Become an ETG Facilitator

Do you offer services to victims of commercial sexual exploitation? Are you looking for a powerful, life-changing curriculum that leads to growth and positive community? If you answered yes, come join over 1,200 ETG Facilitators across the nation who share this important, challenging and rewarding mission.

Please take a moment to read our FAQs about Certification Process, Cost, Curriculum Features, and more. When you're ready to move forward simply click complete this 5-minute registration form.

Frequently Asked Questions

Curriculum Features

1. Help victims identify and understand their victimization

2. Decrease feelings of attachment to a trafficker and/or the lifestyle of commercial sexual exploitation

3. Increase ability to act independently of negative influences and coercion

4. Motivate victims to create or enhance their identity outside of "the life"

5. Increase hope for a future outside of "the life"

ETG includes 10 core lessons. The topics can be found here. ETG also includes a growing library of educational material about other topics such as “Prosecuting Your Trafficker...or Deciding Not To” and “The Path to Purpose"

ETG was created by Survivor-Leaders to 1) give life-saving information to survivors nationwide and 2) create awareness within the anti-trafficking community about psychological coercion and how to combat it. ETG is purposed to be an ongoing and widespread movement rather than a static set of lesson plans. To this end, ETG training and membership fees are used as follows:

-45% to the 9 trafficking survivors who authored and invested in ETG and/or participated in the ETG curriculum video
-25% to ongoing curriculum improvement (i.e., expert consultation, curriculum writing, research, awareness campaigns)
-20% to the operating budget (i.e., website maintenance, marketing materials, accounting, etc.)
-10% commission incentive

1) ETG focuses on intervention, not prevention. This means that each lesson anticipates and validates the experiences of trafficking survivors and provides a safe place for them to process these experiences together.

2) ETG can be led successfully byboth Survivor-Leaders and/or Allies (people who have not survived commercial sexual exploitation). We created the ETG Survivor Sisters Video so that each class has strong survivor voices to model openness, sisterhood and hope for recovery. Facilitators are given an abundance of materials and guidance to help participants connect with the learning material, other survivors around them, and their facilitators, whether the facilitator is a Survivor-Leader or Ally.

3) In contrast to therapeutic groups, ETG is designed to educate and engage students intellectually as well as emotionally. One goal for each class is to help participants understand a specific strategy of psychological coercion and how to overcome it. Our facilitators serve the role of Teacher instead of Therapist, and our curriculum feels more like a transformative educational class than an intense therapy session. Each class features interesting learning material, hands-on activities, opportunities for laughter and room for life-changing growth.

4) ETG has a national Online Community that connects over 1,000 direct-care service providers in the anti-trafficking movement across the nation.

5) The ETG curriculum is alive! We are committed to uploading new resources and conducting ongoing research to keep ETG relevant, interesting and transformational.

Right here! Article: Journal of Women and Criminal Justice

ETG is evidence-informed and has been researched, published and praised in the peer-reviewed Journal of Women & Criminal Justice for showing "...positive trends in improvement of regulatory capacity, relational capacity, sense of self, and future orientation." ARTICLE LINK

Despite showing measurable positive impact, ETG does not have the academic title of “evidence-based” because the academic anti-trafficking field hasn’t established official markers of recovery from human trafficking yet. Given that Human Trafficking just became a federally recognized crime in 2000, the academic anti-trafficking field is still very young. There are, in fact, no “evidence-based” human trafficking intervention curricula. This designation cannot be established until the academic anti-trafficking field establishes “validated measures”—a standardized and thoroughly tested set of measurements that measure a person’s recovery from human trafficking. This is a very complex, interesting and important piece of the puzzle that hasn’t yet been put in place. Read more about this in our blog: How Do Human Trafficking Survivors Assess Recovery

No. ETG should only be facilitated with people who have already experienced commercial sexual exploitation (CSE). For people who have not experienced commercial sexual exploitation ETG will be over-exposure and could potentially produce negative reactions.

While there is valuable and relatable information regarding coercion, ETG is not designed for labor trafficking survivors. The elements of ETG that speak specifically about commercial sexual exploitation may be unrelatable to labor trafficking survivors.

Short answer: yes for transgender males; not sure for cisgender males. ETG is currently being run with transgender males and has received positive feedback; this population typically experiences much of the same coercion and manipulation as female victims. Concerning cisgender male survivors, more research is needed regarding the experiences of this population to say whether or not ETG is a good fit. Here are 4 orgs dedicated to serving male-identified survivors of human trafficking: The BUDDY House (Atlanta), Hero House (Tampa), Bob's House of Hope (Dallas), Emmaus (Chicago)

ETG is a trauma-informed, psychoeducational curriculum that incorporates cognitive behavioral coping strategies.

