Brain Story training: Building a shared lens for empathy, insight and action

Several staff members at the Community Outreach Centre in Charlottetown recently received Brain Story Certification, an in-depth course on brain development and how stress and childhood trauma impact development and health. 

The Adventure Group Inc. operates the centre and Roxanne Carter-Thompson, executive director of the Adventure Group, says having access to this type of innovative training will help improve services for their clients and provide staff with another level of expertise to help people dealing with mental health and addiction challenges.  

“As an organization, we implement a trauma-informed care approach,” she explains. “This training is a well-researched tool that focuses on empowerment, choice, safety and the strengths of individuals, while acknowledging the influence of various childhood traumas. The Brain Story course is a highly effective tool for building a new level of compassion for people.”

The program gives trainees a deeper understanding of brain development and its consequences for lifelong health.  A key part of the training focuses on the link between childhood trauma and poor health outcomes, along with helping providers to understand how they can use this science to enable people to build resilience and ultimately move to recovery and heal. 

In recent years, people with complex health and social challenges have gained more visibility, along with the barriers they face in accessing services and support. The Brain Story helps create a shared understanding and language among service providers, which is crucial for holistic care.

Research shows that programs and policies that foster secure, stable relationships, strengthen essential life skills, and minimize sources of toxic stress can lead to better health outcomes for individuals, families, and communities.

Carter-Thompson explained one of the most important aspects of the Brain Story training was to create a common language between all levels of staff.

“We have casual and full-time staff working together who have various education and experience levels,” she said. “This Brain Story training creates a common language and enables us to view and discuss things from the same perspective.”

Chase O’Halloran, one of the Adventure Group staff members who took the training, said the course helped him immensely.

“While the training involved a lot of heavy science, it did a great job of simplifying and breaking down the key ideas of childhood trauma and its links to mental health and addiction,” he said.

“Brain development research is complicated, to say the least, but Brain Story tailored the content to the audience making the training engaging and helping everyone put the theory into practice.” 

With funding from the Government of Prince Edward Island and the PEI Alliance for Mental Well-Being, The Adventure Group and other community organizations participated in the training.

The focus was on how early childhood trauma impacts brain development and affects social, physical, mental, and substance use health outcomes along with strategies that can be used to adjust interventions to be more effective at building well-being.

Adopting a prevention philosophy in order to effectively address the growing number of those facing homelessness, mental health and addictions, like ensuring that service providers have staff Brain Story certified, is a recommendation of Enhancing the System of Care for Islanders Experiencing Complex Issues, the interim report of the province’s Special Advisor for Islanders with Complex Needs.