Conference explores trauma, the workforce and the workplace
Posted on: 24 June 2025
Over 200 delegates were in attendance, with representation from over 20 countries across the world for the annual ENTER Mental Health Conference hosted this year by the School of Nursing and Midwifery.
The School of Nursing & Midwifery was delighted to host the ENTER Mental Health Conference recently which focused on the theme of ‘Trauma, the workforce and the workplace: Implementing trauma informed approaches in mental health care.’
ENTER Mental Health hosts a global gathering every year, and this year’s at Trinity marked the 25th anniversary of the inaugural conference.
In attendance at the ENTER mental health conference, from left, Prof Marja Kaunonen, Dr Lidia Zablocka-Zytka, Dr Lene Lauge Bering, Dr Mojca Urek, Dr Emmanuelle Jouet, and Dr Mark Monahan
The programme featured keynote sessions, parallel sessions, poster presentations and interactive workshops and explored the following areas:
- Prevention and resilience: Supporting recovery and resilience
- Understanding trauma, the workforce and its environment
- Trauma and organisational change
- Legal and ethical considerations - Navigating the legal landscape of workplace trauma
- Research methodologies for trauma in the workplace
- Intersectionality and trauma in the workplace
- The future of work - Emerging trends impacting on trauma in the workforce
The European Network on Training, Evaluation & Research in Mental Health (ENTER) is a consortium of 23 international organisations across 14 European countries. The mission of ENTER is to promote and defend the highest standards of mental health promotion, training and care in Europe, based on collaborative research.
Over 200 delegates were in attendance, with representation from over 20 countries across the world including Ireland, France, England, Scotland, Denmark, USA, Australia, Lithuania, Italy, Greece, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Finland, Turkey and New Zealand.
Keynote speakers included; Professor Lene Lauge Bering, Chief Nurse and Head of the Psychiatric Research Unit at the Institute for Regional Health Services Research & University of Southern Denmark, Dr Sharon Lambert, Senior Lecturer in Applied Psychology at University College Cork, Ciara Glynn, Lived Experience Director at Kyrie Farm and Mental Health Reform, and Dr Adam Meiselman, Assistant Professor of Counselling and Psychology at Lesley University Cambridge and Trinity’s Professor Agnes Higgins, Professor in Mental Health at the School.
Dr Mark Monahan, Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing & Midwifery and ENTER’s Vice Chair for Communications, said:
“This marks the 25th ENTER Mental Health conference and the second occasion the School of Nursing and Midwifery in Trinity College Dublin have had the privilege to host. The area of trauma is hugely significant as a factor in mental health and mental ill-health. The creation of services that are trauma informed reaches beyond mental health services, with an increasing emphasis in Europe on the creation of not just services, but more trauma informed societies.
“From a mental health service perspective, trauma informed care is a cornerstone of our national mental health care policy, however, major challenges exist, not just in the provision of services, but also in ensuring the health and well-being of those entrusted to provide care. The hope is that this conference focuses the conversation on providing a more trauma-informed workforce, and in doing so rising to the challenges of the creation of services which are more trauma informed, minimise the risk of secondary traumatisation and reduce the potential for vicarious trauma.”
Media Contact:
Ciara O’Shea | Media Relations | coshea9@tcd.ie | +353 1 896 4204