A Solution Focused Approach To Severe Trauma & Stress Recovery with John Henden
Wednesday, 21 May 2025
An online interactive workshop via Zoom
For one week only, from Wednesday, November 27 to Tuesday, December 3, enjoy 15% off all standard ticket prices. Refer our Upcoming Events page for Sale details
Don’t miss out—this offer is only available for a short time, so act fast and secure your registration. Email us today!
This practical workshop is designed to equip participants with effective tools and techniques that can be used immediately in working with victims of adult severe trauma and stress.
These tools and techniques are applicable also, to adult survivors of childhood abuse and neglect. An important message running throughout the day is how survivors can live life to the full and/or get their lives back on track.
Are your staff equipped to work effectively with clients with Severe Trauma and Stress? Do you find that your current practice approaches aren't delivering successful treatment outcomes for your clients? Do you notice most of your trauma clients remain stuck?
If so, you may be interested in training that goes beyond jargon and psychobabble, focusing instead on delivering practical tools that will make a real difference in the lives of service users. One research study found that as many as 90% of mental health service clients have some sort of trauma background to their emotional distress.
Proper training and support will ensure your team will serve this cohort, effectively. That's why we're offering this introductory workshop on working with severe trauma and stress recovery using many of the brief interventions of the Solution Focused Approach.
Many training days offering help in working with this client group are entitled, ‘Increased awareness of…’; ‘Working with…’; and, ‘Familiarise yourself with…’.
This workshop is fundamentally different. In the words of a past workshop participant:
“This is the most practical, hands-on, how-to-do-it workshop I have ever attended on severe trauma and stress recovery. I can fully recommend it.”
Workshop Aims
This workshop will provide participants with easy-to-learn-and-apply solution focused tools and techniques to support victims of severe trauma and stress to get their lives back on track.
Initially, importance is placed on affirming and empowering victims of trauma to regain control over symptoms. The six fields of work - triggers, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, sleep disturbance, ‘the lows’ and living life to the full, are examined in detail to give participants increased understanding and confidence in working with this client group in a specialised solution focused way.
Please Note: this workshop will touch on emotional issues such as grief and/or trauma, and some of the material covered in our workshops may be sensitive or triggering to certain participants. We encourage everyone to practise self-care and either reach out to us, or directly discuss any concerns with our presenter.
Intended Learning Outcomes
At the end of the workshop attendees will be able to:
Demonstrate an increased understanding of severe trauma and/or stress
Know the difference between the ‘victimhood’, ‘survivor-hood’ and ‘living life well’/’thriver-hood’
Understand the basic solution focused tools and techniques used with this group of service users
Use a variety of specialised tools and techniques for helping those involved move towards living life well
Recognise how the techniques can be applied to all types of trauma
Appreciate the risks and pitfalls when working with those struggling with severe trauma and/or stress
Highlight the most helpful and useful questions to ask
Understand the key ways to look after yourself and do this important work
What others have said about this workshop
“Such a valuable learning/sharing experience and confidence booster in terms of supporting people working through trauma and high stress. John was highly knowledgeable and an engaging speaker who clearly is super passionate about his area of expertise. Even more of a legend staying up until some ungodly hour (as he is in the UK)!! I love, love, love the spirit behind making the resources freely available - so generous and fantastic. The regular "comfort breaks" worked really well for me too- the content was high interest and well-paced, and, for me, having those regular breaks I'm sure was also integral in ensuring I was still engaged and enthusiastic right to the very end. Faye was great in support.
Thank you :-)" Lisa, Life Matters Suicide Prevention Trust
"This was an excellent workshop. I gained real skills from this webinar that I will be able to apply straight away. It was generous in getting to the real stuff and not just giving a "taster" or general overview." Sharon Blythe, Grief Support
"I rated this workshop a 10 out of 10 as my knowledge and confidence to undertake work in this area increased significantly as a result of this training. I would definitely recommend it to others - to reassure them that they can undertake this work and not refer it on to others." Alisdair Macleod, Phoenix Futures
"This would be one of the best workshops that I have attended, hugely informative"
"John was an excellent communicator and the practice exercises really reinforced the learning"
"Trainings on this topic are certainly a much needed resource in NZ at the moment and I am thankful that you are facilitating access to trainings to upskill people in this area. I hope that you will continue to strive to provide the most up to date and evidence-based presentations available in the future. Thank you"
Who Should Attend
This training is designed to be relevant for any public facing role that regularly finds itself dealing with service users in distress.
Groups that have found this training very helpful include: telephone crisis line staff, psychotherapists, mental health nurses, Fire & Rescue, Ambulance crews, art therapists, veterans’ welfare agencies, civil defence teams, Police, counsellors, psychiatrists, psychologists, military personnel, clinicians, criminal justice professionals, social and youth workers.
It is for those who are new, or fairly new to the Solution Focused Approach, but will also provide those more experienced with a range of practical tools that are easy to implement into their practice.
NOTE - If your organisation is interested in having John present face-face as a private workshop to 12 - 40 members of your team in November 2024, please contact Faye Johnson for more information.
If you do not have sufficient numbers within your team, you could consider open the training up either to other Branch’s of your organisation or other region-based community agencies you work with. We have worked with many organisations this has worked well for - contact us for further information.
Don't miss John Henden's other workshop: Preventing Suicide using the Solution Focused Approach
This acclaimed training will focus on the practical side of preventing suicide and will cover:
How to tell whether someone is suicidal, rather than depressed
Core conditions for effective rapid rapport & communication,
Questions to elicit suicidal ideation & sample questions to ask once ideation is established
Effective Solution Focused techniques in suicide prevention and more...
The following peak bodies and organisations recognise that the training we offer is of a high quality, evidence based and relevant for their members CPD.
