Trauma-Informed Culture
Jonathan T. Jefferson
Trauma-informed
cultures are cognizant of the fact that their clients have been traumatized and
will present with a host of issues that they seek to relieve without further
negative impacts. It is important to
ascertain the scope of an individual’s adverse childhood experiences prior to
attempting to treat them. Areas of
concern are broad and include historical trauma, toxic stress, resilience,
executive functioning, and compassion fatigue (experienced by employees).
The Black Lives Matter awareness efforts can
be attributed to historical trauma. This
form of trauma spans generations and pertains to certain cultural, racial, and
ethnic populations. African Americans
experienced centuries of slavery, Jim Crow era segregation, and current high
rates of incarceration. Native Americans
(Trail of Tears), Jews (Holocaust), Japanese Americans (internment), and many
other groups may present with symptoms of historical trauma. “...historical trauma often involves the
additional challenge of a damaged cultural identity.” (Sotero, 2006).
A
trauma-informed culture would cultivate positive relationships, be
non-judgmental, and demonstrate understanding of the negative impacts trauma
has had on marginalized groups of people within society. Focusing on a group’s fortitude and
resilience can be an avenue toward healing.
Making supportive connections with key members within local minority
communities (e.g. church leaders & elected officials) would be essential to
addressing historical trauma.
Toxic stress is lengthy in time,
intense, or persistently recurrent, and detrimental to overall wellness. “Toxic stress can increase health risks
including heart disease, mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety
disorders, substance misuse, and has long-lasting negative consequences for
cognitive functioning, behavioral health, immune functioning, and physical
health.” (Hamoudi, et. al, 2015). This
was evident in my late maternal grandmother who lived through The Great
Depression. Upon her passing, my family
found stockpiles of canned foods stored in her apartment. This was likely the result of an anxiety
disorder triggered by experiencing long periods of hunger.
Health and human services
organizations that are trauma-informed can disrupt patterns of toxic stress by
relieving financial burdens on families and individuals, creating safe havens,
and referring clients to relevant health care providers. Removing barriers to services (e.g. cost,
location, &/or transportation), and making connections with clinical mental
health sources when warranted would also be evident. Having these supports in place is necessary
to avoiding retraumatization.
“Resilience is the ability of
individuals to not succumb to adverse experiences and is the typical response
to adversity.” (Southwick, Bonanno, Masten, et. al, 2014). “Resilient people have a good sense of
themselves and their abilities and have the life skills to feel competent as
individuals.” (Ginsburg, 2014). “They
often have strong connections to other people in their families, communities,
or schools, as well as a solid understanding of right and wrong and a sense of
integrity.” (Ginsburg, 2014).
When I think of resilient people, I
think of World War II veterans who experienced
unimaginable human atrocities yet managed to live long
fruitful lives. Nelson Mandela also
comes to mind. After twenty-seven years
in prison, he went on to become South Africa’s first black president and lived
to the age of ninety-five. A
trauma-informed culture would implement programs for youth that build social
connectedness, emotional mastery, self-confidence, and self-control.
No
trauma-informed culture can succeed without having programs in place to account
for the executive functions and self regulation of individuals. Executive functions refer to brain
development affecting abilities such as critical thinking, problem solving,
planning, decision making, and completing tasks. This is an extensive and critical topic that
can easily encompass an essay of its own.
“Children who have experienced prolonged or pronounced stress and
adversity, including poverty and trauma experiences, may struggle more than
other children do to regulate their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.”
(Zelazo, et. al, 2016). Strategies to
improve working memory, along with meditation and yoga, to improve
concentration are among the processes that have proven successful at improving
executive functions.
As
important, a trauma-informed culture would be attentive to secondary traumatic
stress/compassion fatigue. Secondary traumatic
stress disorder is a normal, but hazardous, result that can come from working
with traumatized individuals. The
symptoms of this fatigue are many and impact the cognitive, emotional,
behavioral, and physical domains.
Trauma-informed cultures openly
discuss the impacts that working with traumatized clients can have on
employees. Employees should be
encouraged and supported to engage in personal wellness activities (nature
walks, nutritional counseling, mindfulness practices, painting, photography,
etc.). An anonymous and free employee
assistance program should be available, and employers must informally and
regularly check in on staff.
References
● Ginsburg, Kevin R. (2014). Building
Resilience in Children and Teens: Giving Kids Roots and Wings (3rd edition). American Academy of Pediatrics.
● Hamoudi, Amar, Murray, Desiree,
W., Sorensen, L., & Fontaine, A.
(2015). Self-Regulation and Toxic
Stress: A Review of Ecological, Biological, and Developmental Studies of Self-Regulation
and Stress. OPRE Report # 2015-30,
Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for
Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
● Sotero, MM (2006). A Conceptual Model of Historical Trauma:
Implications for Public Health, Practice and Research. Journal of Health Disparities Research and
Practice (1)1:93-108.
● Southwick, SM, Bonanno, GA, Masten,
AS, et. al (2014). Resilience
definitions, theory and challenges: Interdisciplinary perspectives. European Journal of Psychotraumatology,
5:25338.
● Zelazo et. al (2016). Executive
Function: Implications for Education (http://ies.ed.gov/ncer/pubs/20172000/).
