The last two skills-based training sessions focused on imparting to SCF youth participants information and skills related to Trauma-Informed Care and Research. These two sessions were held on 21 August and 11 September 2021 respectively.
The 3Es of Trauma and 4Rs of Trauma-Informed Care
Mr Taha Mattar, a youth worker from VOX @ Children's Society, walked the youth through the session to help them understand what trauma and trauma-informed care is.
This session was adapted from the one-hour workshop "Introduction to Trauma-Informed Care" conducted by Safe Circle. Singapore Children's Society is a part of Safe Circle, a collaboration across seven agencies that focuses on community-based mental health services for children and youth.
Taha used the 3Es, namely, Events, experience and Effects to help participants understand what trauma is. He highlighted that it is important to remember that events that happened to individuals who have experienced trauma were beyond their control.
Citing an example of how he and his friend reacted to a drowning incident when they were young, Taha explained that individuals' experience of a similarly traumatic event can be different. Lastly, he shared that trauma can be seen as a normal response to an abnormal situation.
As individuals who have experienced traumatic events have a higher risk of developing mental health disorders, support from the community is especially important.
Using the 4Rs of Trauma-Informed Care, Taha explained that one should first realise the widespread impact of trauma and understand the potential paths to recovery. Individuals can recognise signs and symptoms of trauma, respond by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into practice and proactively resist re-traumatisaion.
The World of Research
Research is a systematic process of finding answers to our questions. This is a useful skill if participants want to conduct simple research as part of their projects. The research process is outlined in the chart below:
Participants were taught how to evaluate the credibility of the literature and were surprised to discover that even established sources can, at times, be unreliable. This reinforces the need to critically appraise data especially in today's world where information is easily accessible.
They also learnt about quantitative methods which commonly use surveys, questionnaires, observations (counts) and document screening (numerical data), as well as qualitative methods which often use interviews, focus group discussions, narratives, and document analysis.
Hear what our youths have to say about the skills-based workshops:
"The research session was really enjoyable and apart from just learning the process of research, we were given the chance to participate in group discussions to better understand how we could apply the research strategies in a real-world context."
- Clarisse
"I understand how to create a confidential and protected space for our peers where they can openly share their problems. I also learn how we can help each other while respecting our boundaries."
- Sharman
For more information on the first two skills-based sessions, please click here.