Trauma Focused Trainings.
Meghan offers comprehensive training programs for mental health professionals, educators, parents, and organizations seeking to implement trauma-informed practices.
All trainings incorporate current research, practical strategies, and real-world applications.
Classes
This course was created by Meghan in 2012 to help parents and caregivers better understand and prevent child sexual abuse. Participants will explore common myths and misconceptions that often keep abuse hidden in secrecy and silence. In sharing her knowledge and stories of her experience, parents will learn specific language to use with their children. Parents will gain the confidence, language, and tools needed to have developmentally appropriate conversations with their children about body safety, boundaries, consent, and abuse prevention. The class is designed to empower families to create safer environments through open communication, awareness, and connection.
Audience: Parents / caregivers
Hours: 2
This is a group activity, intended for teens, to facilitate discussion about healthy sexual values. Teen will learn about the fundamental laws for any sexual contact and will consider how these fit with their own family values. Typical victim blaming scenarios will be discussed and youth will be given a framework to help them better understand what it means to consent. The scenarios are available in English and Spanish. Discussion will need to be facilitated by an interpreter.
Audience: High School Students
Hours: 1
Meghan will read her children’s book, Who’s the Boss of this Body to elementary age children. The book is published in English and Spanish.
Audience: Elementary age Children
Hours: .5
This class teaches middle schoolers about the 10 Adverse Childhood Experiences and helps them know how to respond if they experience adversity, or have a friend that they want to support. This is a class discussion that will require an interpreter.
Audience: Middle school students
Hours: 1
In this training, Meghan Backofen will explore the prevalence and unique dynamics of sibling sexual abuse, including common risk factors and barriers to disclosure. Participants will gain an understanding of the complex impact these cases have on children, caregivers, and overall family functioning. The course will address trauma-informed treatment considerations, safety planning strategies, and approaches for supporting both victims and families throughout the healing process. Meghan will also present best-practice guidelines for clarification work, accountability, and family reunification, with an emphasis on safety, clinical readiness, and long-term emotional well-being for all family members involved.
Audience: Caregivers / Providers
Hours: 1.5
This workshop provides participants with an understanding of Vicarious Trauma, Secondary Traumatic Stress, Compassion Fatigue, and Burnout, including how these experiences impact professionals working with traumatized individuals and families. Participants will learn to recognize the emotional, cognitive, physical, and relational signs of stress exposure in helping professions. The training will introduce practical and sustainable wellness strategies, including the “A-B-C’s” of self-care, to help professionals build resilience, maintain effectiveness, and reduce the long-term impact of trauma exposure while continuing to provide compassionate care.
Audience: Providers exposed to Secondary Post Traumatic Stress
Hours: 2
This class examines the critical role caregivers play in a child’s recovery following abuse. Participants will learn the essential elements of supportive caregiving that help children feel safe, believed, and emotionally supported throughout the healing process. Parents and caregivers of victimized children will gain practical tools and guidance for responding effectively to disclosures, managing their own emotional reactions, and strengthening connection with their child after trauma. Providers will learn strategies for helping caregivers build these skills and for supporting healthy family responses that promote resilience and long-term healing.
Audience: Caregivers and Providers who work with youth and families exposed to traumas
Hours: 2
This course helps mental health providers understand the ways the court process can unintentionally re-traumatize victims of abuse and violence. Participants will learn about common elements of the legal system that may increase fear, shame, anxiety, or emotional distress for victims, as well as strategies to minimize additional harm throughout the investigative and court process. The training will also focus on helping clinicians effectively prepare children, adolescents, and adult victims for testimony by increasing emotional readiness, reducing anxiety, and supporting resilience while maintaining the integrity of the legal process.
Audience: Mental health providers preparing children and families for court
Hours: 2
This training addresses the many questions and emotional reactions caregivers often experience after learning that a child has been sexually abused. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the impact disclosure can have on families and will learn strategies to support caregivers with compassion, education, and practical guidance. Emphasis is placed on helping families move toward resilience, healing, and connection rather than becoming overwhelmed by fear, shame, or trauma. Providers will leave with tools to better navigate difficult conversations and strengthen caregiver responses during the recovery process.
Audience: Providers who work with youth and families exposed to trauma (day care providers, educators, nonprofits, CASA, Child Welfare, etc)
Hours: 2
The American Psychological Association’s Effective Provider trainings are designed to strengthen clinicians’ ability to deliver evidence-based, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive care. These trainings focus on increasing provider confidence, improving engagement with clients and families, and enhancing practical clinical skills that support resilience and healing. Participants learn strategies to build therapeutic relationships, respond effectively to trauma, reduce barriers to treatment, and promote positive outcomes for diverse populations. The training combines research-informed practices with real-world clinical application to help providers become more effective and compassionate practitioners.
Audience: Child Welfare Workers and Mental Health clinicians.
Hours: 8
This presentation explores the common myths surrounding sexual abuse and the ways these misconceptions impact victims and their families. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of victim blaming, concerns about false allegations, grooming behaviors, the culture of secrecy surrounding abuse, and the complexities of the disclosure process. Practical strategies will be provided to help individuals respond supportively and effectively when someone discloses abuse. Attendees will also learn to recognize when professional mental health treatment may be necessary and how to connect victims and families with appropriate support.
Audience: Providers and Community members
Hours: 2
This training is designed to help professionals who work with children to better understand the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs, and how trauma affects the children and families they serve. Participants will explore how experiences such as abuse, neglect, exposure to violence, substance abuse, and family instability can influence a child’s behavior, relationships, emotional regulation, and ability to trust others. The training emphasizes a trauma-informed approach that shifts the question from “What is wrong with this child?” to “What happened to this child?”. Participants will learn practical strategies for building safety, connection, and resilience while avoiding responses that may unintentionally re-traumatize youth. Through discussion and real-world examples, participants will gain tools to improve communication, strengthen advocacy efforts, and better support children navigating the child welfare and court systems.
Audience: Providers who work with youth and families exposed to trauma (day care providers, educators, nonprofits, CASA, Child Welfare, etc)
Hours: 1.5
RISE is a trauma-responsive program from the Center for Resilience + Well-Being at CU Boulder that aims to improve the well-being and resilience of educators. RISE integrates knowledge about trauma, resilience in emotional development, and academic achievement. Educators will develop skills to promote development, safe and supportive relationships, connection skills, emotion support skills, and resilience-promoting practices.
Audience: School Staff
More information can be found here.