The ETG lesson model includes 4 parts:

(1) LEARN about a strategy of psychological coercion;

(2) REFLECT on any personal impact of this coercion strategy,

(3) CONNECT with others who have experienced similar coercion;

(4) learn how to recover from this coercion strategy and reBUILD true self.

During part 1, ETG explains complex concepts of psychology and mental health in accessible ways that appeal to multiple learning styles. Many of these concepts draw from widely accepted theories relating to trauma and dissociative disorders.

Comprehension is then enhanced and personalized as students are guided through reflection activities and encouraged to connect with others who’ve had similar experiences of coercion. Part 4 incorporates CBT coping strategies including action oriented coping (i.e. intentional habit reversal), perspective shifting (i.e. journaling, evidence based critical thinking, distortion awareness, values construction), social coping (i.e. active listening skills, altruistic activity), and psychological hygiene (i.e. self-care strategies).

Each of the 10 core sessions can be delivered

two-hour group setting (requires 2 trained facilitators; recommend 4 - 10 participants)
one-hour group setting (requires 2 trained facilitators; recommend 3 - 6 participants)
one on one by a trained clinician (anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours)

Certification Process

Live, virtual ETG Facilitator Trainings are held via Zoom on the LAST TUESDAY of EVERY MONTH from 10am to 5pm Central Time. If this date and time does not work for your team, please let us know; we will try our best to accommodate your schedule.

Jan 26 (Thu) 10am - 5pm CST
Feb 23 (Thu) 10am - 5pm CST
Mar 30 (Thu) 10am - 5pm CST
Apr 27 (Thu) 10am - 5pm CST
May 25 (Thu) 10am - 5pm CST
Jun 29 (Thu) 10am - 5pm CST
Jul 27 (Thu) 10am - 5pm CST
Aug 31 (Thu) 10am - 5pm CST
Sep 28 (Thu) 10am - 5pm CST
Oct 26 (Thu) 10am - 5pm CST
Nov 30 (Thu) 10am - 5pm CST
Dec 28 (Thu) 10am - 5pm CST

We require TWO (2) trained ETG Facilitators to lead classes with a group of 2 or more participants. A single ETG Facilitator without a trained co-facilitator is only permitted to lead individual (1-on-1) classes. The qualification requirements to become an ETG Facilitator are as follows:

Work or volunteer with an organization or private practice that serves victims of commercial sexual exploitation
Work or volunteer with clients that have access to free and available therapy?
Completed a formal Human Trafficking 101 training or worked with victims of commercial sexual exploitation for at least 3 months

Yes, we offer Train The Trainer (T4T) packages that include T4T ETG Facilitator Training and up to 12 ETG Facilitator Licenses for future use. We also offer Train the Trainer (T4T) packages for the ETG Supporter Training to be taught in-house as general staff training.

Yes, each ETG Facilitator has a personal login and password to the ETG Online Community and Curriculum that never expires.

Trainers include: Angie Conn, Rachel Thomas, Carissa Phelps, or Dr. Debbie Lassiter

Angie Conn is an independent consultant for SheWhoDares, LLC, which she founded in 2018 to empower others to dare to face and overcome their trauma. She is a survivor of domestic sex-trafficking, abuse, and addiction; her joyful and resilient spirit inspires and engages listeners. Angie sits on both the Survivor Alliance Network and the West Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force. In 2018, she was awarded the ‘Special Courage Award’ by the United States Attorney Southern District of West Virginia for being a champion for victims and survivors of human trafficking in her home state.

Rachel Thomas, M. Ed is the director of Sowers Education Group, lead author of Ending The Game Curriculum, and a personal survivor of domestic sex trafficking. She is a graduate of the UCLA School of Education and has over 12 years’ experience teaching, training, mentoring and curriculum writing. Since its inception in 2012, Sowers has created employment opportunities for 24 survivors, reached over 100,000 live audience members and millions more through media. Rachel and others from the Ending The Game Team have been featured on numerous media outlets including CNN, HLN, The T.D. Jakes Show and The New York Times Upfront Magazine. She was recently appointed to the United States Council on Human Trafficking.

