What Does “Trauma-Informed” Mean?
To help you become more trauma-informed, here are six guiding ideas to consider.
Trauma-informed treatment must be tailored to the individual’s needs, as well as the culture, history, and setting in which he or she lives or works.
The elements of a trauma-informed strategy that must be present are safety, trustworthiness, and cooperation.
A common ambition in the fields of health care and education is to be “trauma-informed.” The ability to be “trauma-informed” means that we realize the pervasiveness of trauma in our society and make an effort to respond to this unpleasant fact as leaders, caregivers, educators, and people. The ability to recognize the numerous personal and social effects of trauma, anticipate how survivors may react to our words and actions, and contribute to the creation of a society that does not inflict additional suffering are all necessary. Even more importantly, being trauma-informed involves contributing to the creation of an environment that may promote development, resilience, and healing as well as other positive outcomes.
To be trauma-informed is not enough; just proclaiming one’s goal does not ensure positive results. Moreover, because of the wide range of traumatic events and trauma survivors, it is difficult to come up with a set of actions that would be suitable in all situations. The application of guiding concepts that can be applied to different circumstances and individuals is a preferable method in this case..
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recognizes the significance of this issue and has developed guidelines for a trauma-informed approach to treatment (2014). Safety, trustworthiness, and transparency are among the basic values outlined in their work, as are collaboration and mutuality, as well as empowerment, voice, and choice; peer support; and issues related to culture, history, and gender are also addressed.
Individuals guided by the Safety principle should pay close attention to whether or not persons in their care feel safe from harm, both physically and emotionally. Since a result, it is critical to understand what it is that makes the individuals you serve feel unsafe, as this might vary widely between cultures and situations.
In certain cases, safety does not imply that everything will be simple or pleasant; yet, it might be beneficial to distinguish between the two. It is instead based on the concept that many trauma survivors lack a fundamental feeling of security that others take for granted in their daily lives. It is the purpose of implementing this concept to level the playing field so that all persons under your supervision may have a fundamental feeling of security. When a person is able to cease searching their surroundings for threats or danger, or when they are no longer consumed with the need to defend or protect oneself, they may describe themselves as feeling secure.
An approach to leadership or service delivery based on trustworthiness and transparency might encourage individuals to interact with you or your company more readily. Making commitments and following through on them, as well as proving this clearly, are all essential components of being trustworthy. Example: You might vocally say what you plan to accomplish, followed by concrete proof that you have followed through on your commitment.
Transparency allows individuals to better understand your aims and intentions, as well as where they stand in relation to you or your business, which helps them feel more comfortable. Similarly to “showing your work” while solving arithmetic problems, you could explain your thinking process and the elements that were considered when making a significant choice to other people.
In addition to this, Collaboration and Mutuality encourage individuals to pay attention to who is in a position of power and who may be susceptible to its abuse. As an embodiment of cooperation and mutuality, you may work to lessen this power gap as well as the dangers that come with it by participating in more active collaboration across levels of leadership, as well as between employees and customers or students. For example, when contemplating a significant new endeavor, you may solicit feedback from patients (Collaboration and Mutuality) and then discuss how that information was utilized in reaching your final choice (Transparency).
Empowerment, Voice, and Choice continues to develop this concept by highlighting the need of actively encouraging individuals to utilize their power and voice in a variety of contexts and settings. It is understandable that persons who have been disempowered or abused in the past may be scared and unwilling to come forward. Therefore, active attempts to assist people build skills (such as self-advocacy and assertiveness) in this area may be necessary. More than that, the more you are able to embody other basic qualities (such as safety and dependability), the more probable it is that others will feel empowered as well.
Having a thorough understanding of the cultural, historical, and gender issues that affect the people in your environment is also necessary for being trauma-informed.. Giving consideration to cultural factors may enable people to see their own personal talents, social ties, basic beliefs, and resources that may otherwise go unnoticed. Understanding the historical backdrop or the manner in which a person may have been discriminated against may also help us better predict how our actions or policies will be received, as well as what issues they may arouse in the future. It is also possible to better apply the other principles on this list if we have a better grasp of these challenges.
In addition, creating avenues for Peer Support may aid in the learning and growth of those who have experienced trauma firsthand. As a result of the higher feeling of belonging that comes with having peers, assisting peers in forming groups increases the probability that individuals will feel secure. Assembling a group of peers may also help to empower them since it is frequently easier to speak out as a group than it is as a single person
Remembering that trauma survivors include not just the clients or students with whom we deal, but also members of our staff and leadership, as well as ourselves, is essential to taking a genuinely trauma-informed approach. As a result, there is no situation or circumstance in which these ideas would not be beneficial to apply. When one or more of these are required to be in the front or background, there may be a great deal of variation in how they seem when applied across different settings. When applied over time and in our own individual circumstances and lives, these fundamental concepts have the potential to alter and heal our relationships, businesses and even ourselves.
