Instructor-Led The Hidden Costs of Boyhood: Trauma, Healing a Return to the Authentic Self

Held May 21, 2026 via Zoom

9 am - 12 pm CST (3 CEUs)

This workshop examines how childhood trauma and boyhood socialization intersect to shape the emotional and behavioral worlds of boys and men. Participants will explore the four trauma adaptations (fight, flight, freeze, fix), the narrative stories boys create in their loneliest moments, and the cultural training that teaches boys to reject the very emotional capacities required for healing. Using clinical examples, neuroscience, and narrative tools, attendees will learn practical strategies for helping boys regulate, connect, and rewrite harmful internal stories. This workshop prepares practitioners to interpret behavior through a trauma-and-gender lens and support boys toward healthier pathways.

Upon concluding this course, participants will be able to:

• Identify common childhood trauma adaptations (e.g., hyper-independence, people-pleasing, over-responsibility, emotional numbing) and analyze how these patterns reemerge in social work practice, supervision, and client interactions.
• Apply a trauma-informed reflective framework to evaluate how their personal histories shape professional identity, emotional responses, boundary-setting, and experiences of imposterism, burnout, or moral distress.
• Implement practical, neuroscience-informed strategies for emotional regulation, self-care, and relational repair, and integrate these approaches into their ongoing professional practice to enhance sustainability, authenticity, and well-being.

Adam McCormick, MSSW, PhD, is a Professor of Social Work at St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, with over two decades of experience working with survivors of trauma. He is the author of LGBTQ Youth in Foster Care and the forthcoming book addressing social work and the unfinished business of childhood, focusing on the impact of childhood trauma on helping professionals. His work emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, resilience, and authentic connection in sustaining professional well-being.