Graduate Training and Certification in Trauma Treatment for Clinical Practitioners

Despite the high prevalence of societal trauma exposure and its link with a wide variety of psychopathology symptoms and human suffering, most mental health clinicians receive little systematic training in assessing or treating trauma in their professional training programs. This situation has created a widespread and unfortunate disparity between clinical need and availability of suitably trained providers. In response, professional training and certification programs are called upon to integrate information about trauma in their curricular offerings to improve clinicians' knowledge about traumatic stress reactions and treating traumatized clients in an informed and current manner. In this article, we first provide an overview of the prevalence and impact of trauma to establish the need for curricular inclusion. We then review recent progress on training-related issues and activities, including the development of a set of competencies for trauma training and practice, various emerging training programs in academic and continuing education settings, clinical and professional practice guidelines, and other resources. We summarize available guidance on the development, implementation, and evaluation of graduate trauma courses and professional certification programs, stressing the need for safety of trainees and increased competence to compassionately and successfully treat traumatized individuals. Recommendations for additional strategies to increase the availability of high-quality graduate trauma training are provided. Public Significance Statement Unfortunately, most mental health providers receive little systematic training in assessing and treating trauma-related difficulties as part of their routine training, despite the extensive need for it. This article provides guidance on the development, implementation, and evaluation of graduate trauma courses and professional certification programs that could be created to systematically train clinicians in treating trauma.