Virtual Training: Trauma Responsiveness & Healing-Centered Peer Support

Studies have shown that most people will experience trauma at least once in their lifetimes. Because of this, peer specialists should incorporate trauma responsiveness into the ways they provide peer support and embody peer support values. However, traditional approaches to trauma can be deficit-focused, focusing only on injury and
harm. In this presentation, participants will be introduced to the concept of Healing- Centered Engagement, a strength-based approach that offers new perspectives on how we can support holistic healing. We will explore how trauma impacts people’s lives, principles of Healing-Centered Engagement, and the expansive approach that peer specialists can take when supporting people’s paths to healing.

Darcy Kues (she/her) is the owner of Kues Consulting, where she provides curriculum writing and grant preparation services to peer support programs and recovery-oriented organizations. She is also a Project Manager with the South Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center and the Addiction Research Institute, where she writes curricula focused on peer support and recovery services. She has over 8 years of experience in curriculum development, grant writing, and program coordination for peer support services and recovery-oriented behavioral health. Darcy has developed trainings on reentry peer support, youth and young adult peer support, trauma responsiveness, peer support supervision, LGBTQ affirming services, and more. She is committed to building a world where recovery and lived experience are centered at every level of decision-making.