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Do I have to be an occupational therapy practitioner to enroll?
No! This certificate is provided through the UAB Department of Occupational Therapy, but it is applicable and open to many professions including teachers, education administration, early intervention and early childhood development providers, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists, counselors, marriage and family therapists, social workers, family and criminal court judges, nutritionists and dietitians, physicians, psychologists, dentists, optometrists, policy leaders, health service administrators, and business leadership.
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I have a history of trauma. Will program content be delivered in a way that is safe for me and reduce my own re-traumatization?
Every effort is made in this course to teach trauma-responsive practices in a way that does not trigger re-traumatization. Some examples of this include:
- You will not be asked to disclose any personal history during this program.
- Trauma will be discussed during this program and, when possible, case studies will be presented with a choice of two options and content warnings so that students can choose the case most interesting and/or least triggering for them.
- Students will create an individual safety plan for learning at the beginning of each course.
- Each student must agree to the program’s rules to ensure students create a safe learning environment for each other.
- The asynchronous design of this program allows students to engage in the content on their own schedule.
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I am not in the United States. Can I still enroll in the program?
Yes! The asynchronous design of this certificate accommodates varying time zones. International applicants must meet the English proficiency requirements for the UAB Graduate School. Click here for those guidelines.
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How many credit hours is the certificate?
Each course is three (3) semester hours. The entire certificate includes 15 credit hours.
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How will this program fit into my busy life?
People often ask this question to Rachel Ashcraft, director of UAB’s Multitiered Approach to Trauma Graduate Certificate program. In this video she explains how this online asynchronous program is designed specifically for people with busy schedules.
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If I chose the option to be trained in Phase I of the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics™, is there an additional fee?
No, students will only pay their regulation tuition rate in semesters 4 and 5 with no additional tuition fees. Once modules and NMT™ training materials for Phase I certification are completed, students will be considered certified with the Neurosequential Network. Students who complete certification will also receive their first two years enrollment in the NMT Maintenance with the Neurosequential Network for FREE.
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OTC 601 – Individual Impact of Trauma Across the Lifespan
Course Description: Course focus is on the impact of trauma on neurological development and implications for health, education, and relationships across the lifespan.
Course Overview: This course provides a foundation of concepts that the remainder of the certificate program will build upon. This course guides students through the process of understanding core evidence related to trauma’s impact on an individual and synthesizing that evidence to application relevant to the student’s area of practice.
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OTC 603 – Trauma and Context Specific Considerations
Course Description: Course focus is on the impact of trauma on family and communities.
Course Overview: This course builds on the content of OT601 to consider how trauma impacts the systems that individuals interact with and reside in. Students in this course consider how trauma permeates beyond the individual and into families, local geographic communities, and communities of shared experiences. Specific communities of shared experiences addressed in this course include displaced populations, human trafficking, justice systems, houselessness, education systems, neurodiversity, health equity and accessibility.
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OTC 605 – Historical Trauma
Course Description: Course focus is on the impact of historical trauma on individual and community health and wellbeing.
Course Overview: This course builds on foundational concepts in OTC 601 and OTC 603 and addresses issues of historical trauma and social systems of oppression that cause trauma. Students apply this content to their understanding of trauma at individual and community levels.
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OTC 610 – Systems Assessment Using a Trauma Lens
Course Description: Course focus is to apply multitiered approach to trauma when assessing a specific practice area and context.
Course Overview: This course contextualizes the content of courses OTC 601, OTC 603, and OTC 605 to the student’s area of expertise and interest. In this course, students will apply summative concepts to complete an assessment of a practice area and local context chosen by the student. Emphasis is on application of multitiered approaches to trauma using evidence informed processes.
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OTC 615 – Trauma Responsive Program Design
Course Description: Course focus is on practical implementation of course concepts into the student’s professional setting.
