Introduction to Excellent Website on Providing Trauma Informed Services to Women and Girls

Coalescing on Women and Substance Abuse – Linking Research, Practice and Policy


http://www.coalescing-vc.org/index.htm

This site captures material from historical and ongoing projects related to women’s substance use in Canada. The projects described here have been sponsored by the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health with the involvement of many partners. The site was first mounted to share the findings of the Coalescing on Women and Substance Use: Linking Research Practice and Policy project (2003-2008) a project that sparked short-term virtual communities of practice (vCoP) on six key topics related to women's substance use in Canada. Now material continues to be added from both virtual and F2F projects, for example on projects related to girls and heavy alcohol use, and on applying a gender lens to work on the National Framework for Action to Reduce the Harms Associated with Alcohol and Other Drugs and Substances in Canada.

The aim of this site to share and promote action on promising approaches to responding to substance use by girls and women, on the part of service providers, researchers, health system planners and decision makers.

The following discussion questions found on the site can be used by direct services providers to reflect on their current practices and policies in providing trauma-informed services.

1. What have you noticed about the links among trauma, mental illness and substance use problems from your experience of supporting women with these and related challenges?

2. Does your service assume that violence has played some role in the woman’s/girl’s life, even if she has not identified abuse as a source of difficulty?

3. How does your service currently address the needs of girls and women experiencing trauma, substance use and mental health concerns?

4. Does your service provide training to women accessing services in skills useful to healing from trauma as well as substance use and mental health concerns - such as self-soothing, self-esteem, self-trust and assertiveness?

5. Has education (basic information about trauma and its impact) been offered to all staff at your service? Have clinical staff received training on specific modifications of existing services for trauma survivors?

6. What opportunities are there for building awareness/taking action to improve the response for girls and women with substance use problems and related trauma and mental health concerns?

7. Notice the language used within your context. What would happen if ‘symptoms’ were reframed as ‘adaptations’? How would things change at a practice and policy level if ‘disorders’ were considered ‘responses’?

8. Improving the system of care for girls and women requires a paradigm shift from “what is wrong with her?” to “what happened to her?” Consider what this shift might mean for your services or system.

9. How does your organization support efforts to minimize the possibility of re-traumatization?

10. In what ways are girls and women involved in the development of service policies and protocols?

11. How is diversity, such as one’s cultural background, considered in the trauma-specific services you offer?