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Trauma-Informed Churches
Helping churches become safer, trauma-informed communities
Because when people experience trauma, adversity or crisis, the church is often one of the places they turn.
Churches are full of people walking through bereavement, family breakdown, domestic abuse, childhood adversity, frightening events and other difficult experiences.
Church leaders and volunteers care deeply. But caring for someone who has experienced trauma isn't always straightforward.
Understanding what trauma can do to the brain, body and behaviour can help us respond with greater confidence, compassion and safety.
We want to make that understanding accessible.
Free Trauma-Informed Training
ParentFuel is developing a programme of free online trauma-informed training for churches and community volunteers across England.
Our introductory training will explore practical topics including:
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understanding trauma and the nervous system
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regulation and creating a sense of safety
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understanding behaviour through a trauma-informed lens
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supporting children, parents and families
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secondary and vicarious trauma
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healthy boundaries
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safeguarding
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recognising when someone may need specialist support
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safe and appropriate signposting
You don't need to be a counsellor or therapist.
This training is about helping ordinary people who care for others develop a better understanding of trauma and feel more confident about responding safely.
More than a training session
We don't want people to attend one webinar and then be left to work everything out alone.
Alongside introductory training, we are developing opportunities for:
Peer-led learning
Spaces for people to share experiences, challenges and good practice with others supporting people in their communities.
Specialist learning
Online sessions led by trauma-informed counsellors and practitioners exploring particular areas in greater depth.
Practical resources
Simple tools and resources that can be used within churches and community settings.
Ongoing learning
Listening to the experiences of participating churches so that future training responds to what people are actually encountering in their communities.
Open to everyone
ParentFuel is a Christian charity and our faith shapes both why we do this work and how we understand hope, healing and restoration.
Trauma-Informed Churches will equip church leaders and volunteers with practical trauma-informed understanding, including trauma and the nervous system, regulation, safe responses, boundaries, safeguarding and appropriate signposting.
Alongside this, we will create space for churches to explore the questions that trauma can raise within Christian communities — including questions around suffering, faith, hope and how we respond when people ask, “If God is good, why do bad things happen?”
Our aim is to help churches become communities where people experiencing trauma and adversity are met with greater understanding, safety, compassion and hope.
Building safer communities
Our aim isn't to turn church volunteers into therapists.
It's to help more people understand trauma.
To help them recognise what might be happening beneath someone's behaviour.
To know how to respond without causing further harm.
To understand their own boundaries.
And to know when someone needs more specialist help.
Because when trusted people in our communities become more trauma-informed, our communities become safer places for people to belong, recover and thrive.
Interested in Trauma-Informed Church Training?
Register your interest to hear about free online training and learning opportunities launching in 2027.