Traumatic Stress Studies Certificate Program, Supervised Edition
The Trauma Research Foundation’s Traumatic Stress Studies Certificate Program is the most comprehensive training available for those seeking to understand, treat, and heal trauma. Led by world-renowned experts including Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, this 7-month online course equips clinicians, educators, and healers with cutting-edge tools, research, and community to make a lasting impact.
The next training will begin in Fall 2026
Your personal invite from world-renowned expert, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk
The Most Comprehensive Trauma Training Available Today
History and Purpose
Over the last six years, the Traumatic Stress Studies program has reached almost 12,000 people via its 26-module asynchronous course. While the intended audience was always professional mental health practitioners, enrolled participants have included a wide array of constituencies, from patients to parents to medical and educational sector workers. Analysis of current needs in the field highlight different strategies for these audiences, in terms of breadth and depth. For example, a participant seeking a self-help framework may need more focused, introductory information with triaging for mental health support when clinical concerns arise. In contrast, an experienced clinical audience may need direct supervision and peer networking.
These observations point towards a pivot in program structure away from a “one size fits all” asynchronous course. TRF’s first task will be to focus on its community of mental health professionals, and in the upcoming years will refine and strengthen its offerings to client, parent, and allied professional communities such as teachers and nurses. The upcoming iteration of TSS–soon to be renamed to capture this pedagogical shift–will meet the professional community needs through continuing asynchronous educational material, and will now offer ongoing supervision in a year-long remote cohort-based model complemented by several in-person meetings each year.
The time is right for this transition. General knowledge in the field of complex trauma has expanded exponentially, but gaps still exist in specialty knowledge. Multiple virtual programs exist that focus on a single therapeutic modality, but few bring multiple perspectives together under one umbrella. Pioneers in the field have widely disseminated their models and specific approaches, but it’s time to develop the next generation of experts who, like TRF co-founder Bessel van der Kolk, move fluidly across a diverse toolkit to meet client needs. And while multiple remote trainings have created capacity for global dissemination, the field will be more robust if a community deepens its connections to one another through in person meetings, where we can be embodied and connected. It’s imperative to build this community while its elders and founders are here to guide and inspire us, creating urgency in making this shift now.
Through weekly sessions, live monthly Q&As, and access to a vibrant online community, you’ll explore the latest in neurobiology, attachment theory, somatic therapies, Internal Family Systems (IFS), EMDR, trauma-informed yoga, and more. Unlike programs that focus on a single modality, this course offers a holistic, multi-dimensional understanding of trauma—across developmental stages, cultures, and treatment settings.
Whether you’re a licensed clinician, educator, or simply dedicated to trauma healing, this certificate program provides you with not just a credential, but a deep transformation in how you see and support others. You’ll walk away with a clear, actionable framework for helping clients heal—and the confidence that comes from learning alongside a global network of trauma-informed professionals.
Structure
This program spans a 12 month period, from September to August each year. Participants are expected to set aside approximately 90-120 minutes/week. The program structure consists of three primary elements: asynchronous educational recordings; weekly supervision, and in-person mini-conferences. Supervision is provided by two tiers of supervisors: luminaries in the field who rotate through each cohort for several months (with each group consulting with 2-3 luminary supervisors), and sustaining supervisors who accompany each cohort through the entire year. Participants are evaluated on their progress through formative (i.e., ongoing) feedback and summative (e.g., skill achievement-based) examination. Several elements are still being determined (for example, the length of each session) in collaboration with expert clinician consultation.
Weekly supervision rotates monthly through a cycle of four offerings, three of which occur with their cohort: sustaining supervision, legacy supervision, peer supervision, and, independently, self-paced learning and structured evaluative feedback. The sustaining supervisor will meet with the cohort for group supervision once/month, where two cases will be presented and discussed per session. The sustaining supervisor will also join the second supervisory session each month, which will be led by the legacy supervisors. The third session each month will be a peer supervision session for the cohort to reflect on didactic material and upon their personal evolution as clinicians, and to troubleshoot focal but immediate clinical concerns which arise. Sustaining supervisors will meet separately during this week with a “supervisor of supervisors” for their own peer supervision. Paid time is allocated each month for supervisors’ self-paced learning and evaluation. The result will be a community of clinicians who are highly skilled in complex trauma intervention and whose skills have been demonstrated to high-tier field experts, allowing TRF and participants to make treatment referrals with confidence.
