Location: Mumbai
School: School of Human Ecology
Centre: Centre for Human Ecology
Intake: 17
Eligibility
Modality of the course: Blended (online + contact hours in Mumbai campus)
Eligibility: Masters in Psychology with 5+ years of experience as a practitioner after highest degree achieved. Minimum of 55% aggregate in Masters. Candidates need to be practicing psychologists.
Educational Qualifications: Masters (M.A./ M.Phil in Psychology/ Applied Psychology/ Clinical Psychology/ Counselling Psychology)
Description
List of Selected Candidates
/uploads/files/Selected_Candidates_List_for_Diploma-in-Trauma-Therapy.pdf
Admission Requirements:
1. Online Application Form
2. Full CV
3. Statement of Purpose, expressing reasons for pursuing the course
4. 2 Recommendation letters from appropriate faculty/ supervisors
Last Date for Receiving Applications: 8th January 2021
Announcement of List of Eligible Candidates: 10th January 2021
Last Date to make payment: 11th January 2021
Commencement of Course: 12th January 2021
Inquiries:
Tata Institute of Social Sciences
Sukanya Ray & Dr Chetna Duggal
School of Human Ecology
TISS Naoroji Campus
Deonar Farm Road, Mumbai - 400088
Email: Sukanya.ray@tiss.edu, chetna.d@tiss.edu
Rationale for the Course:
Modern societies are rife with several shadows of our traumatic past caused by atrocities in the twentieth century alone. Research shows that trauma changes narratives and collective identities. Social-identity based trauma inequalities thus persist through our generations as transgenerational trauma. In fact with less access to healing the effect of such collective trauma in communities has been worsening due to the continuous nature of transgressions against the people of the global majority. This just translates to more and more people requiring trauma-based interventions and thus therapists feel the need to be trauma-informed as they hear the overdominance of trauma narratives.
Trauma Therapy is a relatively new field, emerging in the 1990s with the seminal work of Judith Herman, followed by Daniel Siegel, Bessel van der Kolk, Pat Ogden, Peter Levine, Stephen Porges, Gabor Mate and many more luminary mental health professionals. However, several concepts in trauma therapy, like dissociation and parts-work, are more than a century old. Hence the field of trauma therapy may be said to be ‘re-emerging’ from the shadows of its past. Moving away from the post World War focus on therapy with war-veterans and the overdominance of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as the only clinical population for trauma-related work, trauma therapists of the 21st century have ventured out to show its efficacy across psychiatric diagnoses and psychological distress that may not amount to a diagnostic category as per DSM 5 or ICD 11. A review of treatment guidelines for PTSD concludes on trauma-focused therapies as Prolonged Exposure (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and TfCBT that directly address the trauma (Watkins, Sprang & Rothbaum, 2018). Systematic reviews of EMDR and TfCBT found both modalities to be equally efficacious for PTSD (Siedler & Wagner, 2006). EMDR has been found to be overall efficacious in adolescents with Moderate Depressive Disorder (MDD) (Paauw et al., 2019). A body of evidence is gradually emerging on the efficacy of trauma-focused interventions on several trauma-related conditions and traumatic stress (Castelnuovo, Fernandez & Amann, 2019). The rapidly evolving field of trauma therapy is also informed by advances in neurosciences.
There is a lack of coverage of the ‘trauma lens’ in the curriculum on therapy across Indian Universities that offer MA in Applied/ Clinical/ Counselling Psychology. Very few universities impart the trauma lens to students in these courses. As a result, postgraduates in Psychology who venture out into community settings, replete with mild to severe presentations of ‘trauma’ find it a difficult landscape to navigate. A few years after their PG training, they usually feel the need for more nuanced training courses in Trauma Therapy.
The mental health scenario in India in the post-covid19 times is likely to surface with plenty of trauma-related difficulties. With the number of ‘clinical psychologists’ falling way short of the required numbers to address the burgeoning numbers in the population with a trauma-based presentation, there is a felt need for more ‘trauma-informed’ and ‘trauma-focused’ therapists. Hence the urgent need for a comprehensive course that equips practitioners with the trauma lens and the overall, common skills and techniques of trauma therapy.
