How did this one go for a second "in-person" workshop since 2020? Well, nice friendly and engaged group along with helpful, friendly venue staff made it a nice positive day overall.

It was also good to see a familiar face from an earlier online CPD workshop - so good to actually meet someone in person!

Feedback was positive from the 12 attendees and here it is.

" Increased understanding and appreciation for the complexity of the subject, and cause and effect. Toolkit and signposting very useful. Superbly presented, good balance of direct personal experience and overview of research. First hand perspective - invaluable. Very insightful. Thank you." (Homelessness service)

"Spotting and understanding dissociation a lot better and will apply this to my day to day work" (Housing Association)

"New techniques. Appreciation of trauma and dissociation, Consider how questions in assessments may trigger individuals. Very informative and opened my mind on ways to ask questions. Also highlighted key indicators to look for if clients may have dissociation/trauma affecting them." (Domestic Abuse service)

"Different behaviours of dissociation, not just fading out." (Domestic abuse service)

""Gave me a greater insight into dissociation and signs and triggers. Mindfulness techniques." (Housing Association)

"I feel I have a better understanding of someone 's triggers and emotions. Also understanding how to bring a person back into the conversation. Course was well explained and easy to understand."

"Have recently completed trauma informed diploma. This was a great follow-on. Thank you!" (Youth Service)

"Better understanding" (Housing Association)

"Understanding symptoms of dissociation. Thank you!"(MHMW)

"The training has given me an informed overview of how someone who has experienced trauma may present & to have that awareness behind what's presenting itself - to look at behaviour, symptoms and being open to asking the question, "what if". Also having much more awareness of how to respond to someone who may be experiencing a dissociative episode. Thank you for a really useful and informative day!"

The first venue based workshop since March 2020 and how amazing it was to be out and about and meeting people face-to-face for these events again! A lovely buffet lunch was provided by Pippa's Pantry  and thoroughly enjoyed by all. A nice, bright clean centre too.

Here is the feedback from the 10 attendees to whom I am grateful for their effort to attend, input and engagement throughout the day.

"Very informative with some excellent tips." (Charity accommodation coordinator)

" Lots of information/ideas to use in my client practice and for my own experiences." (Mental Health, NHS)

"Increased self-awareness in response to others. Importance of grounding and communication." (Mental Health, NHS)

"Having that survivor's perspective gives a more personal view of lived experience - clear explanations and all information is of benefit. I have really enjoyed this session - it has sparked my curiosity to explore this area in further depth. Very immersive presentation - absolutely fabulous". (NHS nurse)

"The workshop went into detail about dissociatiob which is an area we're not taught when doing nurse training. Interactive course. Friendly facilitator." (NHS)

"Very informative and interesting. Useful tips provided and will inform my practice with service users." (Leicestershire County Council)

"Really interesting and thought provoking, Really good in terms of moving forward working with trauma and children,. adults and teenagers. All absolutely relevant to my role." (Leicestershire County Council)

"Interesting to relate to clients we have and coping strategies." (The Askefield Project)

"Looking at communication and understanding behaviours"

"Understanding signs of trauma. Very useful tips on grounding and communication. Excellent overview of dissociation." (NHS)

Thank you to everyone who cam along to what was to be the first and last "Understanding Dissociation & Trauma" CPD event of 2020 - for a while at least.

Here is some feedback received, overall graded "excellent". If you attended this session and would like to make any further comment, you are welcome to share this in the comments section below.

"Very informative - learnt about behaviour - brain responses. I will be able to apply to my practice".

"Reminder of a lot of things I knew plus a lot of new things which I will be able to use to develop our service response to children in schools. Very impressive".

"I feel I have developed my udnerstanding of dissociation and how to work with a person who has experienced trauma. Really liked the practical ideas bit looking at grounding techniques."

"Informative lived experience of dissociation and trauma with useful tips such as grounding techniques."

"I benefitted very much. Very informative compared to the time we have. Very honest and inspiring."

"Review of previous training. New info about NLP. Further reading - Linda Graham & Dan Siegel. Hearing Julie Anne's account was most helpful."

"I feel this has helped fill in gaps in my knowledge and the survivor experiences were very informative. I am grateful for the references because I want to learn more and look at research into dissociation."

"It was very informative. Julie-Anne is clearly very knowledgeable and it was good to hear personal experiences.

"Great insight into thought processes. Actions and reactions. Looking at triggers and the whole picture not just how a person presents at that particular time."

"Gave me useful insight and tools to use in my practice."

Comment below was received from this weekend session held with some volunteers from York Mind. I much appreciated Darrin's (lead counsellor) having organised this and the invitation. Also, the commitment of the volunteer counsellor's who not only gave up part of their weekend to attend but dedicate their time to helping many others over the course of each week.

"This event opened my mind to many things I hadn't thought of before. It was a very information intensive course. Thank you for such honest and brave sharing of your personal experience"

First time in South Wales and this group was really involved. I look forward to delivering more workshops in 2020 in the south and hopefully seeing some familiar faces!

For now, here is some of their feedback, gathered on the day. Hopefully I will get time to publish more but with 40 attendees, most of whom left feedback, this takes time!

"So impressed with speaker's ability to share. This would be useful to all NHS staff."

"Good to reflect on the issues. Personal experiences really helpful to hear about. Thank you for sharing it"

"Better understanding of trauma and triggers, and terminology used. Handouts were very useful, good speaker who is open about her past experiences"

"Greater knowledge of theory and practical support for suppporting. Spot on." [Youth Justice Service]

"Great hearing from a survivor's perspective. Thank you for sharing."

