Description

Description: 

Helpers are exposed to the traumatic lived experiences in many levels; at the personal level, at the social level with family and community and at their work level with the people they are working with and serving, putting these workers at high risk for secondary traumatic stress. In addition, the workplace can sometimes reenact traumatic encounters for workers with primary trauma, increasing their risk for re-traumatization and reducing their effectiveness at work. Advocates at victim service agencies have dedicated themselves to working with survivors of trauma. Working with trauma can affect advocates in many ways. Sometimes they are so focused on a survivor’s healing journey, they neglect their own well-being. Accumulation of these different work stresses affect staff performance, so supervisors need to incorporate knowledge and awareness about traumatic stress into their leadership role and supervision practices. This class aims to help supervisors proactively manage a team through trauma exposure.

PRESENTERS:

Agueda Morgan, Associate Director, CCASA - has worked in the field to end sexual violence since 2006 and has been with CCASA with since 2015. Agueda’s experience also includes working for the Women, Infant and Children program in Denver. She earned a BS in Health Care Management and Nutrition from Metropolitan State College of Denver, and an MPA with a concentration in Gender-Based Violence from the University of Colorado-Denver.

Elaine Cho, Sexual Assault Services Program Director, CCASA - has been advocating to end sexual and domestic violence since 2011 and joined  CCASA  in 2023.  She was previously the director of a confidential domestic violence shelter and has experience in working with diverse populations, managing a 24-hour crisis line, and collaborating with various community members and agencies to ensure clients’ safety and confidentiality.  Elaine has a Master of Arts in Sociology from the University of Northern Colorado.