Working with Complex Clients Developing the Skills to Recognise and Respond to Trauma in your professional practice
Aim and Objectives
Working with clients who are experiencing trauma is increasingly recognized as highly complex work that requires specialist skills. While it can be rewarding, over time, without additional supports it becomes depleting. What can you as vital ‘front-line’ of professionals do to protect against vicarious trauma, to develop your own resilience and to engage with clients in a way that is optimally helpful and accessible to them?
This Trauma Summit has been designed in consultation with the Law Society’s Psychological Services. Our expert led half-day conference will offer participants psychological insights, legal skills and sharing of trauma-informed best-practice internationally.
Since March 2020 we have all been living through a period of active trauma. As the global pandemic gradually recedes, the sudden invasion of Ukraine has meant our vigilance continues. Although many of you as professionals are yourselves now depleted, you are nonetheless required to continue to support complex clients. This online Trauma Summit is a timely opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of trauma and take part in live Q & A sessions. We also offer you a supportive environment in which to replenish from the impact this work can have in terms of burn-out and vicarious trauma.
Our aim is to:
- Empower you to develop the psychological and practice-based skills required to recognise and understand symptoms of trauma
- Equip you to engage and communicate effectively with vulnerable clients
- Replenish burn-out
- Think together with your colleagues in the field and our psychologically trained facilitators about the impact of this work on your personal wellbeing
What we are offering:
- Research driven inputs by leading experts – see speakers biographies
- Live panel discussions - chaired by solicitor Aisling Byrne
- Time to think together in small groups – facilitated by the Psychological Services team
Format
International and local experts in the field will present on human, psychological and legal aspects of trauma. This will be followed by small group sessions (various themes) and an interactive panel discussion.
The event will also include a poetry reading session to help restore our collective spirits during such a challenging time for the world.
Who is this for?
Professionals who work with any aspect of trauma and are interested in setting their work into a wider human, legal and psychological framework. The summit will have particular relevance for solicitors who work in child and family law, immigration law and criminal law. However, it has a wider relevance. We know that clients engaging in all aspects of the legal system, from corporate transactions to property law matters can have experienced trauma. The Summit also particularly welcomes non-legal professionals who will bring an additional perspective to this multi-disciplinary conference.
What will you gain for your professional practice?
This half-day online event will leave you trauma-informed and recharged to continue with your valuable work. The Trauma Summit will bring together experts in the field of trauma and trauma recovery offering you a wider and deeper understanding of trauma and how it affects individual, families and communities. You will learn how to incorporate ways of working and caring for yourself as a practitioner who is habitually or even occasionally exposed to vicarious trauma.
Speakers:
The President of the Law Society, Michelle Ní Longáin, will give the opening address and short presentation.
Michelle Ní Longáin, Partner, ByrneWallace, President of the Law Society of Ireland
Michelle is a partner in the Employment Department at ByrneWallace and has extensive experience in employment, equality and administrative law. Michelle qualified as a solicitor in Northern Ireland, practising there, in England and Wales, and in Ireland, in employment and equality law. She joined ByrneWallace in 1999. Michelle advises Public and Private Sector clients, primarily employers, on complex areas of administrative and employment law, including employment equality, disability discrimination, and reasonable accommodation. As well as being head of the firm’s Public Sector Group, Michelle has been a member of Council of the Law Society of Ireland for over a decade and was a member of the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland from 2007-2013. Michelle's membership of the Councils of two regulatory bodies and many of their committees inform her advices to clients, particularly in the public and regulatory sector. Michelle has strong experience in advising and representing clients in internal and external matters and in all legal fora. Michelle provides training to clients and in public lectures including the Law Society professional training and diploma programmes.
Professor Gordon Harold, Professor of the Psychology of Education and Mental Health, University of Cambridge; Visiting Full Professor, School of Medicine, University College Dublin
Originally from Dublin, Gordon is the inaugural Professor of the Psychology of Education and Mental Health at the University of Cambridge, having previously held appointments as the Andrew and Virginia Rudd Chair and Professor of Psychology at the University of Sussex, the Alexander McMillan Chair and Professor of Childhood Studies at the University of Otago in New Zealand, and Professor of Developmental Psychopathology at Cardiff University. His primary research interests focus on (1) examining the interplay between family relationship dynamics and child-adolescent mental health, (2) understanding the interplay between genetic factors, pre-natal, post-natal environmental factors and child-adolescent mental health and development, and (3) promoting the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based practice and policy guidelines aimed at enhancing mental health outcomes for young people. Gordon is a member of UKRI-ESRC’s Expert Advisory Group (EAG), a member of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Methods Advisory Group (MAG) and a member of the Chairs of Scientific Advisory Councils Group in the UK; he is also an advisor to multiple other UK and international government departments and scientific committees.
Senator Lynn Ruane, Independent Senator of the Oireachtas
Lynn Ruane is an independent Senator for Trinity College Dublin. Lynn is from Tallaght and lives in Killinarden with her two daughters. Before entering politics, Lynn developed community drug services and community initiatives over 15 years in Tallaght and Dublin’s Canal Communities. While working in addiction services, Lynn also worked with De Paul Ireland across many of their homeless services, mainly low threshold accommodation for street sleepers. As a firm believer in lifelong learning, Lynn has engaged in education for most of her adult life. After leaving school early, she attended An Cosán in Tallaght at the age of fifteen, before going on to study addiction in several courses. She then returned to full-time education as a mature student; graduating from Trinity College Dublin with an honours degree in Political Science, Philosophy, Economics and Sociology in 2016. In 2015, Lynn ran for the position of President of Trinity College’s Students’ Union and was elected. She announced her intention to contest the 2016 Seanad election as an independent candidate while in office and was elected to the Oireachtas at the age of 31. She has now served as an Independent Senator for Trinity College for six years. Lynn is passionate about amplifying the voices of those who so often do not get to tell their own story, and her legislative efforts are reflective of this. Lynn frequently takes her role beyond the Seanad chamber and the gates of Leinster House, bringing the work of the Oireachtas into the diverse range of communities that are impacted by its work.
