Trauma can take many forms, and the effects can be lasting, impacting how a person feels, reacts, communicates, and seeks support, long after the event itself has passed. This is why trauma-informed care matters. This type of care acknowledges that healing starts with compassion, understanding, and giving people the dignity and control they deserve, which helps build trust and reduces the risk of re-traumatization in survivors of domestic violence.
This blog takes an in-depth look at what trauma-informed care is, how it reduces re-traumatization, and how to implement it.
Trauma-Informed Care
Trauma-informed care is an approach that actively recognizes how trauma can affect a person’s emotions, behaviors, relationships, and well-being. The approach focuses on creating supportive environments that prioritize safety, trust, healing, and empowerment while avoiding systems or actions that inadvertently cause additional harm. Utilizing this approach means recognizing that trauma can be personal, historical, racial, or systemic, and that these experiences shape how people view themselves and interact with the world around them.
This approach shifts the focus from asking “What is wrong with you?” to “What has happened to you?” It is an organizational change process that requires all individuals, practices, protocols, and environments to take universal precautions for those affected by trauma to avoid the re-traumatization of an individual.
What Is Re-traumatization?
Re-traumization is when a person experiences a situation, interaction, environment, or policy that reminds them of past trauma and triggers an emotional or physical stress response connected to said experiences. The triggers are usually unintentional and can range from more obvious to less obvious. For example, isolation or physical restraints are more obvious, and most people would know to avoid such triggers when approaching an individual with trauma.
However, smells, sounds, or interactions that replicate themes such as being unseen/unheard, non-acknowledgment of work-related stress, and non-transparency may inadvertently recreate feelings tied to previous traumatic events. For individuals affected by historical, racial, systemic, or intergenerational trauma, non-inclusive practices, microaggressions, or environments that fail to consider cultural and accessibility needs can also contribute to re-traumatization.
In addition to causing emotional harm, re-traumitization is associated with less engagement in services, higher rates of self-harm, injury in those seeking services, staff turnover, lower staff morale, and reduced organizational commitment.
Universal Precautions
The foundation of trauma-informed care rests on five core values that help create safer, more supportive environments for everyone involved. Engaging and applying the values and principles of trauma-informed care helps reduce the likelihood of re-traumatization. There are five widely recognized principles that help mitigate the risk of retraumatization in interactions, policies, procedures, and environments.
- Safety: Trauma-informed environments prioritize both physical and emotional safety. This can include creating welcoming spaces, embracing diversity and inclusion, using calm and respectful communication, and addressing issues in a supportive rather than confrontational way.
- Trustworthiness: Building trust requires consistency, transparency, and clear communication. Trauma-informed organizations work to set clear expectations, communicate changes in advance, maintain healthy boundaries, and respond with patience and understanding.
- Choice: Trauma-informed care recognizes the importance of autonomy and self-determination. Individuals are given meaningful choices whenever possible, informed about available options, and supported in ways that respect their personal identities, cultures, and experiences.
- Collaboration: Rather than making decisions for people, trauma-informed approaches focus on working alongside them. This includes listening to feedback, valuing different perspectives, recognizing power imbalances, and encouraging shared decision-making.
- Empowerment: Trauma-informed care focuses on strengths instead of limitations. It encourages growth by validating experiences, recognizing skills and resilience, using inclusive and person-centered language, and helping individuals build confidence and hope for the future.
The Importance of Trauma-Informed Care
Trauma-informed care is a commitment to actively treating people with compassion, dignity, and understanding. By recognizing the impact that trauma can have on individuals, organizations can create safer and more supportive environments that encourage healing rather than harm.
