Trauma & Shame: The Unseen Wound

Description:

This online course offers the training in a video format. All course handouts can be viewed online, saved to your computer or printed.

Work with trauma survivors requires a core understanding of the nature of shame, its impact on individuals, and how it can be addressed in trauma treatment. Shame is an elusive issue for clinicians to grasp in their work with people. It slices to the core of one’s being for those who live with it. People know shame when they feel it, but often do not have the words to express it or even identify what this painful feeling is. In addition, people sometimes experience shame for feeling shame and try to hide it. Shame and guilt are often erroneously merged conceptually and verbally. Shame is fundamentally about exposure of a flawed self and is different from healthy shame. This exposure does not have to occur in the presence of others; it can be experienced within the individual alone- the feeling of “who I am” defined as bad, incompetent, and/or worthless.

Shame can be a component of a single traumatic event as well as part of complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Individuals will not heal if treatment does not resolve the shame.  Variations in awareness and use of shame exist across cultures and theorists disagree on shame vs. guilt as it relates to self vs. behavior.

This course will provide an essential overview of shame, its relationship to trauma, and strategies for addressing it in treatment.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe what shame is and how it is expressed and experienced;
• Examine the relationship between shame and trauma and the critical need to incorporate addressing shame feelings into the healing process;
• Identify strategies and treatment approaches to work with shame feelings.

Course Outline:

1. Defining Shame
2. Shame Affect and Emotion
3. Shame and Trauma
4. Addressing Shame

Handouts:  If it makes it easier for you to follow the course videos, we recommend you print your handouts from the Materials section and have them available as you watch the video modules. PowerPoint’s and other handouts are in the Materials tab of the course. They can be saved to your computer or printed.

Trauma-Informed Certificate Programs, University at Buffalo School of Social Work Office of Continuing Education: This course fulfills 2.5 FOUNDATION hours.                           

Course Availability: You have 60 days to complete the course from the date you purchase it.

Target Audience

This course is appropriate for any human service professional (social workers, psychologists, nurses, criminal justice professionals, case managers, and others).

ADA Accommodations

If you require any supports for your ADA needs in the United States, please contact us by email at least 3 weeks prior to the event by email at  sw-ce@buffalo.edu or by phone at  716-829-5841.

Customer Service

We are happy to respond to any concerns or questions you may have. Please contact us at by email at sw-ce@buffalo.edu or by phone at 716-829-5841.

Course Completion:

• Use the Certificate tab in your course site to complete the required course evaluation. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!
• Use the Certificate tab in your course site to take course quiz. Based on best continuing education practice, quizzes are included to verify your acquisition of knowledge. A score of 80% is needed to pass. You may retake the quiz if you do not achieve a passing score the first time.
• Certificate of Completion: Upon successful completion of the quiz, you will be able to print your Certificate of Completion.

CEUs: NYSED New York Social Work, ASWB ACE, NYS OASAS, trauma foundation hours and general CEUs are included as part of your course fee and will print out on your certificate of completion.

Instructor:

Shelly A. Wiechelt, PhD, LCSW-C, CCDC, Associate Professor, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, School of Social Work conducts research on the interplay of shame, trauma, and substance use, engages in translational research, and develops collaborations between researchers and practitioners. Her research includes: a multisite community-based project on assessing trauma in addiction treatment settings; a county-wide assessment of trauma-sensitive care in social service agencies; trauma and substance abuse among women in prostitution; the effectiveness of Seeking Safety on trauma and substance abuse among urban Native Americans, the effects of cultural and historical trauma on substance use among Native Americans; HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and substance abuse prevention among urban American Indians, association between PTSD symptoms and substance abuse among women, and the effects of shame and trauma on substance abuse and recovery among women. Her research highlights the need for practitioners to understand risk and protective factors related to trauma; and for service providers to implement trauma-informed care regardless of the treatment focus. She is a member of the editorial board for Substance Use and Misuse and is the section editor on Gender and Women. She is a member of the review board for the Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions. She is a faculty member of the Middle Eastern Summer Institute on Drug Use and has participated in the institute’s projects in Italy, Spain, and Israel. She participated in the development of curricula on evidence-based practice in mental health; social work practice with children of alcoholics; HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, and hepatitis prevention with Native Americans; and cultural and historical trauma. She has worked extensively as a clinician in both substance use and mental health treatment settings and has taught numerous continuing education workshops to practitioners. She has multiple-peer reviewed publications as well as national and international presentations on her research and practice interests.