Enhanced Webinar: Understanding Domestic Abuse Through a Trauma-Informed Lens

Please note that this is a paid webinar.

How might a trauma-informed approach help us rethink the way we support victim-survivors of domestic abuse?

Post-abuse interventions frequently focus on restoring self-esteem, confidence and self-worth through counselling and other talking therapies. While these approaches can be valuable, they can also reinforce an assumption that recovery requires detailed verbal disclosure or repeated exploration of experiences of abuse.

In this enhanced two-hour webinar, Sue Penna will explore an alternative, trauma-informed approach: using psychoeducation and trauma stabilisation to help victim-survivors understand and manage the effects of trauma, without requiring them to recount their experiences of abuse.

The session will consider how understanding the neurobiological, psychological and physiological effects of trauma can provide a structured, non-pathologising framework for recovery — helping people make sense of their responses, reduce self-blame and support emotional wellbeing and day-to-day functioning.

In this session, we’ll explore:

• How experiences of trauma can manifest in coping strategies and the challenges this can present for practitioners
• The neurobiological, psychological and physiological effects of trauma
• Responses including hypervigilance, emotional dysregulation, poor concentration, disrupted beliefs and altered threat perception
• How psychoeducation can help victim-survivors understand trauma responses without viewing them as personal weakness or dysfunction
• The role of trauma-informed approaches that do not require detailed verbal disclosure of abuse
• Trauma-stabilisation techniques to support emotional regulation and increase perceived safety
• How these approaches can support anxiety, emotional distress, sleep, concentration, mood and everyday functioning

By the end of the session, you will:

• Have an increased understanding of how the experience of trauma can manifest in victim-survivors’ coping strategies
• Better understand trauma responses and the challenges these can present for practitioners
• Understand the importance and role of trauma stabilisation in supporting recovery

This webinar is designed for:

Professionals in any sector who come into contact with people who may have experienced domestic abuse, from frontline practitioners through to managers and commissioners.

About your host

Sue Penna MSc, Dip Couns, Dip COT, FRSA is Founder and CEO of Rock Pool CIC and author of the Domestic Abuse Recovery Toolkit. She has over 30 years’ experience working with people affected by psychological trauma and is widely recognised for her expertise in trauma-informed practice, domestic abuse and multiple disadvantage.

A clinician, trainer and supervisor, Sue has spent many years developing practical, trauma-informed approaches that support recovery and help professionals better understand the impact of abuse and trauma.