TRN is a not-for-profit service which provides free and anonymous trauma support by qualified EMDR therapists.
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Free and immediate trauma support
Trauma Response Network (TRN) is a not-for-profit service which provides free therapy and support to people affected by a mass trauma event which happened in the last 90 days. Our service is delivered both online and face-to-face.
We aim to provide immediate first aid for people with mental health injuries in the same way that ambulances and hospitals support people with physical wounds. TRN also provides support where existing providers have difficulty in coping with demand.
TRN works with the EMDR Association UK and Ireland and the Survivors Assistance Network, part of The Peace Foundation.
Watch Sean Gardner explain the story of how the the Trauma Response Network came to be when it launched back in 2018.
What we do
Some people can recover from psychological trauma with no or little additional support, especially if symptoms are mild. However, many people can develop chronic symptoms that can be long lasting. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the name given to describe these symptoms.
The earlier symptoms can be assessed, the more the potential impact can be reduced. TRN allows people who may be suffering trauma to be quickly assessed online by a network of qualified psychological therapists.
Our initial online consultation and support programme aims to identify the severity of the symptoms, and from there our regional Hubs will put into place an appropriate programme of short to medium term support, again for free and usually face-to-face.
How we can help
TRN is not a replacement for services provided by the NHS, but rather an additional option at times when emergency resources are stretched. Experience from the Manchester and London terrorist attacks, and the Grenfell Tower fire, showed that people in immediate need were not able to access specialist support for many days and in certain cases weeks or months. For some, this made things much worse.
Mass trauma events place severe and instant strain on the local emergency services. TRN has therefore bought together a team of EMDR therapists from the public and private sectors willing to provide their services for free, initially via an online platform and later face-to-face through regional Hubs.
A regional Hub is part of a network of local EMDR volunteers, under the umbrella of the national TRN, who work within their communities to build local capacity and provide pro bono treatment in times of disaster. Regional Hub leaders have the additional flexibility to extend local therapy provision and deliver long term support where circumstances require.
Through these Hubs we can amplify available resources using therapy which is already deployed by the NHS and other agencies. In particular, we can provide support to children and adolescents who may lack the life experience to cope so readily when faced with a life-changing event.
Our experience and expertise
The therapists available via TRN are regulated by a professional body, the EMDR Association of UK and Ireland, which means they work towards the highest standards of practice and ethical codes in trauma care. Those of us working with children and adolescents also hold up-to-date DBS checks.
EMDR therapy is recommended by the World Health Organisation as the trauma treatment of choice for children and adolescents since it does not involve reliving the memory of the trauma event, talking about it, or sharing details with others.
It is also endorsed by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
All therapists who provide support via TRN are active members of the EMDR Association UK & Ireland and have therefore attended accredited training in EMDR as well as receiving regular supervision by approved consultants.
Our aims
TRN is a free service which provides specialist information for the public, community leaders and other local emergency planners on best practices for responding to the psychological impact in the hours, days and first 12 weeks following a large scale natural or man-made disaster.
We believe that guidelines from NICE published in 2012 are now outdated and do not reflect the current reality of the world in which we live. Specifically TRN will provide early intervention and support when others feel it better to wait.
We have a nationwide network of regulated EMDR therapists who can respond quickly to mass man-made and natural disaster by offering free care in the early treatment of psychological trauma. Turn to us now if you feel you need immediate help.
How we work
We can only help if you self-refer. To do this you simply complete our form and we will then add you to the next available online session to talk with a qualified EMDR therapist. This session will take about 40 minutes. You don’t need to use your real name if you’d prefer not to, but we will need a valid mobile phone number in case we need to talk with you.
Once registered, you will receive a text confirming your user credentials and log in details. Once you have these, simply log into our platform and follow the instructions on the landing page.
