International Perspectives on Training Social Workers Engaged in Direct Practice and Exposed to the Trauma of War

An important way that the international community of social workers can respond to the needs of war-affected populations around the globe is by providing training to develop the capacity of local professionals to deal with this kind of trauma. Addressing the nature of war, and the associated oppression and trauma, we mostly bring culturally determined experiences that are sometimes difficult to apply to the local context. These seminars and training workshops address the pressures of war and the trauma-related scope of practice that many of our social work colleagues confront. Social workers who work with civilian and military populations in these settings are challenged with adapting their expertise on the ground, while themselves experiencing the trauma of war. Responding to the need and potentials for increased international collaboration related to training for social workers suffering from war and associated traumas, in this workshop, panelists will address the conference theme of mental health and research on social work education, highlighting international perspectives on social work training for these impacted professionals.

This workshop brings together four social work professors from the United States and Ukraine (Bryn Mawr College; Wayne State University; National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy). The presenters will discuss the outcomes and implications of collaborative, ongoing trainings they created and launched for Ukrainian social workers engaged in providing services in the context of Russia's ongoing War in Ukraine. These trainings included (1) an eight-week virtual professional development seminar series, delivered twice to cohorts first in Summer 2022 and then in Fall/Winter 2022 and (2) a series of trainings related to evidence-based social work interventions (e.g., cognitive processing therapy), delivered in 2021-2022. Drawing upon these dynamic, locally-informed trainings, presenters will discuss lessons learned, including how address the importance of developing and supporting natural care networks to build resilience and self- and community- care as potential antidotes to burnout and compassion fatigue among professionals.

Reflecting on these projects of collaborative social work development, presenters will use an interactive, hands-on format, sharing lessons learned and exploring with the audience the following topics: 1) How to identify key themes in these types of cross-border training collaborations, including attending to the nature of war and trauma, local capacity, and cultural background. 2) How to establish and design trainings based on key topical priorities for direct practice social workers exposed to the trauma of (e.g., secondary and vicarious trauma and resilience; working in war zones with complex cases, including clients experiencing addiction, family violence, developmental disabilities and/or aging; and overcoming logistical and organizational barriers to service delivery in war zones). They will examine the stress of protracted war and exposure to extreme and persistent trauma; the importance of social work self-care; family and community functioning in war; loss and grief and the social worker's role in providing grief leadership; internal and external resilience and their role in well-being; evidence-based interventions. Finally, the presenters will discuss modes of evaluation for collaborations like these, and discuss next steps in global social work training and capacity development.