EMPOWER Trauma Rehabilitation Program
Making Life the best it can be
EMPOWER Trauma Rehabilitation is a highly acclaimed evidence-based model for treating Post Traumatic Stress. EMPOWER is the product of many years of national and international research (professional clinical trials and training for emotional resilience) - designed to help people effectively recover from the stressful and traumatic effects of war, human trafficking and sex-slavery, terrorism, and natural disaster.
The EMPOWER program consists of two parts:
THE FIRST PART is about building emotional strength. That means that a young person is able to cope really well even if faced with stressful and traumatic situations. Emotional strength is like covering yourself with plastic to protect you from the rain. It may still rain, but you don't get as wet. When you have emotional strength, stressful and traumatic things may still happen in your life from time to time (like rain), but you are not as affected by them (like no longer getting wet).
THE SECOND PART is about forgiveness (reconciliation). Forgiveness is all about letting go of past hurts, bitterness, and anger towards other people and being able to freely get on with life. Forgiveness helps to heal emotional pain on the inside, but it never excuses people for what they have done. It also doesn't make bad memories go away. However, just like with rain and plastic, when you have bad memories from time to time (like rain), you are not as affected by them (like not getting wet).
EMPOWER is a structured (13 session) step-by-step guide written in simple language (designed to be facilitated by professionals and non-professionals alike). EMPOWER was originally developed for youth, however has been shown equally applicable and effective for adults of all ages. EMPOWER trauma rehabilitation has been translated into a variety of languages. The program is best known for:
- its cultural sensitivity and transferability among diverse ethnic groups
- its effectiveness in promoting recovery from a variety of traumatic experiences (ranging from war to sexual exploitation);
- its applicability with refugee community groups and students adjusting to life in developed countries;
- its highly mobile and efficient, greatly impacting, and cost effective model of reaching thousands of trauma victims in refugee camps
- its utility as a train-the-trainer resource (graduates of the program in remote developing-world settings going on to become facilitators in a pay-it-forward model of intervention)
- its use in Mental Health Clinic settings (hundreds of master practitioners having been trained throughout Australia and around the world).
The EMPOWER facilitator handbook is available for purchase online by individuals who participate in EMPOWER trauma rehabilitation training. The EMPOWER program is made available at cost for organisations wishing to conduct collaborative research. For more information, please contact us.
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