About The Presenter
JOHN HENDEN is an international trainer, author, therapist and performance coach. For over 20 years, he worked within UK NHS mental health services firstly as a practitioner, then as a manager, during a time of rapid change. He delivers training courses from a broad portfolio; and also provides organisations with personal coaching and mentoring services. In addition to working with GROW (NZ), his client list includes UK NHS and SSAFA Trusts, Compass Ltd (NZ), CRUSE, HM Forces, Helsinki Psychotherapy Institute, Korzybski Institute (Belgium) Local Authorities, HM Prison Service, Compass Seminars Australia, SF Academy, Singapore and Krotkoterminowej Therapy Centre, Poland and Lviv-Bryukhovychi Seminary, Ukraine.
John has a background in psychology, is a qualified counsellor and a member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). He is also a presenter at both the European Brief Therapy Association (EBTA) and Solutions in Organisations Link-up (SOL), being a founder member of the latter.
John delivers a broad portfolio of intensive solution focused brief therapy workshops to many and various organisations, enabling staff to be more time- and cost-effective. Also, he has developed a special interest in three specialist areas.
The first of these is Solution Focused Recovery from Severe Trauma & Stress. As a SF therapist, he has worked successfully with many survivors of traumatic experiences such as military combat, armed robbery, near-death experiences, rape, road traffic accidents and sudden death. John teaches how both the basic SF techniques and advanced techniques are applied, for successful outcomes with such clients. His two books on the subject are:
Henden, J. (2011). Beating Combat Stress: 101 Techniques for Recovery. Wiley-Blackwell; and,
Henden, J. (2017). What it Takes to Thrive; techniques for severe trauma & stress recovery. World Scientific Publishing
His second specialist subject area is Suicide Prevention, and the book on this subject, which is currently being translated into Japanese and Russian, is:
Henden, J. (2017). Preventing Suicide: the Solution Focused Approach. Second edition. Wiley-Blackwell
John's third specialist area is Solution Focused Stress Management and Resilience. (This is also referred to as Solution Focused Healthy Work-Life Balancing.)
As a counsellor and therapist for individual work, unsurprisingly, John’s preferred approach is Solution Focused. He finds this approach applicable to the widest range of mental health issues, including chronic depression, relationship difficulties, schizo-affective states, alcohol dependency; and, of course, acute stress and anxiety, trauma survivors and suicide prevention. Within the last 30 years, John has worked with some 400 individual clients from public, private and voluntary sector organisations.
As a trainer, in adopting an action-learning approach, John has an energetic and captivating teaching style, which enables participants to remain both alert and involved throughout. His alternating use of short presentations, audio visuals, paired and small group work, ensures not only all learning styles are catered for, but participants find the training both enjoyable and worthwhile.
ZOOM Date & Details
Wednesday, 21 May 2025
9.00am - 3.30pm
You will be sent the details to access ZOOM after you have registered. This is an interactive workshop with breakout room activities and we therefore ask all participants to have their own computer / laptop with a working camera and mic as this makes interaction with the breakout room activities and discussions easier and enhances the learning for all.
Please note this webinar will not be recorded.
Price & Registration Information
One Day ZOOM Workshop
$320.00 inc GST
The price stated is per person.
Contact us for a discount if you're registering more than 5 people.
Payment online is by Debit or Credit Card: VISA, Mastercard or American Express only and there are 3 easy steps to complete the online booking process. Our registration platform is hosted by Lil Regie, our NZ based booking agent.
Upon completing your registration by hitting the blue 'Confirm Booking' button, you will receive an automated email from Lil Regie confirming the booking and amount paid by credit card. This will appear on your statement as from LIL REGIE LTD WELLINGTON.
A GST Tax Invoice showing your payment in full will also be emailed to you.
If you have any issues or questions about your booking, please contact Faye Johnson.
Can't pay online and require an invoice?
We work hard to ensure that all workshops are cost effective by automating our systems. If your organisation is unable to use our automated booking system and pay by credit/debit card and therefore require an invoice instead to pay by direct bank credit, there will be a $25.00 inc GST surcharge for this, and you will need to supply the following please:
The full organisation name and postal address required to appear on the invoice.
The contact name and email of the person(s) responsible for authorising this expense and approving payment.
Any purchase order references required on vendor invoices.
Please email this information to Brian - accounts@grow.co.nz and faye@grow.co.nz , and along with the Invoice we will also send you a special booking link which will come up as free of charge. Through this link you will need to complete your registration.
Please note - our workshops fill quickly so if you would like to reserve a place, please contact faye@grow.co.nz
What happens if you have to cancel?
We know that sometimes your plans can change for many different reasons. Should you be unable to attend, a substitute delegate is welcome to attend at no extra cost. If a substitute delegate is not available and you need to cancel your registration, please be aware of the following:
Up to 7 days prior to the event you will be provided a refund of your registration cost, less a $20.00 inc GST per attendee service charge
If you cancel within 7 days of the event, you are not eligible to receive a refund. Please note: should your registration not be paid by the time of the event, you are still liable to make the payment. Unpaid accounts may be passed over to our debt collection agency and additional costs may be incurred.
All cancellations must be received in writing (email).
Training is cancellable by GROW with 7 days’ notice if a minimum number of attendees is not met and full refunds will be provided.
Please note: GROW Ltd reserves the right to make any amendments that we may deem to be in the best interest of the forum – it is however very unlikely and we will notify you as soon as possible should this occur.
For more information see our full Terms of Trade.
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CONTACT FAYE
For further details, please contact:
e: faye@grow.co.nz
p: 027 607 3000
CONTACT US
For further details, please contact:
Faye Johnson at faye@grow.co.nz or
Phone: 027 607 3000