In order to respond to this need for clinicians, Diploma in Trauma Therapy was conceptualized.
The curriculum for the ‘Diploma in Trauma Therapy’ is based on the needs of counselors and psychotherapists working with trauma across age groups. The curriculum rests on ethical, practice and research guidelines on trauma-informed and trauma-focused counselling and psychotherapy. The curriculum covers scientific understanding of trauma which is critical to conceptualize the trauma lens as also ethical aspects of trauma-informed care. The course introduces some of the major theoretical frameworks for trauma therapy and arms the practitioners with practical skills in handling trauma.
The course is suitable for counsellors/psychotherapists, guidance counsellors, psychologists, who work with clients with trauma - including children and adolescents.
The program has been designed with professionals in mind, with blended learning (online and offline) to develop knowledge and skills, along with practice through supervised fieldwork and case presentations, while continuing to meet individual life and work demands.
Duration
The course is a one-year Diploma course with a blend of online and offline classes. Field work component is for a total of 8 credits. Out of the 8 credits, 2 Credits of Field Work are compulsory to be attended in person in the first semester. The remaining 6 Credits may be attended in the second semester at a field work agency in the same location as the student’s place of residence, as per their choice. The agency and TISS will be in touch regarding the student’s progress in field work.
|
Online Modules |
Month |
Duration |
Schedule |
Semester I |
I, II (parts), III (FW) and IV (Supervision) |
December - January |
6 months including 45 days onsite (in Mumbai) |
Students will attend Field Work I and Supervision I, along with theory classes for parts of Module I and II, during their stay in Mumbai. |
Semester II |
Parts of IV and V (Reading Circles/ Class Presentations) |
July |
6 months including 2 weeks onsite (in Mumbai) |
Students will attend Parts of Modules 4 and 5 and do their class presentations for these modules. |
N.B.: Due to pandemic, contact hours in Semester I may change.
Course Structure
Diploma in ‘Trauma Therapy’ 36 credits |
||
January- June (Semester 1) |
||
Module 1 |
Foundations of Trauma Therapy |
4 credits |
Module 2 |
Trauma-Informed Counselling Skills |
4 credits |
Module 3 |
Field Work I |
2 credits |
Module 4 |
Supervision I |
2 credits |
Module 5 |
Case presentation I |
2 credits |
July - December (Semester 2) |
||
Module 6 |
Therapeutic Approaches to Trauma Therapy |
4 credits |
Module 7 |
Trauma Therapy for Special Populations |
4 credits |
Module 8 |
Field Work II |
8 credits |
Module 9 |
Supervision II |
4 credits |
Module 10 |
Case presentation II |
2 credits |
Course Objectives:
The objectives of the Diploma course in Trauma Therapy are:
Eligibility for the Course
For the Diploma in ‘Trauma Therapy’ direct applications will be sought from:
Distribution of Credit Hours:
Detailed course outline:
Semester I
Module 1: Foundations of Trauma Therapy
Module 2: Trauma-Informed Counselling Skills
Module 3: Field Work 1
Fieldwork that puts the students in direct contact with clients and their families is a major strength of the diploma. This fieldwork will take place throughout the semester concurrently with coursework to allow for continuous learning and application of classroom input to real life settings.
Students will engage in field work over the duration of the course to put into practice the skills and knowledge gained in the course. They will either continue working in a setting that they have been professionally working in or will be placed in hospitals for 1 month (December to January). The fieldwork will involve observation of trauma informed counselling and psychotherapy with individuals and families with a total of 60 hours for the entire module. During these months, the trainees will get inputs through professional supervision and discussions in individual and group settings with faculty and will be required to submit fortnightly reports on their observation, history taking and conceptualization.
Module 4: Supervision 1
This module involves undergoing individual and group supervision with the supervisor to discuss and present counselling and psychotherapy work being conducted as part of field work. The students will be required to prepare an agenda for supervision sessions, attend weekly supervision sessions and complete reflective and experiential exercises. This module has been designed to facilitate and encourage the use of supervision in practice and will ensure reflective practice and documentation that will improve quality of care and professional development of the trainee therapist.
