Trauma-Informed Training for Veterans Treatment Court Professionals: Program Development and Initial Feedback

Feedback

Feedback was solicited from attendees via an anonymous online survey. Seven participants completed the survey; the response rate of about 20% was consistent with those observed for other surveys of court professionals.²⁰ Many attendees also provided feedback directly to the facilitators. Feedback highlighted that the skills-based components not only were perceived as most helpful but also notably distinguished this training. “What set this training apart from other training events was the practical applications,” one attendee noted. “It was not just information or education, both instructors did an incredible job of explaining exactly how we could apply the knowledge they were sharing. They did this in such a way that it was easy to understand and apply.”

Specific skills were consistently identified as helpful, including managing intense emotions, addressing ambivalence, and approaching sanctions and rewards. Additionally, employing a less formal approach to the training, with relatable overviews of concepts and immediate responsiveness to requests for expansion on a topic, was perceived as a unique benefit: Another attendee appreciated that “It was beneficial to sit around a table with a less formal presentation and be able to ask questions.” This approach seemed particularly well suited for the program’s cross-disciplinary audience. Attendees reported that they valued the relatively limited focus on DSM-5 criteria. Attendees emphasized that education specific to veterans on evidence-based PTSD treatments, psychoeducation, and avoidance was very helpful. Respondents also recommended that the training be lengthened to a daylong workshop to accommodate greater opportunity to practice skills and consultation.

The consultation portion of the training provided insight into additional areas of importance to incorporate into future iterations. Identified needs included appropriate and realistic boundary setting (eg, addressing disruptions in the courtroom), suggestions for improving and expanding homework assigned by the court, and ways to address concerns about PTSD treatment shared by veterans in court (eg, attributing substance use relapses to the intensiveness of trauma-focused treatment vs lack of familiarity with alternate coping skills). Additionally, the VTC professionals’ desire to support mental health professionals’ work with veterans was clearly evident, highlighting the bidirectional value of interdisciplinary collaboration between VHA mental health professionals and VTC professionals.

Discussion

A trauma-informed training was developed and delivered to 2 VTCs in the Rocky Mountain region with the goal of providing relevant psychoeducation and introducing skills to bolster court practices that address veteran needs. Psychoeducational components of the training that were particularly well received and prompted significant participant engagement included discussions and examples of avoidance, levels of validation, language to facilitate motivation and address barriers, mechanisms underlying treatment, and potential functions underlying limited veteran treatment engagement. Distress tolerance, approaches to sanctions and rewards, and use of ambivalence matrices to guide motivation were identified as particularly helpful skills.

The pilot phase of this trauma-informed training provided valuable insights into developing mental health trainings for VTCs. Specifically, VTCs may benefit from the expertise of VHA HCPs and are particularly interested in learning brief skills to improve their practices. The usefulness of such trainings may be bolstered by efforts to form relationships with the court to identify their perceived needs and employing an iterative process that is responsive to feedback both during and after the training. Last, each stage of this project was strengthened by collaboration with VJO specialists, highlighting the importance of future collaboration between VJO and VHA mental health clinics to further support justice-involved veterans. For example, VJO specialists were instrumental in identifying training needs related to veterans’ clinical presentations in court, facilitating introductions to local VTCs, and helping to address barriers to piloting, like scheduling.