Trauma Responsive Legal Practice – The Foundations – Video Series

The Society is pleased to announce the launch of its Trauma Responsive Legal Practice – The Foundations video series. Developed for this Society by Dr Polly McGee, this series benefits you and your team’s wellbeing, and your work with clients.

Earlybird 14-day $145 introductory offer ends next Wednesday 5 March. Purchase the Trauma Responsive series here.

This 10-module series provides you with approximately 2 hours of viewing plus supporting materials like slides and module texts (for 3 CPD points). The series follows an arc of learning that is an holistic and structured progression from self to self and others.

Module 1: Introduction to the concept of trauma in your contexts.
Modules 2–3: Definitions of trauma and intersectionality.
Modules 4–6: Neurobiology and how trauma impacts behaviour.
Modules 7–10: Vicarious trauma; tools, boundaries, and regulation.

Series Summary
The series begins by looking at what trauma is – and what it isn’t, to provide some clarification about the definitions and how they are applied to the legal sector. It then moves into understanding intersectionality and its impacts on trauma and your clients, before heading into understanding what is actually happening neurobiologically in a trauma response.

This is an essential part of the learning as it is our neurological and brain based systems of safety that code everything for us and drive our behavioural responses – which are the things that show up in your clients, their court appearances, their histories and also your workplaces. With a handle on understanding the user manual for human systems, this leads to the behavioural piece – how does what happens inside us translate to what happens between us, both individually and collectively in our response.

The final modules look at how to know the ins and outs of being a human mammal, what are the boundaries that can be put in place and the skills and tools needed to be able to manage our own nervous system regulation, help co-regulate and de-escalate when situations require (in our scopes of practice of course) and finally what are exercised and practices that can be done to manage our humans systems given the exposure to trauma that is part of our jobs and profession.

Trauma is present in many areas of a legal professional’s life and experience at all levels and roles, and the Society is committed to ensuring you have access to all the information you need to better understand your peers, your clients and yourself when it comes to trauma exposure.

Format and content. This series introduces you to the concepts of trauma in your context, definitions, intersectionality, the neurobiology of trauma and the human nervous system, how trauma impacts behaviour, vicarious trauma, conflict and self-care.

Choose your learning style. As people have different learning styles and preferences, you can watch or listen to the modules, or you can read the content in the supplied transcripts while looking at the PowerPoint slides. In whichever way you choose to learn, do it at your pace, and remember that this is a big topic and to take breaks and regulate as you go – more on that in the course. You can download the videos, PowerPoint slides, transcripts and end-of-modules exercise document from your Confirmation of Purchase email.

We hope you find this a valuable introduction to trauma responsiveness in your legal context, and that it helps you have greater insight into all your human interactions.

About Dr Polly McGee (in their own words).
I’m a multi-skilled, curious human who is driven to help humans feel meaningful, purposeful and joyful. I wear a couple of hats (mainly beanies): I design + deliver leadership training; am a trauma-trained somatic psychotherapist; MC events; write books; produce courses and a podcast and have a coffee parachute side hustle called Compassionate Grounds that funds therapy to peeps that need but can’t access. Dr McGee is a breathwork facilitator, leadership coach, author, and somatic therapist.