How To Become Trauma-Informed

“It is rare to find a training workshop that helps practitioners on both a personal and professional level, but Annmarie delivers just that. She connects with participants on a personal and genuine level, and generously shares her own “lived” experiences. It is easy to come away from training workshops with theoretical ideas only; Annmarie’s training goes much further, and I left with a clear idea as to how I could put such skills and ideas into practice to help both my clients and myself. Her training should form an essential part of a practitioner’s toolkit when helping clients navigate difficult and traumatic periods. I could not recommend Annmarie more highly.”

"I am very pleased to support Annmarie’s entry for the Family Law Awards. Having been a family lawyer herself Annmarie is in the best position to know what family lawyers need in terms of education, training and support. Through her consultancy she is able to provide all these things and, as importantly, ask all the awkward questions and challenge the “that’s the way we have always done it” attitudes. A breath of fresh air and a much needed resource."

"I’ve been aware of Annmarie’s work since she started the Carvalho Consultancy and have been lucky enough to attend events where she has spoken and some of her training.  Annmarie’s approach is always compassionate and innovative.  She has a brilliant way of taking complex and challenging subjects and making them easier to understand and much easier to tackle."

"The best seminar I have ever attended on the subject of mental health issues arising for family lawyers and their clients"

"This is what family lawyers should all aspire to – a model practice for our times."

"This is one of the best training courses I have ever done and Annmarie delivered it expertly. The session materials were very detailed and informative and Annmarie’s session was brilliant as it gave us takeaways to apply in practice. I would highly recommend Annmarie for training in this area."

"Annmarie’s training on the subject of vulnerable and suicidal clients was most valuable for the family department at Anthony Gold, both in terms of client care/support, but also reminding us that client trauma is soaked up by fee earners. I have no doubt that this training will be relevant to other departments in my firm and I have already recommended it."

"I have to say that whilst we have had a few wellbeing sessions, particularly in the last couple of years, that’s the first time in my 20 odd years of practice that I have attended one so specifically aimed towards the challenges that we face as a team. I found the session brilliant and those I have spoken to since feel the same."

"We had such a great team session with Annmarie Carvalho this afternoon! She hit the nail on the head in terms of understanding exactly what goes through family lawyers’ minds. So good to hear from everyone in the team and know we all have the same issues and to learn new ways of approaching how we work with clients to reduce stress levels and make sure we are well enough to do a good job and avoid burnout. Highly recommend! Thank you "

"I, for one, feel very reassured to know I have some tools in my belt, though I hope not to use them very often.  We here were really grateful to Annmarie both for the work that she put in beforehand (and we did ask for quite a bit of tailoring, which she handled gracefully!) and for her flawless delivery of the session."

"We have had both some training with Annmarie and our lawyers have regular coaching with Adam.  The training (dealing with difficult clients) was really informative, and we were immediately able to implement some positive changes to our working practices. As to the coaching I have seen a huge improvement in each member of the teams confidence in themselves, being able to recognise some of the traits they have that they need to unlearn (from previous toxic work environments) and their ability to recognise when something needs to change (whether that is a difficult relationship with a client or not dealing with something how they should, or just coming to the office more (or less). I think being able to do this with lawyers who understand the issues of dealing with complex and high net worth cases has really made it easier for the team to open up and really get the most of the sessions."

"The course has made me evaluate/reflect on my own practice and how I can improve the experience for both my client and I."

"I found the session very engaging and highly relevant to our practice, particularly private law."

"Really lovely presentation by Annmarie, professional but lighthearted and entertaining. Thought-provoking rather than prescriptive."

"It was obvious that counselling skills should be part of the ‘toolkit’ of every barrister engaged in emotionally charged litigation. Indeed, I would recommend it to all of my professional colleagues, especially those dealing with emotionally vulnerable individuals caught up in the criminal justice system."

"Annmarie ran a training session for senior lawyers on how to support colleagues who may be struggling with mental health issues. The session was well-tailored and well-run. We had a helpful open discussion and Annmarie provided thoughtful and practical advice.”

"The Carvalho Consultancy provides an excellent, empathic, bespoke and engaging service to our Dispute Resolution Team. The large group training sessions cover difficult and complex topics with relevant, helpful and practical information. Annmarie and Adam provide the space and environment to encourage questions and interaction during the sessions, ensuring that participants are engaged and that the sessions provide the information and support most relevant to our particular team. The sessions combine warmth and understanding with high level insights into the psychology of dispute resolution – each session has seen significant turnout and excellent feedback, and we are grateful to The Carvalho Consultancy for their contribution to our team.”