It is important to understand that we are all survivors of our life experiences, and most of us have experienced some kind of trauma. We should encourage self-care and empathy — for our patients, and for ourselves.
Many of our patients have experienced trauma. It is very common: A full 70 percent of people have experienced some form of trauma. Twenty percent of this group will experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from their trauma. One in 10 women experiences trauma-related PTSD.
What is trauma?
Trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically and emotionally harmful or threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being.
Trauma activates a “fight, flight, or freeze” reaction. There is no one correct response to any trauma; every person responds in their own individual way. This is why survivors must be believed and trusted. All reactions to trauma are normal.
When trauma is experienced in childhood, it can lead to a lifetime of issues depending on the severity and/or the individual who experienced the trauma. Adverse childhood experiences can lead to social, emotional, and cognitive impairment; adoption of health-risk behaviors; disease, disability, and social problems; and/or early death.
What is Trauma-Informed Care (TIC)?
Trauma-Informed Care is awareness of the impact of trauma and a person’s individualized response to it. It affects how we interact with our patients and each other.
Trauma-informed care works to create a sense of safety for patients by being mindful of the environment we create for them, and our language, policies, and approaches to working with people.
It takes into account how trauma impacts a person’s memory, health, ability to think clearly, ability to manage emotions, and their sense of self and boundaries.
And TIC also takes into account the full story of an individual — their family history, experiences with oppression, life experiences, and previous trauma.
When a person has experienced trauma but lacks the tools to deal with things that may trigger them, they may show behaviors such as:
- anger
- neediness
- people-pleasing
- shutting down
- blaming others
- addiction
When a person exhibits signs of trauma, we should be asking appropriate questions: Instead of “What’s wrong with you?” we should be asking, “What’s happened to you?” (Note that while understanding trauma helps to explain behavior, it does not excuse behavior.)
In our health center renovations, we are attempting to create TIC environments that integrate:
- clean spaces
- a removal of potentially triggering personal objects
- soothing colors and art (neutrals, blues, greens, pastels; pictures of nature)
- a lack of loud noises; having a separate quiet space available
- comfortable seating in clusters
- changing-stations and a place for kids to play
- a lack of strong scents
- open space with clearly marked exit signs
In taking care of our patients, we are also taking care of ourselves.
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