Healing with the Heart: Embracing Trauma-Informed Care

Trauma-informed care is not just crucial; it's empowering. It provides a supportive, empathetic, and caring environment where children can take control of their healing journey. This approach, with its many benefits, from improving early help practice to reducing emergency care visits, is a powerful tool for adults who care for them, empowering them to make a real difference in their communities.

What is Trauma?

Trauma is a multifaceted and complex response to a distressing experience; this experience can be events that happen over a period of time (such as child abuse or neglect) or can be the result of a one-off event (such as witnessing a fatal accident).

The most common events that cause traumatic experiences in children include:

Physical Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Emotional (Psychological) Abuse
Neglect
Witnessing Domestic Violence
Separation or Loss of a Parent or Caregiver
Natural Disasters and Accidents
Bullying and Peer Violence
Parental Substance Abuse
Institutional Abuse
Refugee and Displacement Trauma
Medical Trauma
Cyberbullying and Online Harassment
Emotional and Psychological Trauma

Trauma affects everyone differently, and how children respond to a traumatic event will depend on

their life history up until that point,
their previously learnt coping mechanisms,
their perception of the event and any personal connection to it,
the support network around them,
their biological and genetic factors,
their age and stage of development, and,
the severity of the event.

As many factors can determine how traumatic an individual might perceive an event, it does mean that five people could witness the same traumatic incident, and each respond differently to it. Likewise, someone else might tell us about an event they experienced, and we could think, “That’s nothing.” However, it does not matter how we feel about it; what’s important is how the individual sees it – this is where trauma-informed care comes into play.

What is Trauma-Informed Care?

Trauma-informed care (TIC) is an approach that acknowledges the pervasive impact of trauma on children’s lives and integrates this understanding into all aspects of support and care that is offered to them.

Trauma-informed care aims to create environments that promote healing resilience and avoid re-traumatisation; by adopting a trauma-informed approach, parents, caregivers, and educators can create environments that not only acknowledge the effects of trauma but also actively contribute to the healing of the children who have been affected by trauma.

While many organisations have still not adopted a trauma-informed approach, many organisations across health, education, criminal justice and social services have started to adopt this approach. As a result, trauma-informed care has become more comprehensive, inclusive and integrated across sectors.

The Core Principles of Trauma-Informed Care

Trauma-informed care is underpinned by core principles that guide organisations and individuals in creating supportive and healing environments for children who have experienced trauma.

These principles ensure that the care of children is sensitive, respectful and effective in addressing their unique needs.

Principle 1: Safety

Creating a safe environment is crucial in trauma-informed care, and this encompasses both physical and emotional safety by ensuring that the environment is secure, free from hazards and comfortable for the child. Children will also feel respected, valued and protected from emotional harm.

Principle 2: Trustworthiness and Transparency

Open and honest communication should form the basis of the trusting and transparent relationship you build. Building and maintaining trust is crucial for effective trauma-informed interactions with children.

Principle 3: Peer Support

Utilising individuals who have lived through similar experiences and building a community around the child can help to leverage the power of shared experiences, which can enhance the healing process and help build resilience.

Principle 4: Collaboration and Mutuality

Promoting partnerships between yourself and the child where decision-making is shared (such as involving the child in the creation of care plans) will help to build equitable relationships that also respect the autonomy and choices of the child.

Principle 5: Empowerment, Voice, and Choice

Where possible, the child should be empowered to take control of their healing journey to foster self-efficacy. Engaging children actively in their recovery process whilst supporting them to make informed decisions about their care is an excellent way of empowering children.

Principle 6: Cultural, Historical, and Gender Considerations

Being aware of and sensitive to the diversity and individuality of the child’s background will help ensure that you provide inclusive care. Understanding and integrating cultural, ethnic and linguistic backgrounds into the child’s care plan will further promote this.

Principle 7: Understanding Trauma and Its Effects

Understanding the psychological, physical, and behavioural responses that children who have experienced trauma might display is not just essential; it's empowering. It equips you with the knowledge and skills for effective trauma-informed care, allowing you to respond to these behaviours with empathy and appropriate intervention and, ultimately, make a real difference in the lives of these children.

Principle 8: Resilience and Recovery

Supportive interventions should focus on the child’s healing, growth and development of resilience, as this will help cultivate an environment that encourages hope and belief in positive change.

Principle 9: Avoiding Re-Traumatisation

We should be cautious and responsible in our approach to trauma-informed care. Any intervention or support that we offer must minimise the risk of exposing the child to trauma. Re-traumatisation refers to the triggering of past traumatic experiences, which certain language, actions, or situations can cause. Being mindful and aware of these triggers is crucial. Therefore, interventions must be carefully planned and tailored to the child's needs, ensuring their safety and well-being.

Principle 10: Integrated Care

Sometimes, one person cannot heal the world, so where needed, you should coordinate services to address the aspects of a child's well-being that you cannot improve. This could involve utilising colleagues to provide different support layers, such as a therapist for emotional support and a teacher for academic support, or involving a more comprehensive professional network, like a social worker, a psychologist, and a medical doctor. For instance, a child who has experienced trauma may need emotional support from a therapist, academic support from a teacher, and medical support from a doctor. Coordinating these services can provide a holistic approach to the child's well-being.

Implementing Trauma-Informed Care

Implementing trauma-informed care into your practice should be a dynamic and ongoing process. Dedication, empathy and a commitment to creating a supportive environment is required.

You should complete relevant training (such as Thrive LDN or NCTSN or the guidance offered by Gov.uk) is completed and kept up-to-date.

Benefits of Trauma-Informed Care

A trauma-informed approach to our practice ensures that we care for children in a supportive and sensitive way. It also offers other benefits, such as enhanced well-being for children, improved effectiveness of your practice, and contributing to a healthier community.

Trauma-informed care can decrease symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression by addressing the root cause of the distress (as opposed to trying to address the response or behaviour).

A trauma-informed approach is a practical early-help resource that can allow you to identify and address health issues earlier, leading to a lower need for emergency care.

By being trauma-informed, you address children in a sensitive and understanding way, which reduces the risk of re-traumatising children as you can understand, recognise and use trauma-informed language whilst avoiding triggers.