Stage 1 trauma treatment for addiction recovery

Learn how to support clients in early recovery using safety-focused, trauma-informed strategies.

This training is suitable for:

• Mental Health Professionals: psychotherapists, counsellors, psychologists, social workers.
• Medical Professionals: nurses, psychiatrists, pediatricians, family doctors.
• Direct Service Workers: drop-in workers, shelter and hostel workers, child and youth workers, youth justice workers

Client category: Professionals working with adult (18+) clients.

This training can be valuable even in short-term or single-session work with clients.

Level of training: Introductory/Intermediate

CE hours: 6

Stage 1 trauma treatment for addiction recovery overview:

People who experience trauma often turn to substance use as a way to cope with overwhelming emotional pain, intrusive memories, and the lasting imprint trauma leaves on the nervous system. Trauma and addiction are deeply connected. This workshop offers a Stage 1 trauma treatment for addiction recovery approach tailored for individuals struggling with substance use. It emphasizes safety and stabilization before trauma processing.

Grounded in Lisa Najavits’ Seeking Safety model, this session focuses on building foundational skills that address both trauma symptoms and substance use behaviors. The approach is integrated and present-focused.

Participants will learn how trauma lives in the body and nervous system. It often manifests as chronic dysregulation, emotional overwhelm, dissociation, and somatic distress. These trauma-driven states can trigger cravings and perpetuate substance use as an attempt to self-regulate.

Using the Window of Tolerance model, the workshop explores how different states of nervous system arousal can trigger cravings or reinforce substance use. Experiential strategies will help participants support clients in regulating these states and regaining a sense of internal safety. The session will also examine the emotional landscape of trauma—including shame, anger, and fear—and how these emotions fuel the addiction cycle.

Participants will gain practical tools such as grounding, mindfulness, and psychoeducation to support emotional regulation and recovery. The training highlights the impact of developmental trauma, chronic invalidation, and systemic oppression (e.g., racism, stigma) on substance use. This training will also explore how relational mindfulness can help repair ruptured connections and promote healing.

“Addiction and trauma are deeply intertwined, yet many clinicians feel unprepared to address both. This workshop bridges that gap with a Stage 1 trauma treatment approach, helping clients find safety in their bodies, manage emotional overwhelm, and boost their recovery with practical tools without pushing them into deeper trauma processing.” – Dhwani Joshi.

Learning objectives:

• Enhance understanding of the relationship between trauma and addiction, focusing on how trauma is embodied, and influences substance use behaviors.
• Explore the principles of the Window of Tolerance model through experiential exercises. This is to strengthen the understanding of safety in substance use treatment.
• Address trauma-driven emotional states that trigger addictive behaviors using grounding and mindfulness techniques to promote emotional awareness and regulation.
• Examine the effects of developmental trauma and invalidation on substance use.
• Discover how relational mindfulness can help mitigate the impact of chronic invalidation in clients.

By the end of the session, clinicians will have a concrete framework for engaging clients in trauma treatment that centers safety—not abstinence—as the first stage of recovery. The skills presented are designed to be flexible and can be valuable even in short-term or single-session work with clients.

This Stage 1 trauma treatment for addiction recovery training is essential for professionals working with clients who use substances to manage the effects of trauma. Register now and gain practical tools to help them manage trauma, reduce substance use, and build emotional stability.

Upon registration, participants will receive a confirmation email that includes access information to our on-demand training platform, SickKids Academy Online. Participants will have access for 90 days from the date they begin the course on SickKids Academy Online. Following the training, participants are required to complete a quiz to receive the Certificate of Participation.

This program is from a recording on March 12, 2026

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April 29, 2026