Trauma-Informed Care: Integrating Evidence-Based Culture and Creativity
Course #9607L -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
This live event takes place Sunday, December 13, 7:30 pm-9 pm EST (4:30 pm-6 pm PST).
In this webinar, participants will gain a deeper clinical lens on trauma and will move beyond textbook definitions and learn how historical, racial, and intergenerational trauma are expressed through story, silence, resistance, and identity, as well as how to recognize these patterns in clinical work. Practical tools for healing-centered practice translate literary insight into real-world strategies that can be applied in counseling, coaching, teaching, or leadership roles. This course supports cultural competence that goes beyond surface-level awareness by developing a richer, more nuanced understanding of African American lived experience grounded in voice, narrative, and truth. Participants will engage in guided reflections that challenge assumptions, deepen empathy, and strengthen their ability to hold space for others. The course also introduces a framework for narrative healing, exploring how storytelling, clients' stories and practitioners' own stories, can become a powerful vehicle for recovery, meaning-making, and transformation.
This live webinar is designed for counselors, therapists, social workers, educators, community leaders, and other professionals who support individuals and families impacted by trauma and seek to incorporate culturally responsive, creative approaches into their practice.
The purpose of this course is to enhance learners' knowledge of historical, racial, and intergenerational trauma and the role of African American cultural expression in healing, and develop skills in integrating culturally responsive creative interventions, including literature, poetry, music, and storytelling, into trauma-informed assessment, treatment planning, and practice to promote emotional regulation, resilience, and post-traumatic growth.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Explain the clinical rationale for integrating creativity and culturally relevant expressive modalities (including African American literature, poetry, music, and storytelling) into trauma-informed clinical practice, while distinguishing these approaches from traditional evidence-based interventions.
- Identify and evaluate at least three culturally responsive creative interventions that promote emotional regulation, resilience, meaning-making, and post-traumatic growth among individuals and families impacted by trauma.
- Demonstrate the ability to incorporate selected works of African American literature, poetry, music, or other creative expressions into trauma-informed assessment, treatment planning, and therapeutic interventions in a manner that is culturally humble, ethically sound, and client-centered.
- Develop an individualized implementation plan for integrating creativity and culturally responsive therapeutic practices into their own clinical settings while addressing ethical considerations, cultural responsiveness, and evidence-informed decision-making.
Oliver J. Johnson, PhD, LCSW, LCAS, CCS, earned a PhD in Social Work from the Whitney M. Young School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University. He retired as a tenured professor from Fayetteville State University after more than 20 years of service and has lectured extensively on issues related to health, wellness, trauma, and behavioral health among African American families. Dr. Johnson currently provides clinical supervision, consultation, and behavioral health services in North Carolina while also leading educational initiatives through Soft Ponds, LLC.
Contributing faculty, Oliver J. Johnson, PhD, LCSW, LCAS, CCS, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW
Shirley Aycock, DNP, RN
Jessica Restivo, MS, OTR/L, NTMTC
The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
Supported browsers for Windows include Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0 and up, Mozilla Firefox 3.0 and up, Opera 9.0 and up, and Google Chrome. Supported browsers for Macintosh include Safari, Mozilla Firefox 3.0 and up, Opera 9.0 and up, and Google Chrome. Other operating systems and browsers that include complete implementations of ECMAScript edition 3 and CSS 2.0 may work, but are not supported. Supported browsers must utilize the TLS encryption protocol v1.1 or v1.2 in order to connect to pages that require a secured HTTPS connection. TLS v1.0 is not supported.
The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.