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03 September 2026
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Story Siqhamo Hlubi Jama
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Photo Supplied
The UFS Department of Social Work's interdisciplinary trauma symposium will bring together diverse professional perspectives to explore holistic responses to complex trauma in adolescents.
Complex trauma can shape how adolescents think, learn, relate to others, and understand themselves. Addressing its effects requires more than a single intervention or professional perspective. It calls for collaboration across disciplines to better support young people navigating the impact of trauma.
Against this backdrop, the University of the Free State Department of Social Work will host an online interdisciplinary symposium under the theme The Eco-Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Treatment of Adolescents with Complex Trauma on 4 September 2026. The event will bring together experts from social work, psychiatry, education, child and youth care, therapeutic practice, and African spirituality to explore more holistic approaches to adolescent trauma care.
Moving beyond fragmented responses
Trauma rarely affects only one aspect of a young person's life. Its impact extends beyond emotional well-being and can influence physical health, learning, relationships, identity formation, and social functioning. For this reason, the symposium aims to foster dialogue between disciplines that often respond to trauma from different vantage points.
The programme will explore a broad range of perspectives, beginning with the neuroscience of adolescent complex trauma and moving to Jungian and parts-based approaches, narrative interventions, the window of tolerance, African spiritual perspectives, lived experiences, and trauma-wise schools. Two panel discussions will focus on integrating clinical care and strengthening collaborative pathways for supporting adolescents affected by trauma.
Among the contributors are psychiatrist Dr Moahlodi Seitshiro; social work academics Dr Rinda Blom, Dr Carel van Wyk, and Prof Roelf Reyneke; Northumbria University scholars Prof John Cavener and Prof Hellmuth Weich; spiritual support practitioner Dr Christie van Zyl; educator Maseabata Taole; and child and youth care worker Eddy Humphreys. Together, they represent expertise spanning psychiatry, safeguarding, narrative and systemic practice, indigenous knowledge systems, education, and direct work with vulnerable children and adolescents.
Connecting knowledge with practice
The symposium reflects the UFS’ commitment to connecting academic knowledge with the real-world challenges facing young people in South Africa. It highlights the value of interdisciplinary collaboration in developing meaningful and sustainable responses to adolescent trauma.
The event also creates a platform for engagement between researchers, practitioners, students, educators, and community stakeholders. By encouraging the exchange of knowledge across professional boundaries, the symposium seeks to strengthen practice, expand professional networks, and contribute to future research in trauma care.
Ultimately, the symposium recognises that effective support for adolescents affected by complex trauma depends on connected systems of care. Bringing together clinical, educational, social, cultural, and spiritual perspectives offers an opportunity to build more responsive and comprehensive support structures around young people.
Students, academics, educators, social workers, health professionals, youth workers, counsellors, and members of the public are invited to attend the online symposium. The event will take place via Google Meet from 08:30 to 16:45. Registration can be completed through the online registration form.
Register here:
For enquiries, contact Mifimc@ufs.ac.za.