Welcome
Hi! I am so glad you've chosen to invest in learning more about Trauma Informed Care (TIC) with me.
My name is Cassi Starc, and I am a Registered Occupational Therapist (OT) & a Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) Trained Teacher. I live in Victoria, BC where I love to explore the coastal rainforest and paddle the waters. I have been an OT for nearly a decade, and I have specialized my practice in the areas of mental health, concussion, pain, and sleep. I have taken a laundry list of courses and workshops over the years, and what I value most in a course is practical and actionable nuggets I can implement the very next week in my practice. That is what I intend to offer you here in this course.
I know how good it feels to receive good feedback from your clients & to feel confident you are offering high quality healthcare. And I know how relieving it feels to find the tools & knowledge that was the missing piece of the puzzle to feel more confident & at ease doing what you do! My goal as an educator is to have you leave feeling more confident & competent with integrating trauma informed care into your practice.
If Trauma Informed Care is relatively new to you, TIC is the new standard of care across all healthcare disciplines. You may have already noticed new language in your college documents or heard about it through your professional association. It is no longer a bonus, but the expectation. As we recognize the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on all aspects of human health, we better understand why some people with a health condition (e.g. high blood pressure or low back pain) get better, while others seem to take more time or simply don't get better. As Maya Angelou wrote, "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better". So I thank you for showing up, and investing your time, efforts, and money into making this meaningful change to the way you practice.
This course is scaffolded so you can learn or refresh on the basics of trauma & trauma-related disorders in Module 1; then linking that to rationale for the principles of TIC in Module 2; and finally diving into how to modify screening & treatment when trauma symptoms are present & impacting care. Finally, we end off with a focus on clinician self-care in Module 4. Instead of trying to justify why this is an essential module in this course, I will leave you with the wise words of Rachel Remen, who says: "The expectation that we can be immersed in suffering and loss daily and not be touched by it is as unrealistic as expecting to be able to walk through water without getting wet".
In each module, you will find a module overview, 2-3 lessons, and then you will have the opportunity to evaluate if you met the learning objectives for that module, and identify any remaining knowledge gaps. Within each lesson you will find an introduction, a video lesson with me, a self-reflection exercise, and related resources (think scientific literature, client handouts, and video resources). If you have questions or comments along the way, please feel free to reach out to me directly at [email protected].
At the very end, Module 5 is dedicated to Application & Integration. You will have the chance to apply what you've learned to various case studies, and submit it to me for individualized feedback if you wish to! Want to take it one step further? You are welcome to continue working with me after the course via my Clinical Mentorship services to work through your own tricky patient or client scenarios.
Let's dive in...
Cassi Starc
Registered Occupational Therapist
MSC Trained Teacher