Sustaining supervisors will work with the cohort for the entire year; whereas legacy supervisors will rotate approximately quarterly. This structure allows for participants to both build a safe and stable community which tracks them over time while connecting them with the most established and impactful clinicians in our field.
In order to build a meaningful community that fosters personal connection among practitioners, supervisors and participants are invited to three in-person conferences each year. The cornerstone is TRF’s own conference, now in its 37th year, where many of the legacy supervisors in this field debuted. The conference will reserve special breakout/add on time for program participants with conference presenters (one to two days). The other two events (two-three days), in exciting locations like New York City, Tulum, and London, will focus explicitly on the training community, with in-vivo supervision, flash talks, fireside chats, and brief “TED-style” talks, and a range of community-building events and networking opportunities.
Legacy Supervisors
Frank Anderson
Janina Fisher
Bessel Van Der Kolk
Innovator in Trauma and Biology and Pioneer in Integrating Models
Diana Fosha
Developer of Accelerated Experiential Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Christine Courtois
Author of the Complex Trauma Treatment Guidelines for the American Psychological Association
Scott Lyons
Developer of Somatic EMDR
Tian Dayton
Developer of the Relational Trauma Repair Model and Psychodrama Pioneer
Michael Mithoefer
Developer of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy
Linda Thai
Expert in grief, war trauma, and somatics
Ruth Cohn
Pioneer in centering neglect
Elizabeth Call
Expert in Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy
Sustaining Supervisors
- Steve Freed - Addictions
- Melany Rivera Maldonado - Early Childhood
- Erin Stafford - Dissociation
- Peter Haugen - First Responders
- Inga Blom - Maternity
- William Washington - Racism
- Chantelle Thomas - Psychedelic Integration
- Lucas Cassanova - Spirituality
- Deanna Davis - Somatic
- DeVon Mills - Sex, Couples
- Laura Land - Mindfulness
- Noga Miron - Survivors of Suicide
- Myira Khan - Discrimination
- Zeynep Catay - Somatics
- Justine Hardy - Somatics
- Rachel Cohen - Creative Arts
- Ilya Yacevich - Somatic, Arts
- Jenifer Levy - Addictions
- Mariah Rooney - Somatics, Queer Identities
Sample Cycle with First Legacy Supervisor
September
October
November
December
Who can participate?
This program requires licensure in a field that is associated with practice in mental health. As participants will repeatedly present clinical case material, they should be actively engaged in clinical practice. Supervisors will have a range of expertise with adults, children, individuals and groups, and populations. The program is available in English, with a speciality program in Spanish and future plans for an Arabic version. If your country does not offer licensure in a mental health field, please reach out to us directly.
How long does the program last?
September-August each year
What does the price include?
- All of the TSS asynchronous educational material
- Monthly group supervision throughout the year with a sustaining supervisor
- Monthly group supervision throughout the year with up to three legacy supervisors (5-8 sessions per supervisor)
- Peer supervision
- Evaluative feedback
- Q+A sessions with treatment model developers and experts
- Registration for three mini-conferences (travel and accommodation costs are separate)
- Inclusion in our clinician repository
Is the supervisor signing off on cases for hours or licensure?
No, the supervisors are only acting in consultation. All responsibility for client care rests within the treating licensed clinician and their clinical setting.
Does the program grant a degree or university credit?
No, the program does not grant university credit or a degree, nor does it provide hours towards licensure. Such an iteration may be available in the future.
Are there specialty tracks?
We think it is most beneficial to practice to learn an array of techniques and from a wide range of client populations and settings, so participants will be grouped with a diverse group of colleagues. There are no specialty tracks, but participants will be invited to list their top choices for legacy supervisors.
Who is the ideal program participant? Is there an advanced version?
