Another fantastic group of people attended this York event with full attendance numbers too! Good input from those present including from delegates from women's support organisations, Mind, Yorkshire schools and West Yorkshire Police among others. Many thanks to everyone who took time out to attend, for the contacts received for organisations that could find this beneficial, and to the staff at YHA York for their support in setting this up and preparing the hot and cold working lunch buffet for us all.

Some feedback left on the forms provided as to how delegates felt they benefitted is below. If you would like to leave an additional comment, please do so below. Thanks again!

"Good balance of practical info about process and practical help. Very relevant and useful. Good for non-specialists to get this knowledge."

"Clarification of symptoms and helpful strategies to implement in a school setting."

"Thank you for your professionalism & excellent honest delivery. Also the materials are excellent. From a professional perspective: helped me to remember to approach each session with "newness; each session is different to the last for that person"

"Will be able to use grounding techniques with pupils when experiencing anxiety. Useful information to offer support to the young people I work with."

"Gave me a greater understanding & knowledge of dissociation"

"Greater awareness of my own behaviours; particularly relevant in dealing with son's behaviours associated to trauma. I feel much more aware of how I had wanted to have labels to attach to behaviours. I feel I can work more empathically with my clients. Hopefully use/think more about "what if" & like the grounding - bringing back into the space techniques. Great workshop - thank you, Julie. Excellent lunch too!"

"Learning of different dissociations etc - things I was not aware of."

"I've worked with women with DID previously and it's always useful to have reminder training of what it is and hear a survivor's perspective rather than from a professional's as I can embed this into my work/support."

"Practical tips, confidence in what I already do; good hearing lived experience. Excellent. Thank you for the personal story which very much resonated with my own journey with dissociation. Best training I've been on because I felt like you were embodied and not just giving tips but actual lived experience. I liked the approach of trying things and no necessarily having all the answers, but techniques we can experiment with."

"Useful information for difficult situations. Would be useful for adoptive parents to hear."

What a lovely group of people I met today at The Summit Centre in Kirkby! Plenty of experiences shared, ideas and feedback during the open discussion and activities with comments from some, such as on the usefulness of hearing from agencies performing entirely different supporting roles but with the same members of the public. The feedback received on the day on the forms handed out is below and further comments are welcomed below.

"Gained an insight into how traumatised people might behave and how to identify and deal with this."

"Indepth view of working with trauma."

"I felt I learnt more about dissociation and trauma, which will help me in my role."

"It made me more aware of triggers and being more aware of behaviours.  Your sharing gave a deep insight."

"Have a much greater and more thorough understanding of dissociation and trauma and how to respond safely to those in distress."

"Increased knowledge of dissociation and feel more confident in identifying it and to work positively with people experiencing this."

"Reassured that I will know what to do if a client dissociates.  A really useful course to build understanding."

"Better understanding od dissociation and an understanding of grounding techniques."

A lovely group of people attended this "Understanding Dissociation & Trauma" awareness event yesterday. It was good to have input from these attendees and some issues raised reflected comments raised by agencies at other events. Many public and third sector workers seem to be on the same wavelength with mental and emotional wellbeing matters! Some interesting conversations were held too.

Some of the feedback received is below and the rest will follow soon. Many thanks to everyone who attended.

"Has helped me to see some things with my clients that I hadn't noticed before."

"Gained a lot of knowledge around trauma events and dissociation and the triggers that people can experience. Good to hear about personal experiences from Julie Anne. Very friendly and approachable. I don't work with Adult's Mental Health but do support children affected by domestic abuse resulting in trauma events etc."

"The trauma aspect was very relevant and interesting. Very appreciative of the trainer's moving testimony."

"Refocussed my practice - reminded not to judge and to consider all options. Introduced a new resource to enhance my practice with younger children - "Who is Corey?" book.
[Note from Julie Anne: This CBT for children book is available at http://amzn.eu/d13aMEG] A further book will be released soon!]

I met a lovely group of people from Rochdale Connections Trust this week, performing a variety of roles within the organisation which was interesting to hear about. Everyone fully participated in the day and had a lot of information and experience to share with their colleagues in the area of behaviours considered challenging, trauma, ACEs and related mental health issues.  I am very grateful to have been invited to speak with RCT and hope our paths cross once again!

This was my first visit to Birmingham - ever - and overall a very positive one. The venue staff at J L Kare couldn't have been more helpful prior to and on the day. A lovely group of people attended and what made the day beneficial was the input from many of the attendees throughout, learning from each other and sharing knowledge.

A first at these events was the demo session of Laughter Yoga provided in the afternoon by practitioner "Merrie Maggie" which everyone was able to participate in. I am sure this was appreciated by all and offered insight into another form of support for wellbeing. Many thanks to everyone.

If you would like to leave a comment about the day, you are welcome to do so below.