Care DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence Understanding Trauma - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Trauma-Informed Care

DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Understanding Trauma

What is trauma? Is there a difference between trauma and a crisis? Trauma: from the Latin word meaning wound Crisis: too much, too fast, too soon

Impacts of Trauma

• Psychological/emotional

responses to trauma:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Problems regulating affect
• Withdrawal
• Cognitive responses to

trauma:

• Inability to organize thoughts
• Poor memory/forgetfulness
• Poor judgment
• Difficulty making decisions
• Physical responses to

trauma:

• Body aches (headache, back

pain, etc.)

• Gastrointestinal issues
• Circulatory system issues (high

blood pressure, heart palpitations, etc.)

• Changes in eating and sleeping

Behavioral Consequences of Trauma

• State of persistent fear: hypervigilance, easy startle response
• Problems with memory: difficulty remembering what happened,

non-linear, inconsistent versions, flashbacks, intrusive memories

• Difficulty regulating affect: unable to stop crying, uncontrollable

anger, “inappropriate” laughter, numbness, no emotion

• Avoidance: not able to make decisions, avoiding anything that

reminds them of the violence

Addressing Trauma: Person Centered Which do you choose?

Person Centered

• A person-centered approach recognizes that each

individual is unique, and is the expert of their own experience

• Not population specific, but person specific
• Knowing one aspect of a person’s identity does not mean we can

predict how they’ll act or what they need

• Not every person in a population responds to trauma in the same way

Person Centered

• How do we practice person-centered approaches in our

work?

• Ask pronouns & how they’d like to be identified
• Explain your role and what they can expect
• Ask about preference for receiving information
• Get consent before any physical contact (handshakes, etc.)
• Do your best to help them feel safe and comfortable – what do they

need?

• Provide informed consent about how information is shared and with

whom

Addressing Trauma: Choice

Building Choice

• Flexibility at intake/entrance to program
• Options given during their time in program
• Choice in referrals/next steps

In order to empower clients & build self-determination, choice is needed at programmatic and systems level

Challenges & Barriers to Addressing Trauma

Challenges & Barriers

• Why is it challenging to hold up these three tenants

(person-centered and choice) in our work?

• Lack of private space
• Not enough time for each client
• Concerns client may take advantage of staff/the program
• Staff don’t have enough power or support

Challenges & Barriers

• Despite the challenges, what are the benefits of being

person-centered and offering choice?

• Better relationships with clients
• Building client self-determination and empowerment
• Feels better for staff
• Proven effective in evidence-based research

Trauma-Informed Care

• Shift in thinking about trauma: focus not on the

incident, but on the impact

• Trauma-informed care: focus not on a checklist or to-do

list, but on a practice

Trauma-Informed Care

Organizations and practices that incorporate an understanding

• f the pervasiveness and impact of trauma, including an

understanding that a person is the expert of their own trauma. These organizations and practices are designed to reduce retraumatization, support healing and resiliency, promote safety for survivors and staff, and recognize the root causes

• f oppression, abuse and violence.

Trauma-Informed Care

• Providing trauma-informed care means:
• Thinking in a person-centered way
• Honoring confidentiality and privacy
• Providing options, flexibility, and choice
• These best practices are proven to reduce trauma

symptoms for both clients & staff

Questions?