Recognizing Domestic Violence and Responding with Care

Your Course Description

Your Competency Focus Area

Mental Health Basics

Many young people are impacted by domestic violence, whether they experience it directly or witness it at home. Its effects can show up in their behavior, relationships, triggers, and sense of safety, yet these signs often go unseen.
This training gives youth workers clear guidance on what domestic violence is, how it affects young people, and how trauma shows up in the nervous system and day-to-day interactions.
You’ll learn practical, trauma-informed ways to respond, support healing, and protect their own well-being while doing this work. Join us to build the confidence and skills to recognize harm early, respond with care, and be a stabilizing presence for youth who need it most.

Your Learning Objectives

Be able to explain what domestic violence is and why it occurs
Identify common signs and impacts of domestic violence on young people
Recognize behavioral and nervous-system responses that may signal trauma
Use trauma-informed approaches to support youth experiencing or disclosing violence
Implement strategies to prevent vicarious trauma and care for your own well-being

Your Course Details

Completion Certificate
Youth Worker Track
This training will count as 1.5 CE hours for most boards. Please contact your board directly with questions on submitting. Course details for CE submissions provided.

Your Trainer

Dr. Jennifer Clifden has lived and witnessed the toll burnout takes on those who give tirelessly. She guides human-service professionals to shift from self-sacrifice to self-healing, transforming the pressures of their calling into personal strengths and using burnout as a pathway for growth. With a deep passion for preventing the harmful effects of compassion fatigue and helping retain those called to healing and helping professions, Jen works to safeguard the well-being of the workforce our youth and communities depend on. Drawing on 29 years as a K–8 teacher, university teacher educator, mental health researcher, yoga instructor, and mother of three, she designs and delivers on-demand trainings, transformative on-site professional development, energizing keynotes, and restorative community practice circles that draw on the science of thriving to rebuild connection, reinforce personal power, and foster self-healing. Jen shows caregivers how their capacity to care can become a source of healing, growth, and thriving, not depletion. Learn more at www.drjenclifden.com.

Jonathan Boorman is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with almost 20 years of experience working with children, adults, couples, and families. Among his areas of expertise are EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), infidelity, anxiety, depression, and trauma. Jonathan also has extensive experience working with gifted children, adults and their families, as well as individuals and families living with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Jonathan's therapeutic approach is to provide support to help others effectively address personal life challenges. He combines traditional complementary methodologies and current neurological research to offer a highly personalized approach tailored to each person. Jonathan is committed to assisting each individual build on their existing strengths to live their best possible life.