Module 5: Case Presentation I
This module involves a comprehensive documentation of observation with one client during the field work and presentation of the same in the classroom. Students will be required to complete a thorough review of literature and document their therapy work in a given format. This module has been designed to facilitate and encourage the integration of practice, theory, ethics, research and reflection while presenting and documenting case work.
Semester II:
Module 6: Therapeutic Approaches to Trauma Therapy
Module 7: Trauma Therapy for Special Populations
Trauma therapy is applicable for not just psychiatric diagnoses like PTSD, Reactive Attachment Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder etc, but also for other conditions like OCD, Psychosis, Couples’ Adjustment and marital disharmony, Substance Use etc. The student of Trauma Therapy needs to develop nuanced understanding of the emergence of these symptomatology in the background of traumatic life events. The module aims to provide the learner with an understanding of the evolution of these symptoms which may or may not require psychiatric diagnosis. The module also orients the students to therapeutic modalities for use with Children and Adolescents.
Module 8: Field Work II
Fieldwork that puts the students in direct contact with clients and their families is a major strength of the diploma. This fieldwork will take place throughout the semester II concurrently with coursework to allow for continuous learning and application of classroom input to real life settings. The field work may be carried out in agencies in the same location/ city as the learner.
Students will engage in field work over the duration of the course to put into practice the skills and knowledge gained in the course. They will either continue working in a setting that they have been professionally working in or will be placed in hospitals or other agencies in their location for 3 months (June to September). The fieldwork will involve practice of counselling and psychotherapy with individuals and families with a minimum of 10-12 hours of practice every week. During the months of June to September, the trainees will get inputs through professional supervision and discussions in individual and group settings with faculty and will be required to submit fortnightly reports on their counselling and psychotherapy work. Trainees will need to undergo a total of 120 hours of field work in an agency in their location to complete this module. They will be required to attend GCs/ ICs online and keep their supervisors in the loop about their field work agency.
Module 9: Supervision II
Fieldwork that puts the students in direct contact with clients and their families is a major strength of the diploma. This fieldwork will take place throughout the semester concurrently with coursework to allow for continuous learning and application of classroom input to real life settings.
This module involves undergoing individual and group supervision with the supervisor to discuss and present counselling and psychotherapy work being conducted as part of field work. The students will be required to prepare an agenda for supervision sessions, attend weekly supervision sessions and complete reflective and experiential exercises. This module has been designed to facilitate and encourage the use of supervision in practice and will ensure reflective practice and documentation that will improve quality of care and professional development of the trainee therapist.
Module 10: Case Presentation II
Case presentations are utilised across health professions as a way to capture experiences and demonstrate learning in the field by illuminating in detail the process of working with a particular client. Case presentations allow the learner to demonstrate practice-based wisdom in terms of what works, what doesn’t, and enables shared learning to take place among a student group. When presenting a case, learners also have the opportunity to showcase their own thinking style, professional approach and capacities, thereby enabling trainers to gauge the depth of learning.
This module involves a comprehensive documentation of work with one client during the field work and presentation of the same in the classroom. Students will be required to complete a thorough review of literature and document their therapy work in a given format. This module has been designed to facilitate and encourage the integration of practice, theory, ethics, research and reflection while presenting and documenting case work.
Fee Structure:
Fee structure
Sr. No. |
Particulars |
Fees for Semester I (in INR) |
Fees for Semester II (in INR) |
1. |
Tuition Fees |
20000/- |
20000/- |
2. |
Identity Card |
300/- |
- |
Development Charges |
2,500/- |
2,500/- |
|
4. |
Computer fees |
1000/- |
1000/- |
5. |
Library Deposit |
1000/- |
- |
6. |
Caution Deposit |
5000/- |
- |
7. |
Field Work Fees |
3500/- |
3500/- |
8. |
Examination Fees |
2000/- |
2000/- |
9. |
Convocation Fee |
- |
2000/- |
10. |
Total |
35,300/- |
31,000/- |
Note: Caution Deposit and Library Deposit will be returned to the student on completion of the Course)
Accommodation and Hostel
Selected candidates will be assisted to find accommodation close to the Institute. There is no possibility of hostel facilities.
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