The Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families and Wounded Warriors Canada expand access to training for health care providers in response to national demand

OTTAWA – The Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families and Wounded Warriors Canada today announced the expansion of Introduction to trauma-exposed professionals, an online course developed to increase health care providers’ understanding of the unique cultural differences experienced by trauma-exposed professionals due to the high demand for the training.

In May 2022, supported and funded by the Atlas Institute, Wounded Warriors Canada released Introduction to trauma-exposed professionals, a course developed by Wounded Warriors Canada’s National Clinical Director, Dr. Tim Black to provide culturally specific clinical approaches for supporting this unique population which includes military, Veteran, first responder and police populations. When the first training was released there was immediate national demand, and to date more than 1,600 providers have completed the course.

In response to the demand the Atlas Institute provided additional funding to produce Introduction to trauma-exposed professionals in French which will make the course available in both official languages. Both will continue to be provided at no cost to eligible health care providers for the next two years while the two organizations continue to work together to produce additional modules. The French version of TeXP will be made available at a later date.

Scott Maxwell, Executive Director of Wounded Warriors Canada, commented, “Working with the Atlas Institute is a great example of how partnerships serve as force multipliers for service delivery. We’re thrilled by the response we have received since we launched Introduction to trauma-exposed professionals, which has served to reinforce how much the health care community cares about the mental health supports provided to our injured Veterans, first responders and their Families. We look forward to expanding access to this important training across the country.”

MaryAnn Notarianni, Deputy CEO and Executive Vice-President, Knowledge Mobilization at the Atlas Institute, commented, “We have been so encouraged by the interest from health care providers to access Introduction to trauma-exposed professionals. The feedback on the course has demonstrated its relevance and effectiveness. We want to continue building on this momentum for Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police, first responders and their Families. We’re so pleased to build on our productive partnership with Wounded Warriors Canada to develop a version of this excellent course completely in French and to enable access to any interested and eligible clinicians and health care providers over the next two years for both the English and French versions.”