The ideal participant is someone who wants to deepen their practice and who would benefit both from increasing skill and knowledge as well as developing within a reflective, caring community. They may feel stuck or like there was a gap in their training, but they can be at any post-graduate, licensed or permitted career stage. At this point, there is not an advanced version, but we may develop that option based on need and demand!
Can supervisors oversee more than one group?
Yes, absolutely, and pay would be scaled accordingly (e.g., 2x the invitational rate for overseeing two groups).
What is the structure of supervision?
For most supervisory sessions, two to three supervisees will present a case for group discussion. They will provide a one-page de-identified case summary, specific questions for the group, and a one-page transcription or process note from a segment of their session. (From memory is fine.) At the beginning of the training year, the sustaining supervisor will facilitate several community-building sessions, and will facilitate a closing good-bye session at the end of the year. At the beginning of each module, the legacy supervisor will spend 1-2 sessions providing a model overview and clarifying their expectations, and will facilitate a closing summary session at the end of their module.
What are the in-person components?
Participants are invited to three in-person meetings: the TRF International Trauma Conference, held on the U.S. East Coast in May-early June of each year, and two other mini conferences will be spaced throughout the year.
When are the supervision sessions?
Participants can elect one of three times (listed in ET) on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: 8:00am, 12:00pm, and 6:30pm.
How are participants assigned to groups?
Participants are assigned on the basis of their preferred session time and on the basis of their top-ranked legacy supervisor choices.
What happens after the program is complete?
After the program is complete, participants will receive a letter of completion, specifying their accomplishments. They will also be added to TRF’s clinician referral list, and will be eligible to apply to become a program supervisor.
What languages?
We are able to offer the full program in English and an attenuated program at a reduced cost in Spanish.
What if I participated in the prior version of TSS?
If you participated in a prior version of TSS, you will be discounted whatever price you paid for TSS from the current program cost, as you have already received the asynchronous content. You will also receive updated course content, with new modules.
I wrote The Body Keeps the Score to serve both as a guide and an invitation – an invitation to dedicate ourselves to facing the reality of trauma, to explore how best to treat it, and to commit ourselves, as a society, to using every means we have to prevent it.
Our vision at the Trauma Research Foundation is simple:
When trauma happens, everyone has somewhere to turn, someone who can help. This vision drives all of our efforts, ensuring that people worldwide receive the support they need to heal from traumatic experiences. Our Traumatic Stress Studies Certificate Program is central to this vision, a cornerstone in advancing global trauma education and healing.
Join us in this important work and become part of a global network dedicated to trauma healing.
The Traumatic Stress Studies Certificate Program offers the most comprehensive training in trauma available today. Designed for clinicians, researchers, therapists, and all those dedicated to trauma healing, our program provides an in-depth understanding of trauma’s complexities and the latest evidence-based practices for treatment.
Our intensive post-graduate level certificate program consists of 33 weeks of immersion into the fundamental issues necessary to become an expert clinician treating adults and children who suffer from traumatic stress.
In addition, students will have a monthly opportunity for a face-to-face interaction with senior faculty of this program to discuss lessons learned and clinical challenges, as well as for the formation of peer support groups.
While most advanced training programs are geared to teaching clinicians a particular treatment modality, this course provides a comprehensive overview of a variety of different treatment approaches, relevant to the particular conditions that your clients live under, their presenting problems, their developmental stages and the cultural context and resources of the traumatized individuals.
This course will provide an overview of the basic biological and psychological processes at work that form the foundation for innovative and effective treatment approaches, such as a variety of body-based techniques, IFS, ARC, SMART, sand tray therapy, neurofeedback, EMDR, psychedelic therapies, yoga, and theater, and address issues of assessment, culture, race, spirituality, families and other contextual issues.
See what recent participants say...
Certificate in Traumatic Stress Studies
Full Program $6500
Conference attendees receive a $500 discount with code TSS37TC
- 7 Months of online training
- Monthly Q&A sessions
- Work with leading trauma experts
If you have previously participated in the Traumatic Stress Studies Certificate Program, we will also offer a second discount equivalent to what you paid when you enrolled.
Please email [email protected] with the year you took the course as well as the name and email used to register. Once we verify your participation, we will email you a unique discount code.