"Benefitted by gaining a greater understanding of dissociatin and how to approach and use different techniques. Invaluable to have your personal experience and to share your experience. It helped give context and reality to what can sometimes be be more dry. Thank you."

"Learnt all new stuff today. Amazing - would like to look into trauma and dissociation. Fantastic day. Great content. Presentation was brilliant. Will take this back to the team. Thank you." [Mental health wellbeing charity]

"Useful for understanding dissociation, how this can affect someone and how we can work with young people and support them/ground them/"bring them back"."

"Brilliant insight, "Survivor's story". Good knowledge."

Another fantastic group of people attended this York event with full attendance numbers too! Good input from those present including from delegates from women's support organisations, Mind, Yorkshire schools and West Yorkshire Police among others. Many thanks to everyone who took time out to attend, for the contacts received for organisations that could find this beneficial, and to the staff at YHA York for their support in setting this up and preparing the hot and cold working lunch buffet for us all.

Some feedback left on the forms provided as to how delegates felt they benefitted is below. If you would like to leave an additional comment, please do so below. Thanks again!

"Good balance of practical info about process and practical help. Very relevant and useful. Good for non-specialists to get this knowledge."

"Clarification of symptoms and helpful strategies to implement in a school setting."

"Thank you for your professionalism & excellent honest delivery. Also the materials are excellent. From a professional perspective: helped me to remember to approach each session with "newness; each session is different to the last for that person"

"Will be able to use grounding techniques with pupils when experiencing anxiety. Useful information to offer support to the young people I work with."

"Gave me a greater understanding & knowledge of dissociation"

"Greater awareness of my own behaviours; particularly relevant in dealing with son's behaviours associated to trauma. I feel much more aware of how I had wanted to have labels to attach to behaviours. I feel I can work more empathically with my clients. Hopefully use/think more about "what if" & like the grounding - bringing back into the space techniques. Great workshop - thank you, Julie. Excellent lunch too!"

"Learning of different dissociations etc - things I was not aware of."

"I've worked with women with DID previously and it's always useful to have reminder training of what it is and hear a survivor's perspective rather than from a professional's as I can embed this into my work/support."

"Practical tips, confidence in what I already do; good hearing lived experience. Excellent. Thank you for the personal story which very much resonated with my own journey with dissociation. Best training I've been on because I felt like you were embodied and not just giving tips but actual lived experience. I liked the approach of trying things and no necessarily having all the answers, but techniques we can experiment with."

"Useful information for difficult situations. Would be useful for adoptive parents to hear."

What a lovely group of people I met today at The Summit Centre in Kirkby! Plenty of experiences shared, ideas and feedback during the open discussion and activities with comments from some, such as on the usefulness of hearing from agencies performing entirely different supporting roles but with the same members of the public. The feedback received on the day on the forms handed out is below and further comments are welcomed below.

"Gained an insight into how traumatised people might behave and how to identify and deal with this."

"Indepth view of working with trauma."

"I felt I learnt more about dissociation and trauma, which will help me in my role."

"It made me more aware of triggers and being more aware of behaviours.  Your sharing gave a deep insight."

"Have a much greater and more thorough understanding of dissociation and trauma and how to respond safely to those in distress."

"Increased knowledge of dissociation and feel more confident in identifying it and to work positively with people experiencing this."

"Reassured that I will know what to do if a client dissociates.  A really useful course to build understanding."

"Better understanding od dissociation and an understanding of grounding techniques."

A lovely group of people attended this "Understanding Dissociation & Trauma" awareness event yesterday. It was good to have input from these attendees and some issues raised reflected comments raised by agencies at other events. Many public and third sector workers seem to be on the same wavelength with mental and emotional wellbeing matters! Some interesting conversations were held too.

Some of the feedback received is below and the rest will follow soon. Many thanks to everyone who attended.

"Has helped me to see some things with my clients that I hadn't noticed before."

"Gained a lot of knowledge around trauma events and dissociation and the triggers that people can experience. Good to hear about personal experiences from Julie Anne. Very friendly and approachable. I don't work with Adult's Mental Health but do support children affected by domestic abuse resulting in trauma events etc."

"The trauma aspect was very relevant and interesting. Very appreciative of the trainer's moving testimony."

"Refocussed my practice - reminded not to judge and to consider all options. Introduced a new resource to enhance my practice with younger children - "Who is Corey?" book.
[Note from Julie Anne: This CBT for children book is available at http://amzn.eu/d13aMEG] A further book will be released soon!]

I met a lovely group of people from Rochdale Connections Trust this week, performing a variety of roles within the organisation which was interesting to hear about. Everyone fully participated in the day and had a lot of information and experience to share with their colleagues in the area of behaviours considered challenging, trauma, ACEs and related mental health issues.  I am very grateful to have been invited to speak with RCT and hope our paths cross once again!

This was my first visit to Birmingham - ever - and overall a very positive one. The venue staff at J L Kare couldn't have been more helpful prior to and on the day. A lovely group of people attended and what made the day beneficial was the input from many of the attendees throughout, learning from each other and sharing knowledge.

A first at these events was the demo session of Laughter Yoga provided in the afternoon by practitioner "Merrie Maggie" which everyone was able to participate in. I am sure this was appreciated by all and offered insight into another form of support for wellbeing. Many thanks to everyone.

If you would like to leave a comment about the day, you are welcome to do so below.