Course Overview: This is the final course in the certificate. Students will complete a project that is unique to their practice area and/or area of interest. The project outlines next steps for increasing trauma responsive practice within their setting and/or to promote their professional growth. The goal is for students to develop a project they can feasibly implement within 6 months of completing the certificate.
Application Process
Application Deadlines:
The program admits a fall cohort annually (August start).
Deadline to apply is August 1.
Application Fees:
- Domestic applicants and green card holders: $50
- International applicants: $60
Instructions for Completing the Application
UAB Graduate School
The following must be submitted directly to the UAB Graduate School:
- Complete and submit the UAB Graduate School online application (degree-seeking) for Multi-Tiered Approach to Trauma.
- Submit the application fee payment ($50 domestic, *$60 international)
*Students from countries where English is not the official and primary language must also take and receive an acceptable score: TOEFL 80; IELTS 6.5; or PTEA – 53. Institution code: 1856
Official transcripts from each institution where college credit was received can be submitted electronically to
UAB Graduate School
LHL G03, 1720 2nd Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35294-0013
Final Steps
Applicants will be notified of a decision after submitting a completed application package. Written notification will be sent to the candidate along with a letter of agreement stating that they commit to completing the certificate and will begin the curriculum in the designated semester. The candidate must sign and return the agreement by the given deadline or forfeit his/her place in the class.
A non-refundable deposit of $300 dollars (U.S. currency) must be submitted with the letter to retain a slot in the upcoming class. The deposit will be applied to the student’s account after classes begin.
Request More Info
Online Program
The Multitiered Approach to Trauma Graduate Certificate is an online, five-course program designed to prepare you to implement trauma-informed practices and policies within your professional practice.
This certificate was designed with busy working professionals and students in mind, offering maximum flexibility to accommodate your demanding schedule. The online curriculum allows students the flexibility to work around their busy schedule, time zone, and professional demands.
Did You Know?
Trauma is a global public health crisis that has only increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. Adverse childhood experiences, or ACES, refers to specific traumatic experiences a person experiences in childhood. In the United States alone, over 60% of adults surveyed have at least one type of adverse childhood experience before the age of 18 and 1 in 6 adults report having experienced four or more types of ACES (CDC, 2022).
History Does Not Define The Future
Childhood trauma has lasting impacts that can permeate into adulthood, communities, and society at large. However, childhood trauma can be prevented, and the negative outcomes can be mitigated. A history of trauma does not have to define a person’s future. Healthy opportunities for people, families, and society occur when healthcare systems, education systems, community centers, child welfare organizations, family support organizations, mental health providers, and policy leaders adopt trauma-responsive and trauma-informed practices. This certificate is designed to equip professionals across a variety of settings to be a part of the positive change needed in our communities.
Who Should Apply?
This program is for anyone who wants to be an agent of positive change within their professional journey. This program’s innovative design allows student participants to customize their learning to meet their specific professional and learning needs.
All students receive the same foundational course during the first three semesters. The last two semesters, students focus their learning on applying core knowledge to their specific profession and setting.
This program is not limited to any specific field of study. It is highly recommended for anyone in any profession within a healthcare, education, public health, child welfare, mental health, or policy and leadership setting.
Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics™
The Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT™) is a trauma-informed, developmentally-sensitive, approach to the clinical problem solving process. It is not, and does not specifically imply, endorse, or require any single therapeutic technique or method, but offers an integrative therapeutic framework for guiding the application of existing interventions according to the individual’s needs.
The goal of this approach is to structure a full picture of a person, their primary concerns, identification of key strengths, and the application of interventions (educational, enrichment and therapeutic) in a way that will help family, educators, therapists and related professionals best meet the needs of the child or adult.
Semesters 4 and 5 focus on applying the multitiered approach to trauma to their own practice area and context. Students of the Multitiered Approach to Trauma Graduate Certificate will have the option in semesters 4 and 5 of this program to complete the Phase I training in the NMT™. The courses are taught by phase II NMT™ trainer Rebecca Rampe, PsyD, a clinical psychologist at UAB.