An industry-first, CPD approved, credential for clinicians interested in working in Trust & Safety.
May 28th, Dublin – Zevo Health today launched an industry-first certification developed specifically for clinicians working in the Trust & Safety space. This credential provides mental health professionals with an in-depth introduction to the Trust & Safety space and explores how best to provide psychological health and safety for professionals working in the industry.
“We are delighted to launch our certification as part of our vision to help safeguard the psychological health and safety of Content Moderators and anyone who works in Trust & Safety,” commented Dr Michelle Teo, Clinical Director and co-author of the certification. “We believe that to be successful, clinicians need to really understand the specific requirements and challenges of people working in this area. Awarding this certification will help develop a whole new cohort of clinicians who will be more successful in supporting Content Moderators.”
“A highly welcomed development, the Zevo Accreditation Program is the first of its kind in the industry,” said industry analyst Brent Skinner, founder and principal at Open Window Strategies LLC. “Look at the kind of work Content Moderators do. It is clear: they need specialized support services, and ZAP’s focus on Trust & Safety as a separate area within the business is smart. Organizations such as business process outsourcers and others want to provide the absolute best care for employees. This certification will help ensure the wellbeing service they offer provides trauma-informed support to help reduce the risk of negative consequences associated with exposure to egregious content.”
Why ZAP is needed
Online platforms and search engines employ Trust and Safety professionals in various functions such as policy development, legal and compliance, technology, and most critically, content moderation. As part of their role, Content Moderators are routinely exposed to egregious content such as child sexual abuse imagery, acts of terrorism, hate speech, nudity, and more. This places moderators at high risk of experiencing psychological distress and subsequently developing mental health difficulties. These psychological impacts can include vicarious trauma, burnout, depression, anxiety, and in some cases, post-traumatic stress disorder. It is therefore necessary that platforms employing Content Moderators ensure that they are safeguarding their employees by providing psychological supports.
About ZAP
The Zevo Accreditation Program educates and trains mental health professionals to provide psychological support services to Content Moderators and their Trust & Safety support teams. Developed by psychologists who have worked extensively in the industry, the program covers various topics that ensure moderation teams are provided best practice, evidence-based therapeutic interventions which mitigate and manage the risk of harm to content moderation teams’ psychological health and safety.
The course covers four key elements that make Trust & Safety work different from other areas of mental health work:
Setting – Working with Trust & Safety people is unlike a ‘normal’ mental health setting like hospital, outpatient or community setting.
Specialism – There are several nuances in terms of Trust & Safety work including: Enhanced meaning and purpose in the role
- Exposure to egregious content
- High need for critical incident intervention (reactive care) based on world events
- Frequent and ongoing change management / adaptability / flexibility
- Consultant skills development when working with leadership, HR, etc.
Trauma-Informed – Mental health professionals will be working with people who have prolonged and repeated exposure to egregious content, which increases the impact on psychological health and wellbeing over time.
Work Factors – As with any job, there are various performance requirements in the role, many of which cause additional stress, including metrics such as accuracy of decisions and productivity levels, the diversity of Trust & Safety professionals and relational dynamics between groups, and other operational stressors.
Course Design & Authoring
The Zevo Accreditation Program was developed by Dr Michelle Teo, Clinical Director in Zevo Health and Dr Pamela Lennon, Senior Psychological Wellbeing Consultant. They have extensive clinical experience, with a wide range of roles across Trust & Safety. They developed this program to provide the best-in-class clinical interventions and the content is based on extensive work with customers and researchers. The aim of the certification is to provide the next generation of Wellbeing Specialists for Trust & Safety teams and ensure the psychological health and safety of content moderation teams globally.
Zevo Accreditation Program Certifications
There are two certifications depending on the mental health professional’s experience In Trust & Safety:
- Wellbeing Specialist Certification – aims to introduce the world of Trust & Safety with topics including mental health literacy, non-traditional therapeutic approaches and how to minimize vicarious trauma.
- Lead Wellbeing Specialist Certification – This is aimed at clinicians who have some experience in Trust & Safety, and will be working in a wider leadership role, managing a team and liaising with the business. This certification includes topics covering how to set up CIMS protocols, managing critical incidents and designing and implementing policies to support employees.
Course Format
The course is designed for working professionals offering short modules alongside homework assignments and ongoing engagement with the course facilitators. The course lasts for 10 weeks and each participant will have access to a course facilitator for the duration of the course and there will be reflective learning pieces as part of the final exam requirements.
CPD Approval
The Zevo Accreditation Program has been approved by the CPD Group, a globally recognized CPD Accreditation body.
More Information
The first cohort is currently in progress and the first graduate certificates will be awarded in June. If you are interested in running the Zevo Accreditation Program in your organization, please contact us.
Press Contact
For more information, please contact Tara O’Sullivan at tara@zevohealth.com or call on +353 87 694 9887
About Zevo
Zevo empowers the psychological health and safety of content moderation teams by providing a clinically backed, world-class ecosystem of human intervention, best practice, and technology. We work with some of the world’s best companies providing wellbeing solutions to Content Moderators and other members of Trust and Safety teams. We have interventions for each part of a Content Moderator’s career – from recruitment and onboarding to ongoing therapeutic solutions and even leaver support. We align our solutions to this industry’s reactive nature by adapting and scaling the implementation of our services globally.
We help our customers reduce the risk around compliance and legislation, as well as increasing individual and team productivity and helping you provide a psychologically safe work environment. Zevo provides a wide selection of solutions depending on your industry, your team size, and the nature of the content you deal with. We have dedicated workflow interventions for egregious, highly egregious, and non-egregious content. Our solutions support people throughout the organization, the Trust and Safety support team (including HR, policy and more), as well as the individual Content Moderators.
