What does Trauma Informed Working Mean?

Trauma informed working, considers that anyone could have experienced trauma, or a traumatic event in their lifetime, and understands that this will impact on how they feel, think and behave in different situations. 

You may have heard of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES; Felitti et al., 1998) study. ACEs include witnessing domestic violence, living with someone who has been to prison, losing a parent or physical abuse, amongst many others.
Trauma places our whole system, body and mind, under strain and creates lasting impacts. A study in the UK found that 47% of people had experienced at least one ACE and 9% of the population had experienced 4 or more ACES (Bellis et al., 2014).

Further research in this area  demonstrates that experiences in our childhood impact on our physical and mental health and development throughout our lives. People who have experienced 4 or more ACES are more likely to develop health problems such as heart disease or cancer and are more vulnerable to mental health difficulties. 

Whilst knowing that many people have experienced trauma or ACES and understanding that this impacts on a person’s physical and mental health is helpful; there are  other trauma-informed principles which can help us to support people. 

Trauma informed practice outlines 5 key principles: 

• Safety

• Trustworthiness

• Choice 

• Collaboration

• Empowerment.
  
  

We will outline some ways  that you could think about incorporating these principles into your practice here. 

Safety means physical and psychological safety. Someone who has experienced trauma might be particularly cautious or anxious in new settings, meeting new people, or dealing with new experiences. They might struggle with crowded or enclosed spaces, because their body and mind are primed to scan the environment for threats. Here are some suggestions that might help people to feel at ease when attending your organisation

• Create spaces which are inviting and open

• A prominent reception desk with a welcoming and warm staff member 

• Welcome posters in a variety of languages 

• Provide quieter areas for people to go into if they feel overwhelmed 

• Provide more detail to people when inviting them to appointments such as what questions might they be asked, a photo of who they will meet and what the space is like inside

Choice means providing people with genuine and meaningful choices about their options. A good example of this might be if you are running behind and will be late for their appointment. Is there a way that you could let them know this and give them the choice to wait and see you when you have caught up or come back at a different time?

Remember that if you are a professional you hold significant power in the interaction so open and honest communication is really important to ensure that people feel that they really do have choice.  

In Scotland, they have successfully reduced the number of missed appointments in GP practices by offering patients choice about when they attend, and trying to understand why a person has missed their appointment. For example, a busy single mother with 2 children is unlikely to be able to attend a GP appointment at 9am, but if they feel there is no choice, they may accept the appointment and then later miss it. Developing relationships where we understand the needs of the people we are meeting with can help us to offer meaningful choice, help people to feel empowered and build trust in services.

If we design and implement trauma-informed services, we create more open and effective services for everyone. We don’t need to know  someone’s trauma history for this to be a helpful way to work. For example, when we think about staff teams and how many people in the UK have experienced ACES or traumatic experiences later in life, it is likely that someone on your staff team may well be included in this group. Trauma-informed services can support everyone, from staff members to service users. 

Even if they aren’t, trauma-informed practice supports staff teams to better understand their clients, the impact of the work on their own wellbeing, and how to look after themselves and each other. 

Matter South Yorkshire CIC can support you and your team to think about how to work towards a more trauma-informed service. We can offer consultancy on your policies and procedures, reflective practice spaces for your staff teams and managers , and training on specialist topics to promote better understanding. We can create bespoke packages and tailor our work to suit your specific needs. Get in touch to talk to us about how we could help you.