Trauma-informed care is not a therapy, intervention or specific action. It is an approach to engaging people with histories of trauma that recognized the presence of trauma symptoms and acknowledges the role that trauma played in their lives. Trauma is extreme stress that overwhelms a person's ability to cope. It can be an event, a series of events, or a set of circumstances that harms a person's physical or emotional well-being.
According to SAMHSA TIP 57 (2014), there are five primary principles for trauma-informed care:
- Physical and emotional safety
- Trustworthiness and Transparency
- Meaningful sharing of power and decision making
- Voice and choice
- Collaboration and Mutuality
Who out there is familiar with Trauma-Informed care? How do you incorporate trauma-informed care into your own practice? How might we all incorporate trauma-informed care into our everyday interactions in the office, home or on the streets?
Very informative. Can you give some examples of how to identify this?
The community resiliency model offers a four-step process: tracking, resourcing, grounding, and shift and stay. Very briefly, the triggered individual tracks his/her nervous system when triggered, recalls a helpful resource that brings him/her back to his/her resilient zone; then the individual grounds by connecting to a surface (standing, sitting or walking), then the person shifts their attention from the distressing event to a place in the body, or thoughts/emotions that are helpful.
Great question, Ravi. Unfortunately, there is not a simple answer. Someone who is suffering from the effects of a traumatic event can present in a number of ways. For example, we are finding that in children the effects of trauma often present very similarly to what we used to think ADHD looked like. As a result of the shift to Trauma-Informed Care we are finding that a lot of children that had been diagnosed with ADHD were more likely having a trauma reaction. Trauma can look like anxiety, depression or sometimes even psychosis. The best advice I can give regarding recognizing trauma would be to be aware of any changes in behavior. Possibly moodiness, avoiding situations or places, irrationality, aggressiveness, depression, isolating.
-As you can see with the broad spectrum of symptoms, it is often misdiagnosed.