Does understanding Trauma influence how we advocate and use the empowerment model?

Over the past few months I have been challenged to think about my view of the empowerment model and what advocacy means when we have a stronger understanding of how trauma affects the lives of survivors of intimate partner violence. I have had a number of conversations with program directors and advocates on this topic and would like to invite readers of this blog to engage their co-workers in this discussion at their agencies or by commenting on this post.

WISE of the Upper Valley has an excellent position paper on the empowerment model that I have added to the links to the left. This definition can be the starting point for discussions as to what empowerment means to you and your program.

Empowerment is a multi- dimensional, social process of increasing the capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes. This process creates the power to use these choices in his or her own life, community and society, with individuals acting on issues that they define as important.


What strikes me first about this definition is the idea that empowerment is a process and is multi-dimensional. I would like to challenge you to consider what the role of the advocate is in that process. As a process, empowerment is not necessarily something that you can hand the survivor at the first meeting and have the expectation that they will then be able to move forward and make choices.

From a trauma informed perspective, we have learned that due to being in survival mode for many years and dealing with the repercussions of ongoing trauma or the effects of extreme childhood, many survivors have been unable to develop skills and obtain the knowledge that they need in order to be able to transform their lives. Advocacy means that we work to provide a safe place and “empower clients by providing information, tools, resources, and opportunities, and work with clients respectfully, recognizing that the system is confusing and overwhelming to a victim of violence. (WISE)”

I have heard a wide range of responses to idea of what empowerment means when it comes to working with survivors of violence who have been self medicating with drugs and alcohol or who may have a mental health issue. Some advocates may see the drug use as a choice and that under the empowerment model there should be no intervention. Other advocates may be on the other end of the continuum and feel that empowerment means that you confront the person and strongly encourage them to seek counseling.

Knowing what we know about trauma and empowerment, we can find a point on the continuum that works for both the advocate and the survivor. By remembering that the person’s drug use is a primary coping skill, we can begin to advocate and empower by introducing her to new coping skills and support her in choosing her own way. This may mean that she will choose to continue to use but we will have done an advocates job by “providing the information, tools, resources and opportunities” to make different choices at some time in the future.

I often comment that empowering survivors can feel as if we are on the side of a train track watching the survivor stand on the track as a train comes barreling toward her. We are calmly telling her that she has the choice to step to the left of the track, the right of the track or stay on the track. Our job does not end there. We cannot grab or push her off the track, but we can provide the information she needs in order to make a decision about which way she goes. Because of the trauma, many survivors are very afraid and uncertain of what lies on the side of those tracks and actually may choose to deal with the train that they know. However, as they continue, they will carry the knowledge and respect they received from the advocate and will be able to make different choices in the future.

I would also like to encourage discussion as to what advocacy means. Advocacy means different things to different people, Last week I was holding a six month old baby so that a mother could feed her other two children. I strongly feel that this was advocacy. Anything that provides the space for another person to be able to meet her needs can be considered advocacy. Yes, I know that outside of the shelter she would need to be able to figure out how to feed twins and a two year old, but at this time she was still dealing with the trauma of her IPV and the stress of being in new surroundings. By holding that child I was able to give her breathing space to take the next step. On another day or time, it may have been better for her to have problem solved for her self but on her first day in shelter an extra hand helped her navigate just a little better and she was able to make decisions about the care of her children.

Over the years I have learned that the most important thing I learned in my counseling classes was Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In the hierarchy we learn that the most basic needs of food, shelter and clothing need to be attended to first before a person can be empowered to move up the hierarchy to personal and spiritual fulfillment. For us, advocacy begins at that bottom level of the hierarchy. If a person has been traumatized, as all of our survivors have, she will be focusing solely on her survival on a day to day basis and the more we facilitate the provision of the basic needs the sooner she will be open to moving toward empowerment.

In closing, I encourage you to use this article as a means to carry on with the discussion regarding empowerment and the role of advocacy.