Trauma Informed Organizational NC

Tools & Resources for Trauma-informed Organizational Policies and Practices

The act of being trauma informed is an on-going, thoughtful practice that everyone in an organization participates in. The practice of working towards being a trauma informed organization means that there is an active awareness of what trauma is and how it affects people and groups of people. A trauma informed organization works to integrate knowledge about the effects of trauma into their organizational culture and actively strives to not retraumatize its clientele and employees. This framework is adapted from Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma Informed Approach. This Guiding Framework for an Organizational Trauma Informed Approach focuses on 6 key principles: safety; trustworthiness and transparency; collaboration and mutuality; empowerment and individual agency; cultural, gender and historical issues; and adaptability. Each organization is unique, and it will be up to each organization to decide how to use and implement the principles in this framework. We hope that this Guiding Framework can help build the foundation needed to support the on-going, collective effort of working towards being trauma informed. 

All visitors, clientele, and employees who enter your organization, staff or clientele, feel safe in the physical space and measures have been taken to proactively assist folks in feeling psychologically and emotionally safe as well. All of the staff understand the importance of safety and how it may look different for individuals. All of the staff have a basic understanding of trauma and how it may show up for individuals. Staff engage in nuanced conversations about safety and how to negotiate around individual sensitivities, like scent and food allergies. There are explicit practices and policies in place that prohibit violence and harassment in the workplace and there are policies that support staff who experience intimate partner violence or are the victim of a crime. People’s identities are respected, and the environment is supportive of everyone living their authentic lives. Examples of workplace policies like this can be found HERE

Establishing and maintaining trust in all relationships is on-going. There is clear intention and efforts made to build and maintain trust with clients and staff. Decisions that affect the entire organization are made with transparency and staff and clients’ perspectives are sought out and help inform decisions. Leadership trusts and values the voices of staff and their service populations. Roles and responsibilities are clear among staff and leadership. Among staff, open and honest communication is encouraged, ideas and diverse opinions are welcomed and discussed with respect without fear of retribution. Accountability measures are in place when conflicts arise, and staff understand what their options are for recourse. Decision makers have an intermediate to advanced understanding of the impacts of trauma and actively work to understand how bias may show up for them in the workplace. 

Mechanisms are in place for staff to access support from each other as needed. Staff have an avenue for seeking support from their peers either in peer supervision, whole team meetings, informal and/or formal settings. All staff, regardless of position, are encouraged to access on-going training on trauma and the effects of trauma because it is everyone’s responsibility and role at the organization to be more trauma informed. There is an emphasis on relationship building within the organization and a desire/attempt to balance power in the organization. There is an acknowledgement of power imbalances, within a service provider and client relationship, and among staff in hierarchal organizations. The role of power is examined and discussed openly among staff and with clients. Regardless of hierarchy, all positions in an organization are seen and treated as valuable and vital to the organization. Staff and clients are consulted and/or part of organizational wide decision-making processes.

Empowerment is a core advocacy principle and staff understand the importance of empowerment for the populations they serve. Empowerment is the ability to make informed decisions for oneself, having power in personal agency. The organization understands the impact of secondary trauma and vicarious trauma on all staff and have practices in place to help mitigate its impacts. Staff and employees have all the information they need to make informed decisions about their work environment and have opportunities to weigh in on issues that affect them. Empowerment is a core value for an organization committed to trauma informed principles because there is a recognition and appreciation of a worker’s agency. 

There is an acknowledgement at the organization that structural inequities exist and there is movement and commitment toward addressing these inequities, with the recognition that trauma is often a result of ongoing inequalities. The organization actively strives to interrupt bias and stereotyping in their service delivery, in hiring, and in the workplace culture. Anti-oppression values are integral to a trauma informed approach because all forms of oppression depend on each other to flourish, so the work to eliminate intimate partner violence includes the work to end all forms of oppression. The organization deeply understands how oppression affects a workplace and its workers and takes active steps to fostering a safe environment for all its staff. Equity work is understood as part of the practice of being trauma informed. Progress an agency makes towards increasing equity for their service population and for their staff is a trauma-informed organizational practice.

This principle is foundational and is present in every principle listed here. Sometimes in our work there is fear around change and commitment to “how we’ve always done things.” However, we’ve learned that organizations need to be able to be flexible to changes that are outside of their control. Organizations change when we gain new knowledge about how to do our work better, when outside forces like a pandemic or hurricane force us to develop new practices, or when the organization shifts its priorities. Thinking about and being ready for the possibility of change can help cushion the jarring nature of it and can help folks feel more prepared. Organizations working towards being trauma informed value the perspectives of their staff and are keenly aware of how changes will impact their workers. Our workplaces are ever changing environments as staff roles fluctuate, as laws change, and as technology evolves so does our culture. Change is neutral, it is not all bad or all good, instead it is constant (Butler, 1995).

(Butler, Octavia E. Parable of the Sower. New York: Warner Books, 1995.)