This article addresses the global burden of psychological trauma caused by both natural disasters and wars. Trauma and traumatic stress exact a human and socio-economic toll that is vast in its magnitude and immense in its consequences. Given the massive prevalence of trauma, this then raises an important pedagogic question: how do you educate and inform individuals about psychological trauma without psychologically traumatising or re-traumatising them? Trauma and the multiple disabilities it causes have not received the attention they deserve from the international community. Recent innovations in the field of trauma psychology have opened new possibilities for scaling up that could benefit not only traumatised populations, but also traumatised field staff involved in development work, humanitarian aid or peace operations. The single biggest constraint to large-scale trauma treatment is the huge shortage of mental health professionals. Simply put, there is presently insufficient professional capacity available worldwide to address the magnitude of the trauma problem. Increasing knowledge about the importance and significance of trauma will be an important step towards addressing this global burden