SSW Faculty and Students Support Trauma-Informed Training in Malaysia

In August 2025, SSW Associate Professor Patricia Shannon and PhD Candidate Will Carlson led a train-the-trainer workshop at the Malyasian Mental Health Association focused on implementing evidence-based treatments for trauma.

Shannon co-led the session remotely with Carlson, who was on site with Chris Mehus, UMN Associate Professor in Family Social Science; Dr. Andrew Mohanraj, President of Malaysian Mental Health Association; and Dr. Mahinder Kaur, Minnesota-based psychoanalyst from Malaysia.

The training, held in the Petaling Jaya office of the Malaysian Mental Health Association (MMHA), was developed as a collaborative effort between Professors Shannon and Mehus, Carlson, Center for Practice Transformation, and Dr. Kaur, who lives in MN but supervises clinical psychologists working throughout Malaysia.  

The training, which covers implementation barriers, clinical challenges, and training tips specific to Malaysia, was developed in response to a specific need.

"Malaysia is the largest recipient of refugees in Southeast Asia, with more than 300,000 refugees currently living there," Carlson said. "Many of these communities have extensive trauma histories and significant mental health needs. Providers reported feeling ill-equipped to address these challenges, so we worked with them to culturally adapt training knowledge from our training experiences to develop this series. The hope is that professionals we are preparing will continue to expand the trauma training throughout Malaysia and Southeast Asia."

The program began as a live online training in the evidence-based treatment of psychological trauma for licensed providers working with refugees, developed with support from the UMN Global Signature Grant.

In 2023 the team raised additional funding for evaluation and travel through the UMN Global Engagement Grant and the International Trauma Treatment Education Fund at UMN Foundation, enabling them to educate a second online cohort.

After evaluating the results of the first two 10-week trainings, Shannon and Carlson worked with the team to develop a two-part, in-person workshop focused on addressing barriers to implementing treatment, and deepening the knowledge of regional trainers. The train-the-trainer workshop was funded by Global Engagement grant and the Trauma Treatment Education Fund.