Format: Live-online Lecturer Led Classes (Virtual-Classroom) via Zoom

Duration: 1 Evening Every Week 6pm to 9pm

Length: 10 Weeks

Online Live Attendance: 30 Hours

Self-Directed Learning: 30 Hours

Total CPD Credits: 60 Credits

Assessment: Formative & Summative

Award: Accredited Professional Diploma

 

Course Accreditation:

​

- Professional Development Consortium

- Provider of Excellence

- CPD Standards Office

- Irish Counselling & Psychotherapy Association (ICPA)

- Irish Counselling & Psychotherapy Association (Directory)

​

​Description

​

The Professional Diploma in Traumatology & PTSD is an intensive, CPD-accredited clinical training programme designed for psychotherapists, counsellors, psychologists, and mental health professionals seeking advanced knowledge and practical skills in the assessment and treatment of psychological trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

​

Accredited by The CPD Standards Office (UK) and awarding 50 CPD Points, this live online programme bridges the latest developments in trauma research with a robust, integrative therapeutic framework. It equips practitioners to work effectively with the complex and often overwhelming impacts of trauma on the brain, body, and relational systems.

Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience, developmental psychology, somatic regulation, and trauma-informed clinical practices, this diploma explores trauma across its many presentations—acute, chronic, complex, intergenerational, developmental, and dissociative. Special attention is given to understanding PTSD, Complex PTSD (C-PTSD), and trauma’s entanglement with anxiety, shame, dissociation, CBT Treatment and addiction.

​

The course offers an evidence-based yet humanistic approach to trauma care, emphasising not only clinical tools but also the centrality of therapeutic presence, safety, and resilience-building in post-traumatic recovery.

​

Learning Outcomes

​

By the end of this diploma, participants will be able to:

• Understand the neurobiology of trauma, including the role of the amygdala, hippocampus, and vagus nerve.

• Differentiate between PTSD, Complex PTSD, and developmental trauma presentations.

• Conduct trauma-informed assessments using established clinical frameworks.

• Apply integrative treatment strategies grounded in somatic, cognitive, relational, and psychoeducational modalities.

• Recognise the signs of dissociation, fragmentation, and autonomic dysregulation in clients.

• Incorporate safety and stabilisation techniques, grounding tools, and affect regulation protocols.

• Navigate professional and ethical challenges in trauma treatment, including re-traumatisation and therapist vicarious trauma.

• Facilitate post-traumatic growth and long-term healing through resilience-focused practices.

​

​

Course Content

​

Module 1 – Introduction & Core Principles of Trauma Care

Focus: Big picture + ATLS logic.
Key topics:

• Epidemiology of trauma, mechanisms of injury

• Kinematics: blunt vs penetrating, high- vs low-energy trauma

• ATLS overview: primary & secondary survey

• Initial investigations (ABG, labs, FAST, basic imaging)

• Analgesia & sedation basics in trauma
  Outcomes:
  Students can describe the trauma care pathway and perform/outline a structured primary survey.

 

Module 2 – Prehospital Care, Triage & Trauma Systems

Focus: What happens before the ED door.
Key topics:

• Scene safety, extrication, spinal precautions

• Prehospital airway, breathing & circulation interventions

• Trauma triage tools and categories

• “Golden hour” concept & scoop vs stay

• Trauma systems, trauma centre levels, referral pathways
  Outcomes:
  Explain prehospital priorities and apply basic triage principles to sample scenarios.

 

Module 3 – Airway, Breathing & Thoracic Trauma

Focus: Life-threats you must not miss.
Key topics:

• Airway assessment, C-spine control, definitive vs temporary airway

• Ventilation/oxygenation; basic ventilator concepts

• Thoracic trauma: pneumothorax (simple/tension), haemothorax, flail chest, cardiac tamponade, aortic injury

• Chest imaging basics (CXR, CT) in trauma
  Outcomes:
  Recognize and outline emergency management for immediately life-threatening thoracic injuries.

