MERTIL: My Early Relational Trauma Informed Learning

In stock

SKU
BC-MERTIL
Founded on attachment theory, MERTIL is a self-paced, online training program that teaches recognition of early trauma in the parent-child relationship and explores options for effective immediate response by frontline services.

The course emanates from the Bowlby/Ainsworth paradigm and was created by infant trauma specialists, Professor Jennifer McIntosh (Bouverie Director), Professor Louise Newman, and a team of local and international infant trauma experts. Included with the training is ongoing access to our 2-hr Mini MERTIL-Refresher course and ongoing access to an extensive resource library of research articles, factsheets, podcasts, case consultations and more.

$429.00

Key facts

Course category
The Bouverie Centre
Options
Option 1 Online (start anytime) 6-months' accessOnline (On demand)
Duration
12 hrs + 20 hrs of additional resources
Prerequisite/s
There are no prerequisites for this short course
Certification
Certificate of Completion

Overview of MERTIL course

The MERTIL online modules provide a strong grounding in early relational trauma, including addressing the needs of special population groups (e.g. drug and alcohol, family violence, refugee/asylum seekers, culturally diverse populations, those experiencing various forms of mental illness and neuro-developmental conditions).

MERTIL has 8 online modules (12 hours) that:

  • Build capacity for earliest detection of relational trauma
  • Extend skills and enhance confidence in response to early relational trauma
  • Enhance prevention of complex sequelae for parents, infants and young children

Who is MERTIL for?

MERTIL self-paced online learning is suitable for:

  • Nurses
  • Midwives
  • Psychologists/Psychiatrists
  • Social Workers
  • Family Support Workers
  • Child Protection Workers
  • Infant Mental Health Workers
  • General Practitioners

If you've ever asked yourself...

  • How can I help these parents form stronger relationships with their baby?
  • What would be most helpful for these parents to hear about their baby’s development right now?
  • What really easy strategies would help these parents connect with their baby?
  • When should I think about more formal intervention?
  • What would make these parents really “see” this baby?
  • How can I explain the importance of being present for the baby?

Course outline

MERTIL operates as an online portal; learning is self-paced, allowing for reflection and pauses as required. The course includes 8 learning chapters, totalling approximately 12 hours of learning. The chapters are presented in three themes as outlined below:

Theme 1: Development in a relational context

1. Infant trauma: a relational, developmental and humanising framework

The relational, developmental context as the organising frame for understanding and responding to all forms of trauma in early childhood; Understanding the developmental implications of trauma during the critical infant period of development.

2. Attachment development and the transmission of caregiving trauma

A tour of attachment development and what it means for early development; creating a context for observing attachment in your consultations; recognition of early signs of disorganising caregiving and disorganised attachment.

Theme 2: Signs and symptoms of early relational trauma

3. Recognising caregiver trauma

Observational skills; critical history taking; impact of trauma on the health and wellbeing of adults and parenting; core mental health implications of trauma on parents and parenting capacity; behavioural indices; tools for recognising trauma responses in the adult.

4. Recognising neonate and infant trauma

Impacts of trauma for immobile and mobile infants; neurologically, biologically, psychologically and socially. Behavioural indices, screening tools and skills for recognising trauma exposures and responses.

5. Recognising pre-school trauma

The impacts of trauma for pre-schoolers; neurologically, biologically, psychologically and socially. Screening indices, tools and skills for recognising trauma exposures and responses.

Theme 3: Conversations and interventions

6. Creating supportive conversations for a shared recognition of risk

Trauma informed observation and screening principles; strengths based approaches to risk screening conversations; tips for difficult conversations, engaging the parent in “knowing together”; the infant as contributor to risk recognition.

7. First response education and brief relational interventions

Brief encounters that make a difference. In-person, in-the-moment support to parents and children who have experienced trauma; supporting parenting states of mind; strategies to assist parenting of children who have experienced trauma; working on “The Line”: trauma informed telephone advice and support; enhancing your referral network.

8. Enhanced interventions

Recognition of and response to trauma in the context of multiple risk factors; skills for provision of higher level support for in-home, group and community settings; enhancing trauma informed linkages with other support systems

Bonus content

As part of your purchase of MERTIL self-paced online learning, you will also be provided with access to:

  • MERTIL Library
  • Mini-MERTIL Refresher

Instructions on how to access this content will be provided within the MERTIL course once you are underway.


