Course Description

Trauma-Informed Care.  Recent research on the brain and trauma gives those working in the community a new paradigm to improve outcomes with individuals experiencing homelessness, substance abuse, mental health issues, and post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from military service and poverty.


Understanding how trauma impacts brain development, puts harmful behaviors and destructive thinking patterns in context, and gives helpers a roadmap to build relationships and promote safety, resiliency, healing, and post-traumatic growth. 


This training presents the trauma-informed paradigm in a practical context, giving learners both a theoretical basis and tools to apply immediately to their work with individuals.  Through the application of this trauma-informed paradigm, communities and service providers can minimize re-traumatization while creating a safe environment for the traumatized individual to regain control of their lives and their health

Matt Bennett

President, Optimal Innovation Group

Matt Bennett, MBA, MA, is a relentless advocate for trauma-informed care and other interventions that help people and communities heal. His passion manifests in his books Connecting Paradigms, Talking about Trauma & Change, Heart Variability, and Trauma-Sensitive Early Education as well as his Trauma-Informed Lens and Heart Rate Variability Podcasts. Mr. Bennett combines his masters’ degrees in community psychology and executive development/nonprofit management and business administration with his practical experience as a therapist and leader to develop research-based solutions to improve the health of individuals, staff, organizations, and systems. As a sought-after trainer, Mr. Bennett utilizes a participant-centered approach, which includes interactions and adult learning activities to maximize learning, retention, and application. Mr. Bennett’s presentations are a dynamic dance of innovative research, practical applications, and a passion for the art and science of helping others.