Taking a Different View - Trauma-Informed Services

Working with survivors of domestic violence can sometimes be challenging.  At times it seems as if they are working against us and sabotaging our efforts to help.  They don’t always fit the ideal description of a victim.  We may expect them to be timid, dis-empowered, fearful, and willing to accept any help we offer them to feel safe.  When they don’t respond to us in the way that we would like we may even feel manipulated, attacked, used, or we may even begin to doubt their stories or label their actions as symptoms of a mental illness.

When working with survivors of domestic or sexual assault who are challenging it is very important that we stand back and take a different point of view.  Instead of talking about a person’s behaviors or symptoms that are getting in the way of her being able to move forward, it is more helpful to ask “how are the effects of trauma impacting her ability to make changes, engage in services and move forward and how can we help to alleviate effects?”  In addition, it is helpful to ask ourselves what we are doing that may be re-victimizing or increasing the impact of trauma triggers.  This is the goal of being a trauma-informed organization.

One definition of trauma-informed services is:

When a program is trauma-informed, every part of its organization, management and service delivery system is assessed and potentially modified to include a basic understanding of how trauma impacts the life of an individual who is seeking services.  Trauma-informed organizations are based on an understanding of the vulnerabilities or triggers of trauma survivors that traditional service delivery approaches may exacerbate, so that their services and programs can be more supportive and avoid re-traumatization.

In able to provide trauma-informed services, advocates may sometimes need to take a breath and recognize their own trauma responses in order to be able to respond in a trauma informed way.  By thoughtfully working with someone to recognize when she has become activated emotionally and then assisting her in reducing her responses we are of more value as an advocate than if we become resistant or activated in return. 

This may be particularly challenging in working with shelter guests.  A guest can feel powerless in the face of living in a strange place with people she doesn’t know and feeling controlled by staff or other systems.  This will increase trauma responses and a domino effect may occur among the shelter guests, one or more guests’ actions creating a possible activating situation.  Ongoing discussion amongst staff and guests about the effects of trauma and regular activities to relieve stress are vital in being able to help everyone feel emotionally safe.

It can also be helpful to take time out from looking at the non-productive behaviors (trauma responses) that you may see in a survivor and start to actively seek and point out any positive actions the person may make.  We can often fall into the habit of focusing only on the negative and fail to recognize the efforts and strength it takes for a woman to move forward after years of abuse.  Each time we point out something someone does wrong only validates what she may have heard from an abuser or parent.  We can help change patterns by focusing our efforts on a person’s strengths.