Deakin forum to discuss responding to trauma

THE Geelong community has been invited to attend a free talk this Friday by an international expert on how to build trauma informed communities.

The forum, hosted by Deakin University, will hear from Superintendent Justin Srivastava, a serving officer on the Lancashire Violence Reduction Network (LVRN).

The LVRN consists of 36 partner agencies working to reduce and prevent serious violence by addressing the cause of violence and crime through a public health approach.

It has now presented its Trauma Informed Awareness workshop to more 10,000 professionals working across social care, education, police, health, and other public sector organisations.

Superintendent Srivastava leads several national police initiatives in the UK focussing on how policing and health/social care partners can collaborate to address vulnerability demand.

Professor Peter Miller, from Deakin’s School of Psychology, said Superintendent Srivastava’s visit to Geelong provided a unique opportunity to hear from a world leader in this field.

‘We hope the forum will create a conversation about how trauma and shame influence behaviour and how we as a community can better respond in a way that minimises harm to everyone involved, and especially inter-generational transmission of trauma and workforce trauma.

‘We will also briefly present details on Deakin University’s new free Trauma, Neuro, and Shame Awareness course as a support tool for people to learn more.’

The forum will be held at Deakin Cats Community Centre, GMHBA Stadium (access via gate 8), Geelong on Friday, February 16 from 11am-1pm.

To reserve a free ticket, register via Eventbrite.