Thriving Together: Trauma Informed Resilient Leadership
Practical leadership tools grounded in trauma science that improve communication, safety, and team performance.
Somewhere in your organisation, a manager is sitting across from someone who’s clearly struggling, quietly thinking: I don’t know what to say. They want to help. They’re worried about saying the wrong thing, making it worse, or overstepping.
Every workplace includes people facing adversity. Whether it’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Complex PTSD (C-PTSD), stress, grief, burnout, or overwhelming life experiences, psychologists and researchers have found that exposure to profound stress changes our nervous system. This impacts decision making, attention and communication.
When organisations lack the confidence to respond well, it drives absence, turnover, and lost productivity.
Trauma-Informed Leadership gives managers the words, the tools and the confidence to handle those moments well, so that everyone – whether they’re living with PTSD or C-PTSD, or navigating everyday stress – can thrive at work.
6-week online programme | Self-paced learning | CPD Accredited | Funded by The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) Social Purpose Programme.
Why This Matters
Most organisations recognise the importance of wellbeing. Yet managers are often navigating complex situations without the confidence or practical tools to respond effectively.
When people feel unsafe, overwhelmed, or unsupported at work, the consequences are felt across the organisation.
9 in 10 Employees report experiencing severe or extreme stress each year. (Mental Health UK, 2025)
33% Workers report experiencing a traumatic event that has significantly affected their lives. (McKinsey Institute, 2026)
£51bn Estimated annual cost of poor mental health to UK employers. (Deloitte, 2019)
£5 Return For every £1 invested in improving employee mental health. (Deloitte, 2019)
Managers have more influence on employee wellbeing than doctors or therapists (Workforce Institute at UKG, 2023). Investing in leadership capability is one of the highest-leverage investments an organisation can make.
What Your Managers Will Learn
By the end of this training programme, your managers will be better able to:
- recognise when someone’s capacity to cope is slipping before it affects their work
- stay calm and communicate clearly in conversations that used to feel daunting
- respond in ways that build trust rather than escalate tension
- understand the line between supporting someone and taking on too much
- look after their own wellbeing so they can lead sustainably.
How The Programme Works
- Six Online Modules: Approximately 30 minutes of asynchronous video learning per week.
- Two Internal Reflective Meetings: Peer group discussions facilitated by a member of your team using PTSD UK guidance materials.
- Knowledge Checks and Reflections: Short quizzes, reflection exercises and practical workplace applications.
- Downloadable Resources: Reference sheets, templates, scenario cards and implementation tools.
Who This Programme Is For
- Managers at any level
- Team Leaders
- HR Professionals
- Workplace Wellbeing Leads
- Senior Leaders
- Learning & Development Professionals
Why PTSD UK?
Expertise
We’re the UK’s only charity dedicated to raising awareness of PTSD and C-PTSD, no matter the trauma that caused it.
Our training and education programmes are grounded in both lived experience and clinical insight, and trusted by NHS teams, charities, education institutions, and businesses across the UK.
This programme was developed by PTSD UK alongside Hala Khouri, a somatic psychologist and respected international voice in trauma-informed practice and Alexandra Ostrow, a strategist specialising in trauma-informed approaches to organisational change.
Lived Experience
Since we were founded in 2014, our work has been dedicated to and informed by people with lived experience of PTSD and C-PTSD. This programme was shaped by insights gained from over a decade spent supporting people affected by trauma in the workplace, and a series of lived experience focus groups helped to develop the course content.
Employer Insight
Alongside crucial lived experience expertise, our content has been reviewed and informed by HR professionals, managers and leaders across multiple sectors to ensure it delivers what professionals need.
Accreditation
Thriving Together is currently the only trauma-informed leadership programme supported by NEBOSH and designed to meet their rigorous standards. Once our pilot is complete the programme will be submitted for full CPD accreditation.
Equip Your Managers to Lead with Confidence and Compassion
Trauma-Informed Leadership helps organisations build psychologically safer workplaces, strengthen leadership capability, and support their people to thrive.
Get in touch today to find out how your team can access the Thriving Together programme, free of charge, as one of our pilot organisations by emailing us on thrivingtogether[at]ptsduk.org.
Participation in Thriving Together reflects an organisation’s involvement in workplace learning and does not constitute accreditation or endorsement by PTSD UK of the organisation or its wider activities.
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Treatments for PTSD
It is possible for PTSD to be successfully treated many years after the traumatic event occurred, which means it is never too late to seek help. For some, the first step may be watchful waiting, then exploring therapeutic options such as individual or group therapy – but the main treatment options in the UK are psychological treatments such as Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprogramming (EMDR) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
Traumatic events can be very difficult to come to terms with, but confronting and understanding your feelings and seeking professional help is often the only way of effectively treating PTSD. You can find out more in the links below, or here.