Leading educators within the financial planning industry, Kaplan Professional, has recently developed a short course that specialises in trauma and other mental health-related issues.

The 6-hour course delves into how to identify behaviour related to trauma, the neurological impact that can occur from traumatic events and how to support the individual, especially in client-facing roles such as financial planning. Find out more about the course topics here.

People often don’t realise how interconnected mental health-related illnesses such as PTSD can affect ones’ financial behaviours and situations. People who have developed mental illnesses relating to their trauma, can significantly impact their ability to maintain a stable job and income. Or, even more common, they may develop poor coping behaviours that can put a dent in their finances such as drug and/or alcohol abuse or impulse spending.

So why consider attending this course?

As financial planners specialising within the health and disability sector, we know how important it is to consider how traumatic life events and experiences can affect clients’ emotional states. It can sometimes be harder to communicate with the client, and we might simply need to alter how we converse with the client and deliver our financial advice to help their situation.

At the end of the day, we don’t standardise the type of financial advice we give our clients, so why standardise the way we deliver it?

This course would be great to teach financial advisors and planners how to identify any traumatic behaviour and adjust their services to make the client as comfortable as possible.  

More importantly, whilst it’s all well and good to ensure you’re providing trauma-informed care and supporting the individual whilst they’re dealing with past and present traumatic events, caring for your own well-being is just as important.

The course also “aims to provide the ability to manage one’s own response to trauma”, according to Kaplan. This will be beneficial for any financial advisors that feel that they need extra mental health support when listening to, and comprehending other clients’ traumatic experiences.

If you’re a financial advisor and think this might be beneficial for you or your team, check out the course here.

If you need to speak with one of our Specialist Financial Advisors, call 1300 10 44 99 and ask for a consultation.