Trauma-Informed Practices at Innovation for Justice (i4J)

Oct 11

An illustration of faces representing trauma-informed practices

By Cayley Balser

In recent years, “trauma” and “trauma-informed” have become buzzwords across disciplines and professions, garnering the attention of academics, professionals, and practitioners. This has led to a variety of meanings and applications of trauma-informed practices in various industries. Emerging scholarship shows a desire and necessity for trauma-informed practices to be implemented within higher education settings, including law schools. i4J is committed to making sure that “trauma-informed” is not a buzzword, but is an intentional, action-based, responsive, and reflective practice within our classrooms and communities throughout our research and design processes.

The importance of trauma-informed practices has never been greater. In the United States, 82.7% of the population has experienced at least one traumatic event in their life.(1) Experiencing a traumatic event may have long-lasting impacts on physical health, including disruption to all major system functioning.(2) Mental health impacts may include behavior changes, memory challenges, inability to complete routine tasks, difficulty with interpersonal relationships, and other symptoms associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.(3)

In addition to experiencing a traumatic event when it happens, an individual may experience retraumatization. This occurs when someone experiences the symptoms of the traumatic event after the event has concluded. This can happen in a variety of settings including during interviews or within a classroom discussion. Retraumatization can occur when an individual recounts the traumatic event or is exposed to sensations that trigger the traumatic memory. Retraumatization causes the person to relive their previous trauma experience — including physiological and emotional reactions— in the present moment. Retraumatization may create or worsen existing trauma symptoms.(4) Implementing trauma-informed practices is shown to reduce the risk of retraumatization.(5)

Learning about and implementing trauma-informed practices is imperative for the next generation of professionals who are doing relational work. This includes, but is not limited, to law students and new attorneys. The following blog post is intended to demystify the buzzwords of “trauma” and “trauma-informed practices” while providing an inside look at how Innovation for Justice puts that information into practice. This blog post is designed to be informative rather than prescriptive. If you’d like to become more trauma-informed in your work or classroom, the end of this post contains resources to deepen your understanding to start or improve your practice.

What is trauma?

Trauma is broadly defined “as an emotional response to a terrible event.”(6) The emotional response usually manifests as denial or shock, while long term reactions can include physical symptoms along with flashbacks, unpredictable emotions, and strained relationships.(7) While more than one person may experience the same terrible event, individual reactions to that event may or may not be a trauma response. Even if each individual does experience a trauma response to the event, the manifestation and expression of trauma may look different in each individual.(8) When an individual experiences a terrible event and has a trauma response, that event is referred to as a “traumatic event.”(9)

What are trauma-informed practices?

There are steps that professionals can take, called trauma-informed practices or trauma-informed care, to mitigate the effects of re-traumatization. Extant legal scholarship examines how exposure to others’ traumatic events impacts legal professionals,(10) and a recognition that these traumatic events also impact the clients that legal professionals serve.(11) Various attempts have been made at recommending best practices, with varying success in implementation.(12)

trauma-informed practices can be described through six guiding principles: safety, transparency and trustworthiness, peer support, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment voice and choice, and cultural, historical and gender issues.(13) Conceptualizing trauma-informed care as principles emphasizes that there is no formula or checklist to becoming a trauma-informed.

However, there are some common practices that are widely regarded as being trauma-informed. These include: establishing and maintaining continuity of care; warm handoffs when referrals must be made; recognizing that trauma-related symptoms and behaviors originate from adapting to traumatic responses; minimizing the risk of retraumatization; reducing the number of times that a community member must repeat their story; creating a safe environment; supporting control, choice, and autonomy; creating collaborative relationships and participation opportunities; showing organizational and administrative commitment to trauma-informed care; and developing strategies to address secondary trauma and promote self-care.(14)

Trauma-informed practices are just that — a practice. It requires a shift in thinking and an openness to continued reflection and learning. It is important to note that there is a growing movement to distinguish between trauma-informed and trauma-responsive. As used in this blog post, being trauma-responsive is the implementation of trauma-informed practices; i4J is a trauma-responsive organization because trauma-informed practices are implemented throughout our work.(15)

How is i4J implementing trauma-informed practices in the classroom?

At i4J, all staff and students are trained in and use trauma-informed practices. All courses include modules on trauma-informed practices as they relate to the course content specifically, and research generally. Research shows that trauma-informed practices are not only beneficial for the clients and community members that the professional interacts with, but also improves the professional's wellness and decreases the frequency and intensity of burnout.(16) These are practices and approaches that can continue throughout the remainder of academic and professional career in any setting. Innovation is hard work — i4J is dedicated to supporting students and creating environments where there is community commitment to not only doing the hard work of innovation, but also supporting each other.

i4J shows organizational and administrative commitment to trauma-informed care through stating that commitment in the course application and within the syllabus. One of the early class meetings each semester is dedicated exclusively to learning about and implementing trauma-informed practices. This includes learning about trauma and vicarious trauma, learning about trauma-informed practices, creating self care plans, identifying signs of burnout in self and team members, and creating community care plans. Additionally, all i4J students complete trauma-informed interview training. This is in addition to the Institutional Review Board-required CITI training, and includes flipped classroom content as well as classroom discussion about power and agency in interview settings, trauma-informed language, and the power of language and silence.

