A three-day advanced training and enhanced supervision workshop on trauma-informed care and psychological support was held for social workers and representatives of caregiver houses from across Georgia.

The advance training focused on further enhancing skills and knowledge of social workers and specialists of care giver houses. It covered topics such as trauma and child maltreatment, negative childhood experiences, prevention and intervention related to mental health, well-being and substance use disorders, including their impact on adolescent and approaches to working with affected youth. Principles, complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the issue of professional burnout were also covered.

The training was distinguished by interactivity and practice-oriented approaches through intense supervision sessions. The participants discussed real cases from their professional experience and received targeted and expert advice from the facilitators, which significantly improved their skills and approaches on case management. Participants noted that the “Training enabled us to make the right decisions on current cases, paying more attention on specific aspects and areas, investigating the issues of mental health in depth.”

Other participants referred to the supervision sessions which were described as “very informative, they covered trauma and its impact on adolescents in more depth, as well as factors that contribute the development of trauma itself.” One participant found that “the training helps to improve working process with beneficiaries who have experienced traumatic events in different stage of their lives. As a result of this training, I will detect a traumatic situation easier, which itself will make my work more effective and simplify the subsequent stages of response.”

These trainings were organised by the Pompidou Group Project ”Strengthening the Role of Key Actors in Drug Prevention” implemented under the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2024-2027.