Trauma-Informed Leadership
Supporting Psychological Safety in the Organization
Virtual via Zoom
Fee: $15 full members; $60 partial members & non-members
Continuing Education Hours: 3.5
Course Description
Psychological safety is essential to healthy teams, honest communication, employee engagement, and organizational accountability. This session explores the critical role leaders play in creating environments where staff feel respected, supported, and able to express concerns without fear of humiliation, retaliation, or judgment. Using a trauma-informed leadership lens, participants examine how workplace experiences, stress, and organizational culture affect trust, communication, and performance.
Building on concepts introduced in Session 1, leaders learn practical strategies for balancing empathy with accountability and creating conditions where support and high expectations can coexist. Participants explore the role of emotional intelligence, healthy boundaries, and staff well-being in strengthening psychological safety. The session also prepares leaders for later discussions on accountability and performance management by examining how safety supports honest, productive conversations about performance.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Define psychological safety and explain its impact on employee engagement, retention, teamwork, and performance.
- Describe the principles of trauma-informed leadership and their application in behavioral health settings.
- Recognize leadership behaviors that strengthen or undermine trust and psychological safety.
- Balance empathy, support, and accountability when supervising and developing staff.
- Apply communication techniques that promote openness, trust, and honest feedback.
- Utilize emotional intelligence skills to navigate challenging interpersonal situations.
- Establish healthy boundaries that support staff well-being, resilience, and organizational effectiveness.
- Create strategies to strengthen psychological safety within their teams and organizations.
About the Trainer
Tess Parker, LMSW
Tess Parker is an accomplished trainer, clinical therapist, and educator. As a former program director in behavioral health, she leverages her Master of Social Work from the University of Denver in a career dedicated to serving individuals experiencing mental health emergencies in both outpatient, and residential settings. Tess believes authenticity and vulnerability are at the core of human connection, and this belief is the foundation of her clinical and consultative approach. Tess has an uncanny ability to strategically identify critical gaps in care and then create programs to bridge those gaps and truly save lives. She is also an avid writer, a minimalist at heart, and values meaningful connections with persons served, customers, and her community.