Compassion Fatigue. Burnout. Vicarious Trauma. Secondary Trauma. Terms that overlap and yet are somewhat different. However, all these concepts have one thing in common – they describe the emotional toll exacted upon workers in the human services who deal intensively and empathically with children and adults who are in engaged in an emotional personal struggle. It is a privilege to work in a profession in which caring about those who suffer is the main tool of our work. But caring also takes a toll. Being close to ground zero when people struggle affects the emotional life of those of us who care.
Components for Enhancing Career Experience and Reducing Trauma, or CE-CERT, is a suite of skills designed to support well-being in professionals who are exposed to secondary trauma. The goal of CE-CERT is not merely to help professionals survive this work. Rather, the goal is to support professionals to have a vocation that is uniquely and deeply satisfying. CE-CERT goes beyond the usual discussion of secondary traumatic stress and burnout to provide specific, practical skills that can be applied to the very real stress that is produced by this work.
CE-CERT training is designed for professionals and supervisors who work in child abuse and neglect, such as those at Children's Advocacy Centers, members of multidisciplinary teams, and their partners. CE-CERT training is provided in two parts. Part 1 - Foundations in CE-CERT is a two-day foundational training in the principles and skills of CE-CERT and is intended for all professionals working in child abuse and neglect. Part 2 - CE-CERT for Supervisors is a one-day training specifically for supervisors of child maltreatment professionals. Supervisors will learn how to incorporate CE-CERT into their supervision model with staff. In addition to the one-day training, supervisors are invited and strongly encouraged to participate in 10 one-hour consultation calls scheduled once or twice a month with the CE-CERT trainer. Supervisors who want to participate in Part 2 must have attended the Part 1 training.
CE-CERT training is funded by a federal grant awarded to the NCAC. The training is offered at no cost to participants in the United States, U.S. territories, and local Tribal Nations. These trainings are being offered nationally and in-person. Choose from one of the following three events:
April 17-19, 2023 - Application closed
Part 1 - Foundations in CE-CERT: April 17-18
Part 2 - CE-CERT for Supervisors: April 19
Location: Minnetonka, MN
May 16-18, 2023 - Application closed
Part 1 - Foundations in CE-CERT: May 16-17
Part 2 - CE-CERT for Supervisors: May 18
Location: Westminster, CO
July 17-19, 2023 - Application closed
Part 1 - Foundations in CE-CERT: July 17-18
Part 2 - CE-CERT for Supervisors: July 19
Location: Montclair, NJ
This project was supported by Award No. 2020-CI-FX-K001 awarded to the National Children’s Advocacy Center by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this presentation are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice or grant-making component.