How the disintegration of identity might result in change.
People may evolve as a result of their difficult experiences. After a traumatic event, between one-third and one-half of the population experiences post-traumatic growth.
Prison and addiction are two examples of settings in which change may take place.
Transformation through adversity shows the enormous potential and great resilience that exist inside each individual.
It is natural for humans to want to avoid pain and to make their lives as pleasant and easy as they possibly can. However, contrary to popular belief, a large body of research has shown that pain and trauma may have beneficial long-term impacts. Many individuals who have experienced significant trauma, for example, find themselves becoming deeper and more powerful than they were before. They may even endure a sudden and abrupt transition that enhances the purpose and fulfillment of their existence.
Indeed, research has shown that between half and one-third of all persons experience considerable personal growth after traumatic situations such as bereavement, major sickness, accidents, or divorce, according to the findings of the study. The development of inner strength, self-assurance, and thankfulness for life and other people may occur through time as they mature. The ability to build more personal and honest connections as well as a broader perspective, with a clear sense of what is essential in life and what isn’t, are all advantages of being a woman. This is referred described as “post-traumatic development” in the field of psychology.
I’ve been exploring a particularly dramatic kind of post-traumatic development, which I refer to as “transformation via turbulence,” for the last 15 years in my professional capacity as a psychologist. When it occurs, it may be devastating for troops on the battlefield, prisoners in prison camps who are on the point of famine, or those who have suffered from serious addiction, despair, grief, or disease.
It has been reported that many have felt as though they had taken on a new persona. They are transported into a considerably more intense and broader state of consciousness, as well as a profound sensation of well-being. The world around them seems to be more genuine and lovely as a result. They have a stronger sense of connection to other people and to nature.
“I’m waking up.”
Several of these stories are discussed in detail in my new book Extraordinary Awakenings, in which I also analyze what we can learn from these changes and how we may use what we have learned to our own growth.
Let us consider the case of Adrian, who experienced a radical metamorphosis while imprisoned in an African jail. He was held captive in a cramped cell for 23 hours a day, with no indication as to when he may be freed. During the endless hours of confinement, he started to think on his life and to let go of the past, as well as any feelings of failure or disappointment he had experienced.
He had a little sculpture of the Buddha in his cell, which he had acquired on his travels around Southeast Asia. He proceeded to concentrate his attention on the figurine for extended periods of time as if it were a spontaneous meditation practice. Adrian gradually started to feel more at ease over the following several weeks, until he received a jolt of realization:
It was as though a switch had been flipped… All that had happened and all that was going to happen had been completely released and accepted by the individual. A discharge of blame, worry, rage, and ego took place throughout the process. My state of mind may best be defined as “grace” for the better part of three days. After then, the sensation subsided, yet it lingered in my stomach.
Eve, a lady who lived in the same area, had a similar experience. After 29 years of addiction, she was physically and mentally damaged, and she made an unsuccessful effort to commit herself. She was able to live, but her contact with death had a profound effect on her, and she no longer felt the need to drink. Eve told me that she felt so different that she couldn’t recognize herself in the mirror. “I had no clue who I was,” she said. After first being perplexed by her metamorphosis, Eve had a feeling of liberation, enhanced awareness, and an elevated sense of thankfulness and connection as a result of her transition. She has not had the desire to drink since then, and she has now been clean for a total of ten years.
The disintegration of one’s identity
In order to be clear, there is nothing religious about the process of change that occurs during times of distress. Essentially, it is a psychological event that is associated with a disintegration of one’s sense of self.
The destruction of psychological attachments, such as goals, desires, and aspirations, as well as social roles, religious beliefs, and material goods, according to my opinion, is the root reason. These relationships allow us to maintain our typical sense of self. Consequently, when they go, our sense of ourselves is lost. This is often a terrible process, but in some individuals, it seems to open the door to the development of a new identity.
And, according to my study, such deep-rooted and important alterations are likely to last for an extended period of time. In part, it’s because of this that I don’t think the experience can be explained away as self-delusion or dissociation—a mental process in which one disconnects from one’s thoughts, emotions, memories, or sense of identity—can be explained away.
Transformation through turbulence also shows the enormous potential and profound resilience that exist inside human beings—potential and resilience that we are typically unaware of until we are confronted with difficulties and crises. In essence, as the process of tearing ourselves down is taking place, conflict and suffering may also serve to awaken us.
