Trauma-informed interventions for counselling sex trafficking survivors

Human trafficking represents the fastest growing form of transnational crime and remains the third largest criminal enterprise following the sale of drugs and arms. Though the call to incorporate sex trafficking content into counsellor education programs has been established, a lack of training remains. Professional counsellors must therefore cultivate the necessary awareness, knowledge, and skills to effectively support sex trafficking survivors across diverse settings, especially given the presence of severe and chronic mental health sequelae among survivors. The authors used a multipronged approach to help professional counsellors (a) recognize the prevalence of sex trafficking in clinical settings, (b) understand the clinical implications of counselling adult sex trafficking survivors, and (c) employ trauma-informed and evidence-based interventions for counselling adult sex trafficking survivors.