program of food and wine, and step away from your clinical work to truly integrate learning.

​​Key elements include:

• A clear, accessible introduction to trauma theory and neurobiology

• Understanding common trauma presentations across physical and mental health contexts

• What trauma looks like across the lifespan

• Differentiating trauma responses from other clinical presentations

• Guidance on assessment, psychoeducation, and safe clinical responses

• Clear discussion of scope of practice, boundaries, and referral pathways

• Separate breakout streams to address profession-specific needs

• Opportunities to reflect on how trauma shows up in your own work setting - and how this affects you

• Reflection on your own background, culture and upbringing may come to play with other people's trauma stories

​Trauma Essentials is intentionally designed for a mixed professional group to ensure that participants learn from each other about the scope of each profession when it comes to trauma and how to best work together as a team for patient-centred care. At key points, participants will separate into profession-relevant streams to focus on application within their scope of practice.

Details