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Today, anyone working with clients—including lawyers, paralegals, interpreters, social workers, and other service providers—should be trained in trauma-informed advocacy. Studies suggest that most adults in the U.S. have experienced a traumatic event at least once. Lawyers and other advocates who work with clients who have histories involving significant trauma—including trafficked persons, asylum seekers, domestic violence victims, unaccompanied minors arriving at our borders, etc.—struggle daily to balance the need to respond empathetically to clients’ experiences while avoiding vicarious trauma.

As part of our Understanding Human Trafficking series, this training takes a deep dive into how individuals experience trauma and how advocates can use a trauma-informed approach when working with clients. Keighly Rector, Supervising Attorney of the Pro Bono Project Catholic Charities Community Services of the Archdiocese of New York, will lead this training, Trauma-Informed Advocacy: Building Resilience For Clients and Service Providers.

The training will provide an overview of trauma and the essential elements of trauma-informed care, including work-related stress stemming from exposure to trauma, such as burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and vicarious trauma. The training will also build on shared language around trauma and the physiology of traumatic responses to develop an understanding of how trauma manifests itself in legal cases, how attorneys and legal advocates can incorporate trauma-informed care into their practice, and why this leads to more effective advocacy.

For more information and to register, please click the link below.