How is i4J implementing trauma-informed practices with the community?

Within the trauma-informed interviewing course material, all staff and students at i4J are taught how to use trauma-informed language when speaking with and about community members. Trauma-informed language includes using person-first language, avoiding blaming and triggering language, respecting boundaries, and providing options.(17)

Additionally, i4J always follows up with community members — this includes responding to communications promptly, making space for questions, and always sending thank you notes after a class-community interaction. Further, all interview scripts are reviewed for trauma-informed language prior to use in community settings to check for appropriateness, verifying that only the necessary questions to meet project goals are included, and ensuring that informed consent and the commitment to trauma-informed methods is included. This includes explicitly naming community member agency and allowing them to decide how much to share and in what manner during the scheduling process and at the start of interviews as well as reminders that they can disengage with i4J at any point with no adverse consequences.

Further, i4J always compensates community members for sharing their lived experience expertise. This avoids extractive research practices through building relationships and showing through action that their time and experience is valuable. i4J also provides opportunities for feedback and corrections on deliverables before they are published, recognizing community ownership over the information that is collected within the course of i4J projects.

This blog post is designed to spark ideas about how trauma-informed practices can be implemented within classrooms and professional settings through sharing examples. As a trauma-responsive organization, i4J is committed to implementing trauma-informed practices throughout our work and updating our materials and practices as new information and research are made available.

Web and other resources on trauma and becoming trauma-informed

References

American Psychiatric Association, What Does it Mean to be trauma-informed?, SMI ADVISOR (Aug. 12, 2020), https://smiadviser.org/knowledge_post/what-does-it-mean-to-be-trauma-informed.
Colin James, Towards trauma-informed legal practice: a review, 27 PSYCHIATRY PSYCHOLOGY & LAW 275 (2020).
Deeya Haldar, Sarah Katz, Best Practices: trauma-informed Lawyering and Advocacy, AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION CLE, (March 18, 2022), https://www.americanbar.org/events-cle/ecd/ondemand/420605044/.
Nina Kammer & Ruta Mazelis, Trauma and Retraumatization, US DOJ Office of Justice Programs (July 2006).
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services, Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series No. 57, chapter 5 (2014).
American Psychological Association, Trauma, APA (last visited Aug. 3, 2023), https://www.apa.org/topics/trauma.
Id.
Jayne Leonard, What is trauma? What to know, Medical News Today (June 3, 2020), https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/trauma#:~:text=Not%20everyone%20who%20experiences%20a,have%20more%20long%2Dterm%20effects.
Center for Disease Control, Coping with a Traumatic Event, CDC (last visited Aug. 3, 2023), https://www.cdc.gov/masstrauma/factsheets/public/coping.pdf.
MONICA K. MILLER & BRIAN H. BORNSTEIN, STRESS, TRAUMA, AND WELLBEING IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM (2012).
Sandro Galea, Trauma and Its Aftermath, Boston University School of Public Health (July 12, 2018), https://www.bu.edu/sph/news/articles/2018/trauma-and-its-aftermath/.
Sarah Katz & Deeya Haldar, The Pedagogy of Trauma-Informed Lawyering, 22 CLINICAL L. REV 359 (2016).
Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Infographic: 6 Guiding Principles to a Trauma-Informed Approach, CDC (last visited Aug. 3, 2023), https://www.cdc.gov/orr/infographics/6_principles_trauma_info.htm.
American Psychiatric Association, What Does it Mean to be trauma-informed?, SMI ADVISOR (Aug. 12, 2020), https://smiadviser.org/knowledge_post/what-does-it-mean-to-be-trauma-informed.
Cassandra Ottmer, Trauma Informed to Trauma Responsive Care, Chosen (Sept. 2, 2021), https://chosen.care/from-trauma-informed-to-trauma-responsive/.
Jordan Baker, Implementing Trauma-Informed Care at Your Organization, Relias (Aug. 23, 2022), https://www.relias.com/blog/trauma-informed-care-at-your-organization#:~:text=Creating%20a%20trauma%2Dinformed%20environment,they%20can%20begin%20to%20heal.
David James, What is Trauma Informed Language?, Friends Association (last visited Aug. 3, 2023), https://friendsassoc.org/what-is-trauma-informed-language/#:~:text=In%20conclusion%2C%20trauma%2Dinformed%20language,that%20promotes%20healing%20and%20recovery.

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