Trauma-informed practice is more than a set of interventions, it’s a holistic approach that transforms how organisations understand, respond to, and support people affected by trauma.
At Innovating Minds, we believe that embedding trauma-informed principles is essential for creating safe, supportive environments where everyone can thrive.
But what does it mean to be trauma-informed? The answer lies in six core principles that guide every aspect of our work.
1. Safety
Physical and emotional safety is the foundation of trauma-informed practice. People who have experienced trauma often feel unsafe and are on high alert. Organisations must create environments, both physical and psychological - where individuals feel protected, respected, and safe.
How to apply it:
- Ensure physical spaces are calming and accessible with visible signs to support with orientation.
- Those that are greeting children and families first understand how their interactions can make the difference to someone feeling safe or threatened.
- Create systems that do not require children and families to re-live their trauma by retelling their experiences of trauma via forms and assessments.
2. Recognising the impact of trauma
Trauma reactions are often viewed as challenging behaviour. Trauma-informed services recognise that behaviour is a form of communication and often a response to the trauma a young person has experienced.
How to apply it:
- Offer trauma informed training delivered by experts to support your team to understand the impact of trauma on the body and the brain and the impact this can have on relational, emotional and physical health.
- Acknowledge that you do not need to know whether a young person has experienced trauma to offer a trauma informed response.
- Recognise and respond to the impact of grief on children and families that have experienced trauma. Families that have experienced trauma will also be grieving due to the loss of something important to them.
3. Language matters
The language you use in all your communications matter. It can impact how safe a child or parent/carer feels with you and the service they are interacting with.
How to apply it:
- Reconsider using job titles with the word ‘behaviour’. Review job titles from the lens of a child and a family to ensure the job title reflects the approach and the support that is taking place.
- Review external communication tools such as leaflets, posters and website. Ask yourself, is the language shaming, blaming, humiliating, can it be understood? Identify where the language could be re-phrased to feel more softer and calming.
- Listen to the language that your team are using to describe the families they are working with. Identify opportunities for your team to reflect on the language they use and the impact this has on their work with children and families.
4. Every interaction
Trauma informed practice isn’t a switch we turn off and on for special moments, it becomes a way of being and a culture embedded in within an organisation.
How to apply it:
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Buy-in from senior leadership team is critical to successes. Senior leaders must model what trauma informed practice looks and feels like, therefore ensuring they lead with integrating trauma-informed principals.
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At the heart of every decision and interaction should be focused on the therapeutic interaction and the ability to offer moments of co-regulation for children and families.
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Attune into how your body is feeling. Often, we focus on what we are thinking and neglect how they body is feeling. Attunment to the body enables practitioners to regulate how they are feeling so they can hold a safe space for the children and families.
5. Journey that doesn’t end
Recognising that the implementation of trauma informed practice is a journey that is continuous ensures that expectations are managed and long-term buy-in is secured.
How to apply it:
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Avoid using language that says ‘we have done it; we are already trauma informed’
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Actively seek feedback from external professionals, they will see your blind spots and enhance your implementation of trauma-informed practice.
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Don’t underestimate the power of repetition. Trauma informed training does not end after 1 or 3 days of training. Frontline practitioners need to hear information on multiple occasions because each time they do, something new will resonate and impact their practice.
6. Vicarious Trauma
Recognising the impact of caring for individuals that have experienced trauma is critical to supporting the wellbeing of the workforce. A workforce that is depleted emotionally, physically and relationally will not have the capacity to safely hold children and families affected by trauma.
How to apply it:
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Creating a safe working environment that allows frontline practitioners to continuously reflect on their biases, interactions and their work with families- back-to-back appointments does not allow reflection to take place. This supports the development of psychological mindedness and self-awareness.
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Access to clinical supervision led by clinical professionals enables frontline practitioners to process the vicarious trauma safely and deepen their ability to become a trauma informed practitioner.
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Raising awareness of vicarious trauma and its impact supports frontline practitioners to become more aware of the impact on their work and encourages practitioners to also prioritise their wellbeing – giving permission helps those that are not used to putting themselves first.
Innovating Minds is the thought leader and resource for organisations seeking to embed trauma-informed approaches.
Ready to learn more?
Contact us to discuss how we can support your organisation to become truly trauma-informed.
