Over Autumn + Winter 2025/26 In The Dark School will be running a special series of short courses to help you focus on specific skills. All short courses are led by guest tutors from our popular Audio Feature Course.
Trauma Informed Storytelling with Christina Hardinge
What does it mean to be trauma informed in documentary storytelling?
How can the documentary process be a helping one, rather than harmful?
This is a 2 session short course run by guest tutor Christina Hardinge. The course will go through the documentary storytelling process from concept to broadcast and consider at each stage what it means to be trauma informed, considering the potential for harm and how it could instead be helping.
In the first session Christina will use case studies to talk you through her own approach, which is informed by her training as a counsellor and facilitator. She will share her tool kit for working with other people’s personal stories, especially when working in-depth with complex lived experiences.
In the second session you will have the opportunity to consider your own methodology across the entire production process and ask how it can be as trauma-informed and ‘helping’ as possible.
This is an expanded version of the session Christina has been teaching on ITD School’s Feature Course since 2023.
WHAT:
A two week course that explores what it means to be trauma informed as a documentary storyteller.
WHEN:
Wednesday 26th November 6-9pm
Wednesday 3rd December 6-9pm
WHERE:
Online (Zoom)
ABOUT THE TUTOR:
Christina Hardinge is a multi-award winning audio producer that has worked as a documentary storyteller across the mediums of audio, film, theatre and TV for over 15 years. She is also a workshop facilitator and practicing co-councillor, which directly informs the work that she makes.
In 2022 Christina received a grant from the Arts Council to explore the intersection of her counselling and documentary practices; enquiring into the ethical integration of counselling tools and techniques into the documentary process. From this she developed a body of creative audio documentary work that won the Third Coast Best New Artist award 2023. This work is now being developed into a podcast called ‘Rewriting the Narrative’, which won the Whickers Podcast Prize 2024 and will be released next year.
COURSE PRE-REQUISITES:
This course is relevant to makers at all experience levels from beginner to late career. It will be most suited to those making interview based narrative work, especially when working with complex lived experiences.
COURSE OUTCOMES:
- Explore what it means to be trauma informed at each stage of the documentary making process.
- Reflect on what harm you might be doing as a documentary maker working with other people’s stories.
- Consider and develop your own trauma informed methodology as a documentary storyteller.
- Learn practical tools to support interviewees and participants across the documentary process, informed by counselling and facilitation practices.
PRICE: £125 Full Price / £90 Concession / PWYCA
PWYCA: The Pay What You Can Afford places are now all taken . If you would like to be put on the waitlist please fill in this short form >>