This webinar offers a reflective and practical space to explore the key themes in our recent Trauma Briefing Paper, using the framework of the 4 R’s of trauma-informed care: Realise, Recognise, Respond, and Resist Re-traumatisation.
We’ll explore the opportunities and the challenges that each “R” holds both in everyday life for us all in any capacity and within working relationships. Together we will consider the practicalities for individuals and organisations to embed trauma-responsive values and practices into everyday work.
What to Expect:
Participants can expect a thought-provoking and interactive session, that touches upon theories and what it looks like real-world practice. Whether you’re new to trauma-informed approaches or already working with them, this webinar offers a chance for us all to deepen our understanding, reflect on current practice, and explore ways to integrate the 4 R’s into our work and life.
We’ll explore each of the 4 R’s in turn, share examples and invite discussion.
There will be time for questions, reflections, and shared insights.
Key Takeaways & Benefits of Attending:
Together we will reflect on and discuss:
Realise: What trauma is, how it shows up in individuals and systems, and why understanding it matters for everyone
Recognise: The signs and impacts of trauma in ourselves and others—and how to spot them compassionately
Respond: How to apply trauma-informed principles in daily interactions, service design, and team culture
Resist Re-traumatisation: Why safety, choice, collaboration, and empowerment are essential—and how to create spaces that aim to prevent harm
How the 4 R’s can be used as a practical framework for reflection, action, and culture change
A chance to connect with others, share ideas, and build confidence in applying trauma-informed thinking
Presenters
Dr Anna Cheetham
Dr Anna Cheetham is a Consultant Psychiatrist working in a Community Adult Mental Health and Personality & Complex Trauma Service within Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust. She also works as Medical Lead for Community Transformation and is Medical Lead for Recovery. Anna is a Consultant with ImROC (Implementing Recovery through Organisational Change) and has a long standing interest in trauma aware services and supporting the voices of lived experience to influence services and mental healthcare cultures.
Katie Mottram
Katie Mottram is a Consultant with Imroc’s Research, Evaluations, Publications and Development team and leading on a pilot project ‘Tending Distress’, which aims to bring somatic practice into clinical settings to support mental health workers with their own nervous system regulation. Having worked in various mental health settings over the last 25 years, she has long been a vocal advocate for reimagining mental health crises as opportunities for transformation. In 2017, inspired by her own lived experience of suicidality and subsequent personal transformation, Katie founded the international campaign 'Emerging Proud.' This initiative amplifies stories of individuals who view their crises as catalysts for growth. Her 2024 heuristic research, Is There Meaning in Madness?, aims to bring transpersonal approaches into mainstream mental health care, seeking to liberate individuals from pathologisation and usher in a more holistic, human-centered approach to healing.
Katie is currently also part of the Community Research Team for an NIHR funded study on 'Exploring the Soteria approach as an alternative to psychiatric inpatient treatment in the UK'.
Martha
My name is Martha and I work in the Personality and Complex Trauma Team in Lincolnshire as a peer support worker and I have my own lived experience of mental health difficulties.
Emma Watson - Chair
Emma Watson is the programme lead at Imroc for Research, Evaluation, Publications and Development, and was the Peer Support Lead at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. As Peer Support Lead, she led the strategic introduction of peer support workers into a range of clinical services, establishing training and supervision processes to support this development. Prior to this, Emma worked in a number of peer roles, including peer support worker, peer supervisor, peer trainer and peer researcher. Emma was among the first peer workers to be employed in Nottingham NHS Trust in 2010; an experience which transformed her own recovery, as well as her understanding of the power of lived experience.
As a programme lead at Imroc, Emma aspires to centre lived experience perspectives in research and publications, and offer accessible, creative ways for knowledge to be developed and shared. She is leading on the development of an MSc in Lived Experience Leadership as well as overseeing Imroc’s research and evaluation projects. Emma's commitment to advancing peer support is further demonstrated through her extensive research publications. She has authored numerous articles, as well as co-authoring the book "Peer Support in Mental Health," which provides an in-depth exploration of peer support concepts and practices. Her PhD explored peer support in the context of an NHS service, especially how this context changes or constrains peer support, and how individual peer workers resist this process.