Are you interested in how to become a trauma therapist?

While a lot of the information online is useful, it is an easy place to run into misinformation.

A helpful approach is to arm yourself with knowledge about well-researched competencies and skills required to become an excellent trauma therapist. Professional organizations like the American Psychological Association have performed extensive researched and published the competencies necessary to become a trauma-informed clinician. Use guides like these to help you distinguish what trauma courses are congruent with best practices and how to find the most useful and best trauma training, trauma courses and/or trauma certifications.

If you are very early in your career, it is a good idea to look into graduate programs, practicum placements, internships and postdoctoral fellowships that offer trauma therapy training. Specifically, look for programs and opportunities that offer:

a. specific trauma-related courses, classes and seminars
b. clinical placements or rotations that offer opportunities to work with traumatized individuals (i.e. Veterans Affairs Hospitals, Domestic Violence shelters, substance use clinics, eating disorder clinics, community mental health clinics)
c. supervision by licensed clinicians that have expertise working with traumatized individuals and who are well-trained in evidence-based PTSD treatments
d. opportunities to work with faculty that research trauma and PTSD
e. formal training in evidence-based treatments for trauma-related symptoms and/or PTSD

There are plenty of ways to obtain trauma training and learn trauma therapy techniques no matter how long you’ve been practicing. You might seek out some or all of the following:

a. Trauma Continuing Education courses or PTSD Continuing Education courses
b. Comprehensive trauma training courses and seminars that are in-person, or you might opt for online options, such as the Trauma Therapist Training Course.
c. Workshops and trainings on evidence-based treatments for PTSD, such as Cognitive Processing Therapy, Prolonged Exposure Therapy and EMDR.

It can be extremely enriching and useful to join professional organizations whose mission is to educate and advocate for those affected by traumatic stress. One such organization is the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS). ISTSS has excellent resources that are free, including online trauma courses. ISTSS also holds yearly conferences with many incredible opportunities to attend trauma treatment courses, trauma trainings and PTSD treatment workshops. Another excellent organization, particularly if you want to work with traumatized children, is the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

No matter how much you come to know about trauma and PTSD, the science continues to advance. For this reason, it is a great idea that we all continue to read the newest research on trauma and PTSD in order to keep our learning and knowledge up-to-date.

In addition, try to practice humility and to remind yourself that no matter how expert you become in this field, we can all sometimes benefit from consultation and clinical oversight. The National Center for PTSD has an excellent PTSD Consultation Program for clinicians working with Veterans with PTSD. Another avenue is to look for trainings such as Trauma Therapy Training Course, which includes live group and individual consultation on trauma and PTSD from an expert in the field of traumatic stress.