Trauma recovery core capabilities for the children’s workforce in the United Kingdom: A Q-methodology study

There are competency frameworks and trainings relating to the development of a trauma informed workforce. These have generally been developed outside of the UK and often involve lists of 20 to 40 competencies, which can become overwhelming and often impractical to implement. The aim of this research was to develop UK expert consensus on the key elements of what would make a worker/practitioner who engages with traumatized children trauma informed and recovery focused. The use of the Delphi and Q-methodology allowed consensus across UK experts and practitioners to be developed. The Q-sort clusters responses across participants to develop a small set of overarching themes. This process led to three key components being identified (1) Recovery through new ways of coping with stress; (2) The role of the family system in the recovery process and (3) Understanding the longer-term development impact of trauma on the young person and the potential impact on the practitioner. These three components were linked to the types of roles the experts held within the trauma recovery field. It is hoped that these overarching components will guide workforce development activities including training, curriculum development, and professional standards for those who engage with traumatized young people.

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