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Enrica Thomas, director of Kentucky based Child & Family Services for Family & Children’s Place, has received a scholarship to participate in Advanced Trauma Informed Care for Victim Service Providers training Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, at Marriott Griffin Gate Resort & Spa in Lexington.

The scholarship, from the Kentucky Victim Assistance Academy at Western Kentucky University, includes the training and all materials, as well as mileage to and from the training site, providing important cost savings for the agency and allowing it to focus its limited resources on what matters most – helping children and families.

The advanced training, presented in partnership with the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, Kentucky Crime Victims Compensation Board, and Western Kentucky University, will provide an opportunity to explore topics related to victim assistance in greater depth, to network with colleagues and other allied professionals, and to provide a forum for discussion of lessons learned from years of experience working with victims of crime in Kentucky.

The interactive training will include topics such as:

• Impact of Trauma on the brain
• Skills with prolonged and multiple traumas
• Awareness of Victim Recovery Indicators
• Reducing Vicarious Trauma, Burnout, and Compassion Fatigue
• Trauma Informed Research Best Practice Models

Thomas, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and native of Texas, is a Certified Social Worker, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a certified paralegal. She has been with the agency since 2010 and is a survivor of domestic violence. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with specialization in leadership and American Humanics, from the University of San Diego, Calif., and her master’s in social work, with specialization in marriage and family therapy, from the University of Louisville, Ky.

Thomas is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and Motivational Interviewing (MI), Strategic and Structural Family Therapy, Cognitive Behavior and Narrative therapies, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, Nurturing Parenting and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy.