Building on the findings from the previous Insight on this topic, this webinar asked questions of the current turn to trauma as the default lens through which we consider social suffering. Trauma talk is all around us and everyday instances of upset or distress are reframed as traumatic. The webinar outlines some of the background to, and evidence (or lack thereof) for this turn towards trauma. It considers whether there may be a downside to framing every episode of human distress as traumatic and whether doing so may limit the ways in which people can understand their lives and practitioners best respond to them. The presentation concludes by arguing the need for a more ‘social’ lens through which to understand and respond to people’s experiences.
Speakers
Mark Smith is Professor of Social Work at the University of Dundee. He has extensive experience as a practitioner and manager in residential child care settings and as a foster carer. He has published widely across a broad range of social work, social care and social policy topics, including recent critiques of trauma informed practice.
Sebastian Monteux is a registered Mental Health Nurse and lecturer at Abertay University. His practice background has been in Scotland and the Netherlands across residential child care, adult social care, and learning disability settings. Most recently, prior to academia, he worked in the North of Scotland regional CAMHS inpatient unit, Dundee.
