Trauma-Informed Design & Research Training

Build the skills, language and practices your team needs to work ethically, safely and sustainably in complex human contexts.

For design, research and change teams

Why this matters

Stress and distress can show up in research, co-design, stakeholder engagement and change work. When teams are not equipped to respond well, it can lead to loss of trust, ethical risk, disengagement and unnecessary strain on staff.

Trauma-informed practice offers a practical, non-clinical framework for helping teams work with more care, clarity and steadiness.

What teams receive

This program supports teams to build the capacity to stay present, responsive and connected when work is complex, pressured or emotionally charged.

Teams learn to recognise stress and activation in professional settings, design safer engagement processes, and respond with clarity and care when distress arises.

Learning is applied directly to your team’s context through reflection, discussion and shared practice development.

Teams finish with practical tools they can apply the next day.

Outcomes for teams

After this program, teams are better able to:

After this program, teams are better able to stay present, think clearly, and work collaboratively when things are complex, pressured, or emotionally charged.

What teams say after the training

“One of those rare workshops that actually changed how we show up in our work.”
— David Evans, Beyond Blue

Program structure

Small cohorts support spaciousness, trust and embodied learning.

We move slowly enough for people to feel safe, reflect deeply and practise new skills.

Can be delivered face to face in Sydney or Melbourne upon request.
Now offered with video content to cater for global audiences.

The program is usually delivered as:

The four modules

The training is delivered as a series of facilitated sessions that combine theory, reflection and applied practice. Learning is cumulative across the four modules, with each session building on the previous one and supporting application to real-world work contexts.

Foundations of Trauma-Informed Practice

This module introduces the foundations of trauma-informed practice and why it matters in professional, research and engagement contexts. Participants explore how safety, power, consent and choice shape people’s experiences at work, and how trauma-informed practice differs from clinical or therapeutic approaches.

Key focus:

What trauma-informed practice is (and is not)
Safety, consent, choice, and ethical responsibility in professional contexts
Why “difficult behaviour” is often a nervous system response
Team reflection: how might we work in more trauma-informed ways?

Trauma, Stress and the Nervous System at Work

This module builds practical understanding of how stress and nervous system responses show up in workplace behaviour, communication and group dynamics. The focus is on recognising patterns of activation without blame or diagnosis, and understanding why these responses are adaptive rather than personal failings.

Key Focus:

Common patterns of activation, withdrawal, and over-drive in teams
Team wellbeing and risks of secondary trauma
Nervous system responses in everyday work situations
Micro-practices for steadiness and clarity
The role of presence, tone, and pacing in shaping group dynamics

Designing Trauma-Informed Research and Engagement

This module explores how trauma-informed principles can be applied to research, design and engagement practices. Participants examine how everyday methods, processes and assumptions can unintentionally cause harm, and what can realistically shift within organisational constraints.

Key focus:

Trauma-informed approaches to research, design, and engagement
Planning for safety across the engagement journey
Language, materials, and facilitation choices that reduce strain
Designing for care, dignity, and sustainability rather than urgency

Navigating Distress and Integrating Practice

The final module supports teams to respond when distress arises and to integrate learning into their real work context. Participants are introduced to guiding principles for responding with care and clarity, alongside optional, consent-based grounding practices and tools for planning next steps.

Key focus:

Guiding principles for responding to moments of distress
Referral, and appropriate organisational responses
Optional grounding and somatic practices for professional settings
Reflecting on learning and identifying practical practice changes
Developing a simple trauma-aware engagement or distress protocol

“If there’s one thing to invest in this year, it’s this.”
— Nataliya Senytsya, Strategic Service Designer

Who is this training for

This program is designed for:

This training is focused on real-world application, grounded in the actual contexts, projects and pressures teams are navigating.

About your facilitator

Jax Wechsler is a trauma-informed strategic designer and facilitator with over 20 years’ experience working in change, complexity and systems. She supports design, research and change teams to work more ethically, clearly and humanely when engaging with lived experience, power and uncertainty.

Jax brings more than 15 years of experience teaching innovation and change in university and organisational settings, alongside the past five years focused specifically on trauma-aware and nervous-system-informed practice. She has trained over 800 practitioners globally and contributed a chapter to Designed with Care: Creating Trauma-Informed Content.

“Design and change work always shapes human experience. Trauma-informed practice helps teams stay attentive to power, impact and care while working inside complex systems.”

Our change partners

Testimonials

What people are saying

"Thank you, Jax, for driving capability uplift in this crucial space across Australia. It was an honour to have you at Westpac."

"The community team deeply valued the space you held for them to reflect, learn and plan their complex community facilitation work together. Highly recommended!"

"Our team got a lot of value from the experience and have taken concrete steps towards improving how we relate to each other as a team and how we relate to our research participants in our professional practice."

"Great to get a refresher on some of the theory, alongside some new and refined methods I can mould into my own design process. Highly recommend it!”"

"Brilliant materials and great activities for our team. It will definitely better equip us to help with some of the public sector’s most complex social policy challenges. But also just good practices for any project."

"This was such a great training that equipped my team to feel more confident to work with vulnerable communities, thanks for your time and knowledge"

"Highly recommend the course, particularly the session that focussed on how to support yourself during the process. This was of great benefit for the team."

What's included

Investment

Ideal for teams working in high-ambiguity, emotionally charged or systemic contexts

This training is tailored to your team, context and delivery format.
Pricing is shared on inquiry once we understand what would be most useful.

Let's talk

Whether you’re exploring training for your team, a consulting review, or something more tailored, the best first step is a conversation.

Book a conversation or leave us a message.

Trauma-Informed Design & Research Training

Why this matters

What teams receive

Teams finish with practical tools they can apply the next day.