Melissa Rutherford, Director, Rutherford Sheridan Solicitors
Melissa is a director at Rutherford Sheridan Solicitors and criminal advocacy tutor at Strathclyde University. She specialises in criminal defence and immigration. Melissa has experience of family law, conducting proofs at the sheriff court, along with representing clients at children's referral proceedings, particularly representing children. She is an advocate of being trauma aware and attempting to change attitudes to Aces and trauma in the legal system and is the co-founder of Trauma Aware Lawyers in Scotland. Melissa was a trustee of Join the Dots an organisation assisting those involved in the criminal justice system and is now a trustee with Indigo Childcare Charity that that seeks to provide a better start to Scotland’s children. She is also a mentor at iWiL, a mentorship programme for young women who aspire to be future leaders. Melissa was recently appointed as a Children’s Interview Rights Practitioner (ChIRP) for Scotland, a new role appointed by the Scottish Government to assist Children under the age of 12 when being interviewed by the police.
Siobhan Greene, Director of Children's Services, Barnardos.
Siobhan Greene has been Director of Children’s Services (DOCS) in Barnardos in Ireland since October 2018. She has been working in Barnardos since 2002, in a variety of roles including practice management; audit and quality assurance; design of services and practice support systems; and strategic leadership internally and externally. Siobhan has recently led Barnardos services in the transition towards becoming a Trauma Informed Organization.
Nandipha Jola, Poet, Playwright, Curator, Creative Writing Facilitator, TEDx Speaker, Writer
Nandi Jola is a South African born poet, storyteller and playwright, as well as a Smock Alley Theatre Rachel Baptiste 2022 Programme recipient. She was a creative writing facilitator for Ulster University Books Beyond Boundaries NI in 2021 and Poetry Irelandi recently. Her one woman play ‘The Journey’ opened the International Literature Festival Dublin in October, 2020. She represented Northern Ireland at the Transpoesie Poetry Festival in Brussels and is a commissioned poet for Poetry Jukebox, Ambiguities, a James Joyce programme of the Centre Culturel Irlandais and Impermanence Way Archive Project in Paris. She is studying for her MA in Poetry at Queen’s University Belfast. Home is Neither Here Nor There, her debut collection, will be published by Doire Press this spring.
Antoinette Moriarty, Psychotherapist & Head of Law Society Psychological Services, Law Society of Ireland
Antoinette combines her understanding of optimum human performance, gained through her training as a Psychotherapist in London and Dublin with over 20 years’ experience designing and leading professional and executive development for lawyers and other executive leaders. In addition to her private Psychotherapy and Executive Coaching practice (www.professionaltherapy.ie), Antoinette leads the newly expanded Psychological Services, providing psychologically-informed supports to solicitors across the legal lifecycle.
Dr. Geoffrey Shannon SC, Deputy Director of Education, Law Society of Ireland
Dr. Geoffrey Shannon is a solicitor and is a leading authority in Child Law and Family Law. He held the role of Special Rapporteur on Child Protection for the Irish government from 2006 to July 2019. Dr. Shannon has recently been asked by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and the Council of Europe to assist as a child protection expert in drafting new guidelines on cybercrime for judges, prosecutors and law enforcement agencies. Dr. Shannon is the recipient of several awards for his work in the area of national and international family law. These include the 2005 JCI Outstanding Person of the Year Award, the 2006 Canon Maurice Handy Award and the 2013 Irish Law Award. On 23 June 2017, Dr. Shannon was presented with the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association Award for outstanding contribution to legal scholarship for his entire work to date.
Aisling Byrne, Solicitor & Course Executive, Law Society of Ireland
Aisling Byrne trained and worked as a solicitor with A&L Goodbody LLP before moving to an in-house legal position at KPMG. Aisling also worked within the Legal Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and as a legal researcher with the Department of Justice. In addition, Aisling has tutored in public international law at Trinity College Dublin and worked as a researcher with FLAC. Aisling holds an LL.B. degree in law from Trinity College Dublin and an LL.M. in international human rights law from the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUIG. Aisling is also a qualified solicitor.
NOTE: Following your participation in this course Law Society Professional Training will issue you with a digital CPD certificate using blockchain-based technology. With blockchain, you can verify with others - such as the Law Society CPD Scheme section - the authenticity of your certificate in a matter of seconds. This initiative is the result of collaboration between Law Society Professional Training and VerifyEd. In summary, you will be provided with a complimentary, secure, virtual library where you can save your future digital CPD certificates. This allows Law Society Professional Training to better serve you, our member, by providing an encrypted platform to issue CPD certificates with cryptographic proof that they were issued by Law Society Professional Training. [Allow 14 days for your certificate to be issued].
MPORTANT:
Irish Institute of Training & Development –Multiple Award Winners
Awarded for Excellence & Innovation in Training & Development