Benefits of the course

Build skills, strategies and confidence for delivering trauma-informed theatre-making, community work and audience care.

Led by Clean Break’s Member Support team, this training draws on decades of experience of working creatively with women who have experienced trauma, providing the support to enable meaningful participation in our theatre workshops and productions.

Who is this training for?

We developed Leading with Kindness to bring our trauma informed practice to the leading UK theatres and art organisations with which we co-produce ground-breaking work. The principles of this training have been implemented in rehearsal rooms at the National Theatre, Almeida Theatre, Bush Theatre, Sheffield Crucible, Donmar Warehouse and many more.

If you are a participation facilitator, a theatre director, a stage manager, front of house team member, or anyone looking to create work with challenging themes or who is responsible for audience care, join Clean Break for a dynamic training session. Leading with Kindness caters to a range of learning styles and encourages rich engagement from participants, delivered with care.

What the course covers

In this training session, participants will learn:

What trauma really is, and the different ways it manifests in people
The social context of trauma
How to implement a trauma informed practice
How to keep yourself safe when working with trauma

Why Clean Break?

For over four decades, Clean Break has been creating groundbreaking theatre which centres authentic stories of women with experience of the criminal justice system, or who are at risk.

Our trauma-informed approach is embedded into our artistic work, and has been developed over decades of working creatively with women in prisons and in the community.

About our Facilitators

Jacqueline Stewart is Head of Participation and Deputy CEO of Clean Break. She has extensive experience in the fields of social care, therapeutic community work, youth sectors and local authority educational settings. Jaqueline’s work in youth offending revealed to her the pipeline of criminalisation experienced by disadvantaged young people and solidified her commitment to supporting people affected by the criminal justice system. It was through Jacqueline’s time studying for a creative degree that she developed her belief in the transformative power of the arts.

Jacqueline has worked at Clean Break for two decades, joining as Support Manager in 2003, and later moving into the role of Assistant Head of Education on our previous education programme. In 2018 she became Head of Participation on our current Members Programme, taking on the additional role of Deputy CEO in 2022. Jacqueline passionately believes in the vison and values of Clean Break; she is a champion for social justice and anti-racism and strives to create new opportunities to enhance women’s life chances.

Tracey Anderson is the Support Manager for Clean Break’s Members Programme. She has been involved with the company since 2006, as Education Manager and Support worker, before taking on her current role. Tracey studied at Rose Bruford College on their Community Arts Course, before completing an MA in Theatre for Development: Using theatre as a tool for communication.

Tracey has trained the Metropolitan Police in race relations and hate crime, and has lectured at King Alfred’s College and London Metropolitan University. She is also a trained cranial sacral therapist and a trauma-informed photographer.

"My Training at Clean Break has helped me to create a ritual that better prepares me for new rehearsal rooms, I also feel comfortable and confident to embed wellbeing in my day-to-day practice working in the creative field.

I suggest everyone does Leading with Kindness, as not only a guide to working in trauma narratives, but to help keep our industry safe and supported" - Aaliyah Mckay, theatre director and Leading with Kindness participant

Additional Information

**A limited number of bursary places are available to anyone who has direct personal lived experience of the criminal justice system (not professional experience).

To apply for these, please get in touch explaining how you are eligible (without disclosing sensitive personal information) and expressing your interest in the training event.

Bursary places are limited and are awarded on a first-come-first-served basis. These places are intended for participants with low or no income.

Please send your request to events@cleanbreak.org.uk marking your email with BURSARY REQUEST in the subject heading, at least four weeks ahead of the training date.

If you have any access requirements you would like us to be aware of, please contact events@cleanbreak.org.uk and let us know.

Please note some dates of this training workshop are for women-only. This includes cis, intersex, and trans women.

Leading with Kindness: Trauma Informed Practice Training