Carissa Phelps, PhD, is the founder of Runaway Girl. She is a licensed attorney, author, trainer, consultant and small business owner. Carissa’s fearless leadership in the survivor community has led to an increased level of awareness among communities, as well as improved legislation and responses to human trafficking victims, especially children. Carissa’s inspiring memoir Runaway Girl: Escaping Life on the Streets, One Helping Hand at a Time, has been instrumental in changing countless hearts and minds. In 2008, she co-produced the award winning short documentary that took her back to the streets where she was trafficked at 12 years old. Her memoir and film are used as tools to train and teach by organizations worldwide. In 2007, Carissa earned both a Juris Doctorate and MBA from UCLA. In 2010, she was named one of the top 100 inspirational graduates by UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Dr. Debbie Lassiter is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Convergence Resource Center. Dr. Lassiter has provided support and mentorship to men and women rebuilding their lives after trauma for over 40 years. In 2012 Dr. Lassiter launched the Human and Sex Trafficking Support Initiative and began hosting community awareness events. Dr. Debbie is a sought after panelist, presenter, and trainer raising awareness to human trafficking and launched the HEMAD (Human trafficking Educators working with Men and boys Against the Demand) project to address the demand side of the commercial sex trade reaching over 45,000 men that now take a stand against human trafficking. In 2014 Dr. Lassiter was honored by the Department Of Justice with the National Crime Victims Award for her work with Human Trafficking Survivors and again in 2016 by the Department of Corrections. A few months later Dr. Lassiter was named one of the 50 heroes of Fortune 500. In 2016 she received the Citizens Distinguished Service Award from the Sheboygan Police Department. Dr. Lassiter delivers the hard truths with humor and humanitarianism making her unique and highly effective.

12. This number allows us to keep ETG Facilitator Training interactive and intimate as designed.

Both options are available. For 5 or fewer trainees, we invite your team to attend one of our live, interactive Zoom webinar trainings that we hold every month. For groups of 6 you can opt to choose an exclusive training date for your team to have online or in-person training. The all-inclusive travel fee for in-person training at your location is $750.

Ensure that all potential facilitators meet the 3 qualification requirements (listed in above FAQ)
Submit “Become An ETG Facilitator” questionnaire. This can be done individually or on behalf of a team.
Sign the ETG Facilitator Training Agreement. This can be done individually or on behalf of a team.
Submit payment at least 7 days before ETG Facilitator Training.
Each Facilitator completes the ETG Facilitator Training.
Each Facilitator submits signed Confidentiality Agreements.
Each Facilitator receives personal username and password to access the ETG Online Community and ETG Intervention Curriculum

ETG Facilitator Training is a 7-hour training, including a 1-hour lunch break. See the training overview here.

Work or volunteer with an organization or private practice that serves victims of commercial sexual exploitation
Work or volunteer with clients that have access to free and available therapy?
Completed a formal Human Trafficking 101 training or worked with victims of commercial sexual exploitation for at least 3 months

Note: We require TWO (2) trained ETG Facilitators to lead classes with a group of 2 or more participants. A single ETG Facilitator without a trained co-facilitator is only permitted to lead individual (1-on-1) classes.

Facilitating ETG

Yes! ETG Curriculum products are completely optional but all very helpful and special. Check them out on the Shop tab.

-ETG Facilitator Kits: branded, durable materials to facilitate all hands-on activities plus an ETG Affirmation Poster and custom Essential Oils room spray to help set a positive atmosphere. We recommend 1 kit per 2 facilitators.

-ETG Participant Welcome Kits for 10: Kits include 1 ETG Affirmation Poster, 10 ETG Affirmation Folders, 10 ETG Affirmation Message Pens and 10 custom ETG essential oil rollers crafted by ETG Graduate Ashley Maha'a, founder of My Truth Is Now.

-ETG Participant Graduation Gifts for 10: Gifts include 10 assorted leather ETG Bracelets beautifully crafted and individually wrapped with a note of encouragement by ETG Graduate Sarah Demerath, founder of Silver Lining Studios.

Facilitators use their personal login and password to access the ETG Online Community which includes the entire ETG Curriculum. From there, they print all lesson materials and stream all curriculum videos. Facilitators will have access to new educational materials as they are uploaded and be able to communicate with other ETG facilitators across the nation.

Work or volunteer with an organization or private practice that serves victims of commercial sexual exploitation
Work or volunteer with clients that have access to free and available therapy?
Completed a formal Human Trafficking 101 training or worked with victims of commercial sexual exploitation for at least 3 months

Cost

Yes! ETG Curriculum products are completely optional but all very helpful and special. Check them out on the Shop tab.

Yes! We will train one survivor-leader free of cost for every paid ally facilitator. We love and encourage survivor leadership!

The cost of the ETG Certification Training is included in the overall $649/pp cost. For $649, each individual will receive:

7-hour ETG Facilitator Training (live, not pre-recorded)
Lifetime access to the ETG Online Community where facilitators access the entire ETG Intervention Curriculum and communicate with over 1,100 ETG Facilitators across the nation.

The cost of the ETG Intervention Curriculum is included in the overall $649/pp cost. For $649, each individual will receive:

7-hour ETG Facilitator Certification Training (live, not pre-recorded)
Lifetime access to the ETG Online Community where facilitators access the entire ETG Intervention Curriculum and communicate with over 1,100 ETG Facilitators across the nation.

Become a Facilitator

Is ETG Supporter Training right for your group?