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What is trauma?

Trauma is an emotional response that’s caused by experiencing a single incident or a series of distressing or traumatic psychological or physical events, such as a bad accident, sexual violence, abuse, combat or a natural disaster.

Trauma is a subjective experience and varies from one person to another. The same event will have different impacts on different people and not everyone who experiences a traumatic event will have trauma afterward. (Mind 2020)

Types of trauma

Emotional trauma

  • Mental response to a disturbing event or situation
  • Acute: Response during and directly after an event
  • Chronic: Long term response from prolonged or repeated events
  • Complex: Response to multiple events that may or may not be related.

Physical trauma

  • Serious bodily harm or injury. Reactions to trauma
  • Immediate: shock and denial
  • Long term: mood swings, relationship challenges, flashbacks, physical symptoms, etc.

Aims of the group

To assist you in coping with the experience of trauma, promoting your optimal recovery and minimising further symptoms. The focus will be on helping you to determine your goals and direction and identifying the support you need to enable this.

Group objectives

  • To increase awareness and insight into your experiences of trauma
  • To provide information about coping strategies and treatment for trauma that is available
  • To explore what intervention or support might be beneficial to you
  • Maximise control of your experiences and minimise disruption to your life
  • Provide interventions in a group setting to promote your recovery
  • Acknowledge other problems such as depression, anxiety, and lack of motivation
  • Sustain engagement during the course with the emphasis on working to cope with the condition, while promoting recovery.

Who is eligible for this group?

The group is available to service users open to the Recovery Team.

What happens once service users are referred?

Recovery Team practitioners make a referral to the group facilitators who contact service users, usually by phone to arrange a meeting at the Brooker Centre to complete a screening assessment.

What will the group offer?

  • Group facilitators work with service users to support them manage their trauma symptoms and develop coping skills to manage distressing symptoms
  • The group may offer an opportunity to relate to and support others who have been through similar experiences
  • The group will offer practical advice and support. This could be via self help books, worksheets, speakers, one to one practical help, identifying agencies to provide advice, and or ‘signposting’ to services in the community that may be helpful.

What activities will be involved?

The group will use a wide range of activities to help you learn skills you can use to:

  • Help understand and manage symptoms of trauma
  • Promote self soothing and stabilising techniques
  • Discuss trauma informed interventions.

Sessions will cover

  • What is trauma?
  • Identify symptoms and causes
  • Common reactions to trauma
  • Managing trauma symptoms
  • Psychological treatment of trauma
  • Setting goals and moving forward.

Some of the topics may be more useful to you than others and some of the activities may require you to complete learning at home. Learning new skills takes time and patience.

Additional information

  • There’s a maximum number of ten service users in the group 
  • The group will meet for six sessions
  • Each session lasts for one hour
  • The group will meet at the Recovery Team,
  • Brooker Centre
  • The course is facilitated by Halton Recovery Team Practitioners.

If you have any questions regarding the group,cplease contact the group facilitators on: 01928 247 115.

Our patients matter

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust listens and responds to patients and their carers to help improve the services we deliver.

If you have any comments, compliments or concerns you can speak with a member of staff or contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and Complaints Team.

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
V7 Building
Kings Business Park
Prescot
Merseyside
L34 1PJ

Telephone: 0151 471 2377 - freephone: 0800 328 2941

Email: palsandcomplaints@merseycare.nhs.uk

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Approval date: 27 May 2025

Review date: 27 May 2026

Version number: 1

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