Trauma-Informed Leadership Benefits Everyone
Trauma-informed strategies work for all. Leaders in the home, classroom, workplace, or community can use trauma-informed practices to help individuals and groups feel safe, supported and empowered, regardless of having experienced trauma or not. Disregarding this approach puts families, companies and entire communities at risk, leading to stress, burnout, absenteeism, poor outcomes, and health problems that ultimately impact society. When society is unable to support these human needs, everyone loses.
This article defines trauma and its impact, along with resources of trauma-informed practices and benefits. By practicing this form of accessibility, everyone benefits. It also sends an inclusive statement that everyone in a group is supported.
What is the definition of trauma and how does it impact an individual?
Dr Gabor Maté is a renowned expert in addiction, childhood trauma and mind-body health. He explains trauma as “a psychic wound that hardens you psychologically that then interferes with your ability to grow and develop. It pains you and now you're acting out of pain. It induces fear and now you're acting out of fear. Trauma is not what happens to you, it's what happens inside you as a result of what happened to you.”
How does trauma impact individuals?
The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study revealed that the harder the childhood, the higher the risk for later health problems. An ACE score is a tally of different types of abuse, neglect, and other factors of a rough childhood. The higher the score, the higher the risk for death in adulthood.
Who is impacted by trauma?
We can never know who has experienced trauma and who hasn’t. According to the National Center for PTSD, 60% of adults report difficult childhood experiences, including emotional neglect, drawn-out divorces, family loss, violence, and emotional/physical abuse. The effects of past trauma are long-lasting, ranging from anxiety, ADHD, PTSD and physical illness.
But according to Dr. Gabor Mate, we miss the larger picture if we only pay attention to one’s childhood. When trauma is passed down from one generation to another, generational trauma can surface within entire communities. Trauma from historical losses (i.e. loss of population, land, and culture) within tribes such as Native Americans and African Americans has manifested symptoms of depression, substance dependence, diabetes, dysfunctional parenting, and unemployment. Insufficient support of trauma results in societal dysfunction.
“Our political and social systems don't support fundamental human needs,” says Gabor Mate. Taking into account that if 60% of adults are impacted by trauma, there’s a 60% chance a classroom or work team is impacted by trauma. When we use trauma-informed strategies with all, we ensure everyone is supported.
How does past trauma show up in the present?
Signals of trauma can show up as over-indexing in any area of life. These over-indexing behaviors lead to neglecting responsibilities and self care. Since many don’t have the skills for self care, people can inadvertently or advertently neglect those who are dependent on this attention, such as children, pets, partners, and colleagues.
An organizational psychologist specializing in neurodiversity explains in this article how trauma can show up in the workplace:
“From my own field of expertise, many neurodiverse/neurodivergent employees experience trauma, perhaps as a result of exclusion and communication difficulties that placed them in vulnerable situations, or because their sensory experience is overwhelming and they were forced to subject themselves to environments that felt painful or distressing. Complex trauma has such an adverse effect of the prefrontal cortex it can decrease its volume and changing how a person senses the past, present and future. It can also make planning, goal setting and more generalized 'thinking-through' processes difficult.
What tools and strategies are available?
Introducing self care strategies, stress reduction techniques, coping mechanisms and resource options can help build confidence and improve wellness in all.
Trauma-informed strategies help protect self-esteem and self-efficacy, according to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. These can be influenced by one’s own nature or family background, but nurturing a safe environment can help people manage disappointments, challenges, and loss. They share that while focusing on inclusivity options, the foundation for trust and emotional safety calls for an unconditional positive regard for those in the room. Each person is worthy of care, and that worth is not contingent on anything — not compliance with rules, not good behavior, not success.
Any environment that is conducive to independent thinking and healthy risk-taking can lead to new outcomes of confidence and success. Strategies can be as simple as modeling, but we first need to start with education and awareness within our family homes, in our classrooms, and in our teams.
What is the first step?
Tools and support are required for self care and long-lasting behavior change, but raising awareness is the first step and awareness can be raised anywhere, by anyone.
If you take on the role of a parent, care-giver, teacher, manager, or community leader, it can start with you. Taking care of yourself is what enables us to take care of others. Modeling self care, such as taking breaks (and letting others know you’re doing so), nourishing yourself, socializing and moving around throughout each day is not only critical for your own health, it’s critical for those who are watching and learning from you.
Both youth and adults may need an extra nudge in daily self care, and the first step is awareness. To begin raising awareness, join our app to measure and nurture team resilience through our free assessments and community-of-practice.