Contact The Bouverie Centre

If you have any questions about this course, or are curious about our other courses and workshops, please get in touch at bouverie.training@latrobe.edu.au, thank you.

You can browse our list of professional development courses and workshops here and see what is coming up on our calendar here.

Terms & Conditions

We recommend that, before your purchase, you review The Bouverie Centre's Terms & Conditions on registration and payment, discounts, cancellations (including transfer of registration, refunds, and credit notes), privacy and data collection, and intellectual property here.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Find out more about further education at La Trobe  View all FAQ

I would like information about a short course. Who can assist me?  

Email: LaTrobeProfessional@latrobe.edu.au 

Phone: 1300 135 045

I have paid the fee for a short course. When will I be able to access it?  

On completion of your registration, you'll be provided with an account on our Learning Management System (LMS) and the course material will be made available at the advertised date, or as outlined on your registration confirmation email.  For our on-demand courses, access will be immediate.

What payment options are there?

  • You may arrange to pay by BPAY or EFT
  • For group bookings, we encourage purchase orders.  Contact us for a quote, and upon receipt of your purchase order we can make the course available to you.
  • Unfortunately, we are not able to arrange instalment payments.

Contact us on LaTrobeProfessional@latrobe.edu.au for assistance. 

Can I arrange payment with a Purchase Order?

Yes, we accept Purchase Orders. Please email to LaTrobeProfessional@latrobe.edu.au and our La Trobe Professional team will provide you with payment details and access to your course. 

I am getting an error when I try to log into my LMS account. Can you help? 

  • The first thing to check is your order confirmation email - it will contain your Learning Management System (LMS) account and password.  Note that this account may not be the same as your staff, student or previous short course participant account. 
  • The second thing to check is that you're logging on as a short course participant and not as a student - choose 'Other Users' - select Short Course as your institution and use your account and password as provided.

If you need any assistance, contact us on LaTrobeProfessional@latrobe.edu.au. 

I want to enrol multiple staff in a short course. How do I go about this? 

Contact LaTrobeProfessional@latrobe.edu.au so that we can discuss options with you.  

What certification will I receive?

The type of certification depends on the assessment involved in the course. For example:

  • Microcredentials:  You will receive a digital credential that confirms the skills you’ve acquired, any assessments you’ve completed and potential pathways for credit or advanced standing towards a degree. 
  • Other assessed short courses:  This may include bridging programs or courses that prepare you for external certification from a professional body.  You might receive a certificate of achievement or a digital badge (a digital version of a certificate of achievement).
  • Non-assessed courses:  If a course doesn’t involve formal assessment, you’ll receive a certificate of attendance.
  • Single-subject enrolment: If you enrol in a single subject, you will receive an official transcript for that subject.

Please note that short courses or microcredentials are not formal qualifications under the Australian Qualifications Framework but may be eligible for consideration as advanced standing (credit) towards a degree.

What is a microcredential? 

Microcredentials are short courses that are assessed, carry academic credit, and to deliver specific skills or knowledge.  While they can be taken as standalone courses, many are designed to be combined or ‘stacked’ with other microcredentials to form the equivalent of a subject within a degree program.  Upon successful completion, you’ll earn a digital credential that outlines the skills and credit obtained, and any opportunities for stacking.

For La Trobe microcredentials, any advanced standing or stacking pathways are clearly expressed on the course page.   

What is advanced standing?

Advanced standing refers to credit for prior study or formal learning that can be credited towards a qualification, thereby reducing the number of subjects required to complete a course. For short courses or microcredentials (if these have been completed through recognised institutions or platforms and are deemed equivalent to La Trobe University subjects), credit may be granted either for specific La Trobe subjects or as unspecified credit towards elective requirements of a La Trobe course.

For La Trobe microcredentials, any advanced standing or stacking pathways are clearly expressed on the course page.   Upon successful completion of the course, you’ll receive a digital credential, which may be used when applying for credit for the relevant degree at La Trobe.

For more details, visit the University’s advanced standing web page.