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NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors

Promoting Racial Resilience and Recovery in Children, Young People and Families with Experiences of Refugee Trauma and Racism

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Racism has a profound and lasting impact on children and young people. It affects their physical and mental well-being, academic performance, social interactions, and overall development. Children with experiences of complex trauma and refugee experience are especially vulnerable to experiences of racism. Racism affects mental and emotional health, academic performance, identity formation, behavioural responses, aspirations and goals and interpersonal relationships. Racism can also result in social isolation, health disparities, long term trauma and on future opportunities.

This Anti-racism training is designed to raise awareness of, challenge biases, and promote actions to dismantle racism and promote racial equity and racial resilience for children and young people with refugee experience. We begin by acknowledging and recognizing our place in a system that has significant harmful effects on vulnerable communities. Participants will explore how shame can influence our reactions to this realization, using Nathanson’s compass of shame as a guide. Throughout the workshop, participants will learn to be effective allies and support those who experience racism. We’ll delve into the attributes and characteristics of being an ally, and explore strategies for promoting racial resilience in service delivery. Specifically, we’ll focus on fostering resilience and recovery among children and young people with refugee trauma histories.

The training will also address the impact of racism on children and young people who have refugee experiences. We’ll explore the effects of racial traumatic stress within the context of Australian racism, examining examples of racism across various layers of social interaction, including structural, systemic, interpersonal, and personal levels.

To build a strong foundation for understanding and combating racism, participants will be introduced to essential racial literacy. We’ll provide tools and techniques to help unpack individual positionality and navigate potential experiences of shame that may arise during discussions about racism. The content will include:

  • Identifying positionality and shame in the context of racism.
  • Ethics of care: for self, for others.
  • Foundational racial literacy
  • Examples of the four levels of racism in the Australian historical and cultural context
  • The impact of the refugee experience on attachment, development, and identity.
  • Racial traumatic stress and its impacts on children and young people from refugee backgrounds
  • Impacts of generational trauma on people with refugee experience
  • Listening to racialized people with heart and mind
  • Promoting racial resilience and recovery

Who should attend?
Anyone working, volunteering or studying to work with children, young people and families from refugee backgrounds who are experiencing racism.

Our Trainer – Rafik Tanious
Counsellor/Trainer, STARTTS

Rafik Tanious has worked across the social ecologies of education, mental health and social services with children and young people for the past 30 years both locally and internationally. He has extensive field work experience working with children and adolescents with refugee backgrounds in case work, education and counselling. Rafik has a continuing interest in trauma recovery, anti-racism, and youth identity formation and has developed racial literacy, and racial resilience programs for young people with refugee experiences and produced anti-racism films on Cabramatta for the NSW Premiers department. Rafik has also been employed as a consultant and trainer with universities in supporting the mental health of international students, developing orientation programs and inter-cultural learning frameworks and facilitating cross cultural parenting programs. Read more….

This workshop was so interesting and thought-provoking.
Rafik was so articulate and interesting. Very knowledgeable on the subject matter.

Cost for calendar workshop:
Early Bird – $288 | $261 concession
Standard – $320 | $290 concession
Note – there is a 5% late fee for registering after 8.30am the day before the event. Costs are in Australian dollars.

Registration for calendar workshops
All registrations are online and payment is by credit card. Please click on the relevant ‘Register’ button above. A confirmation email will be sent to you automatically which will include the Zoom link. You will receive a reminder email one week and one day before the event.

Training dates for calendar workshops
This workshop will be scheduled again in mid 2024. Please make a request for in-house training for your organisation if you need training earlier.

Workshop delivery
STARTTS workshops are delivered by trainers experienced in the trauma field. They are interactive and normally include small group discussions via breakout rooms, case studies, self-reflections, videos and other types of activities. This workshop is delivered via Zoom. The Zoom link will be included in the registration confirmation email and the reminder emails.

Certificates and handouts
A PDF of the slides will be emailed to you a day before the event. A certificate of completion will be emailed to you the day after the event.

CPD points – 6 CPD hours
This workshop adheres to the continuing professional development standards of most professional bodies. Please check the CPD policy of your professional body.

Request in-house training
This workshop is available upon request. Please go to the ‘Request Training‘ page for further information about workshop fees and how to make a request for your workplace. Please note that requests need to be made and confirmed at least 6-8 weeks in advance as we do get booked up.

Contact us
stts-training@health.nsw.gov.au
(02) 9646 6700  Ask for the Training Administration Officer

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