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Accessibility statement
An image to illustrate Trauma-informed counselling short course
Designed for counsellors, psychotherapists and trainees, this 25-hour CPD course develops your understanding of trauma and trauma-informed practice through the lens of power and safety. Aligned with SCoPEd level B competencies, it explores key aspects of trauma, including the impact of childhood experiences and social contexts. You'll examine power relations, intersectionality theory and the Power Threat Meaning Framework. The course highlights working safely with diverse clients, managing boundaries and risk, and adopting ethical approaches. You'll also explore the importance of self-care and self-awareness for practitioners working with trauma. On successful completion, you'll receive a CPD certificate.
The course is focused on developing an understanding of trauma-informed counselling. The course is organised in six units.
Unit 1: Introduction sets up the course and invites you to consider your current confidence with trauma-informed counselling.
Unit 2: Understanding trauma introduces you to ways of understanding and conceptualising trauma. This includes key definitions, the impact of trauma on the nervous system, and the role of childhood and multiple intersecting factors that can shape a person’s early life experiences and later life health outcomes.
Unit 3: Trauma in context explores trauma in broader social contexts. You'll develop an understanding of the importance of moving beyond the individual and attending to the social context and power relations within which trauma occurs. You'll consider how examining power relations can help us to understand societal oppression, structural inequalities and marginalisation (such as the role of class, racism, and gender). You'll be introduced to intersectionality theory and the Power Threat Meaning Framework as ways of making sense of the role of power in the context of trauma. You'll also examine the social context of therapy itself.
Unit 4: Trauma-informed approaches addresses ways of working safely with trauma. You'll explore trauma-informed principles that can guide your practice. You'll also see how to work safely, manage risk, and work within appropriate boundaries as aligned with your professional ethical framework.
Unit 5: Trauma and you explores the role of, and importance of, self-awareness and self-care when working with trauma. You'll learn about the impacts of working with trauma on the practitioner, including the risks of burnout, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and vicarious trauma. You'll reflect on your embodied and psychological responses to working with clients experiencing trauma, and you will reflect on how your own history and potential experiences of trauma may shape how you respond to trauma work. You'll develop an appreciation of mindful self-awareness when doing trauma work; specifically, the role of mindful self-awareness within the therapy relationship, and within yourself. You'll explore your own relationship with self-care, what the research tells us about therapist self-care, and the importance of paying attention to your own needs, as well as those of your clients and the organisations you may work within, when you are working from a trauma-informed lens.
Unit 6: Conclusion invites you to reflect on what you have learnt on the course and identify your further training needs and requirements for working from a trauma-informed lens.
The course aligns with SCoPEd (The Scope of Practice and Education Framework) competencies that are relevant for trauma-informed counselling. Course completion will boost knowledge and confidence and support counsellors and psychotherapists to offer counselling from a trauma-informed lens.
By studying this CPD course, you will gain:
This course will support counsellors and psychotherapists to develop an understanding of trauma-informed practice. This course is designed to align to the SCoPEd competencies for working with trauma (Knowledge and Skills, Self-Awareness and Reflection).
This short course offers online learning and contains self-study materials to be studied at your own pace. There is no learner support from learning advisers available on this course.
There is no formal assessment on this course. The course includes multiple ‘pauses for reflection’ designed to promote the reflexivity which is a professional skill for counsellors. The course also includes an end-of-course multiple-choice quiz.
In total, this course will require around 25 hours to complete. Learners are advised to complete within two months.
You can begin at any time during the life of the course and study at your own pace. The course will be open to you for a time period of between 6 and 18 months, depending on your course registration date, and you will be advised of the specific time limitations upon enrolment.
All learning materials are delivered entirely online. You’ll have access to a course website, which includes:
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.
There are no formal entry requirements. This course is designed for qualified counsellors and psychotherapists as well as counselling and psychotherapy trainees.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact us.
The course is delivered online and makes use of a variety of online resources. If you use specialist hardware or software to assist you in using a computer or the internet you are advised to contact us about support which can be given to meet your needs.
The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone and this Accessibility Statement outlines what studying DGXS004 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.
StartEngland fee
At anytime before 31/07/2026£200
We accept American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Visa Electron.
If this course is geared towards your job or developing your career, you could ask your employer to sponsor you by paying some or all of the fees. Your sponsor just needs to complete a simple form to confirm how much they will be paying and we will invoice them.
The fee information provided here is valid for short courses starting in the 2026/27 academic year. Fees typically increase annually. For further information about the University's fee policy, visit our Fee Rules.
You can start this course anytime.
You can start this course anytime.
Level info