 

Module 4 – Circulation, Shock & Abdominal/Pelvic Trauma

Focus: Bleeding and where to find it.
Key topics:

• Types of shock in trauma (hypovolaemic, obstructive, neurogenic, septic)

• Haemorrhage control: direct pressure, tourniquets, pelvic binders

• Abdominal trauma: solid vs hollow organ injury, FAST, CT, non-operative vs operative

• Pelvic trauma: instability, associated injuries, massive haemorrhage protocols

• Blood products & massive transfusion principles
  Outcomes:
  Classify shock, plan initial resuscitation, and describe the approach to abdominal/pelvic trauma.

 

Module 5 – Head & Spinal Trauma

Focus: Neurotrauma fundamentals.
Key topics:

• Primary vs secondary brain injury

• GCS, pupil assessment, red flags in head injury

• Raised ICP, herniation, indications for CT

• Spinal injury: patterns, red flags, assessment, immobilisation principles

• Neuroprotective strategies in early management
  Outcomes:
  Assess a head injury using GCS, recognise when CT is needed, and outline early spine protection.

 

Module 6 – Musculoskeletal, Soft Tissue Trauma & Compartment Syndrome

Focus: Limbs, fractures, and “can’t miss” ortho emergencies.
Key topics:

• Fracture classification & basic management (closed vs open)

• Joint dislocations, tendon injuries, ligamentous trauma

• Open fractures: contamination, antibiotic timing, surgical priorities

• Compartment syndrome: recognition & urgency

• Principles of splinting and immobilisation
  Outcomes:
  Describe management of common limb injuries, recognise compartment syndrome, and prioritise open fracture care.

 

Module 7 – Special Populations: Paediatric, Geriatric & Pregnancy Trauma

Focus: Same injuries, different physiology and risks.
Key topics:

• Paediatric trauma: anatomical differences, non-accidental injury clues

• Geriatric trauma: frailty, anticoagulants, lower physiological reserves

• Trauma in pregnancy: maternal vs foetal priorities, positioning, Rh prophylaxis

• Safeguarding & mandatory reporting principles
  Outcomes:
  Adapt trauma assessment and management to children, older adults, and pregnant patients.

 

Module 8 – Burns, Environmental, Blast & Mass-Casualty Incidents

Focus: Less common but high-impact scenarios.
Key topics:

• Burn types, depth, TBSA estimation, fluid resuscitation principles

• Inhalation injury, airway concerns in burns

• Cold injury, heatstroke, electrical injuries

• Blast injuries (primary–quaternary), shrapnel, crush injury

• Mass-casualty incident (MCI) principles, triage in disasters
  Outcomes:
  Calculate burn severity, outline initial burn management, and describe basic MCI response and triage.

 

Module 9 – Trauma ICU, Complications, Rehabilitation & Long-Term Outcomes

Focus: Beyond the ED.
Key topics:

• ICU care: ventilation, organ support, monitoring

• Early & late complications: ARDS, sepsis, DVT/PE, MOF, wound infection

• Delirium, chronic pain, neuropathic pain in trauma patients

• Early mobilisation, physiotherapy, occupational therapy roles

• Return to work, disability, medico-legal aspects (brief overview)
  Outcomes:
  Recognise common post-trauma complications and explain the role of multidisciplinary rehab.

 

Module 10 – Psychological Trauma, Communication, Ethics & Integrated Revision

Focus: Psychotraumatology + tying it all together.
Key topics:

• Acute stress reaction, PTSD, depression/anxiety after trauma

• Screening and referral pathways for psychological support

• Breaking bad news, talking to families, dealing with death in trauma

• Ethical issues: futility, consent in the unconscious patient, DNACPR in trauma

• Integrated case-based revision / OSCE or simulation practice
  Outcomes:
  Outline the psychological impact of trauma, communicate sensitively, and manage complex ethical situations.

​

Who Should Attend?

 

This course is suitable for:

• Accredited and trainee counsellors and psychotherapists

• Counselling & Psychotherapy Graduates & Students

• Clinical and counselling psychologists

• Social workers, nurses, and addiction specialists

• Mental health professionals working with trauma-impacted populations

• Practitioners seeking a formal, CPD-accredited grounding in trauma theory and treatment

 

Philosophy of the Course

​

This diploma does more than teach techniques—it invites practitioners to become safe, regulated containers for trauma recovery, grounded in compassion, curiosity, and clinical competence. It supports the therapist’s development as a calm, attuned presence capable of navigating the deepest dimensions of human suffering and resilience.