Trauma-informed Practice

Our research into Trauma-informed Practice

The Trauma-informed Practice strand of the Innovate Project has explored the use and value of this approach to developing practice methods and systems for young people affected by extra-familial risks or harms. In two case study sites in England and Scotland we examined the processes of innovation in real time through two years of ethnographic fieldwork. In particular, we explored the specific facilitators of, and barriers to, innovation and whether/how Trauma-informed Practice is a useful framework improving professional responses to this group of young people. Please see below for a range of resources developed through the project, including webinars, practice tools, and articles.

What is Trauma-informed Practice?

Drawing from their own experiences of working in mental health, Maxine Harris and Roger Fallot in 2001 recognised this as a problem, and proposed that services should utilise a ‘trauma-informed’ approach to improve outcomes across practice systems – for both traumatised people and the professionals tasked with helping them achieve safety and stability in their lives. As a framework, Trauma-informed Practice is relevant across a range of disciplines, helping professionals to avoid pathologising trauma and, instead, emphasising the resilience and recovery inherent in traumatised individuals’ best efforts to stay safe.

This is particularly relevant for young people who have experienced emotional, physical, sexual, and relational trauma as a result of exposure to extra-familial risks. In practice systems that are not trauma-informed, young people may be easily penalised for behaviours that result from prior trauma and their own best efforts to feel physically, emotionally, and relationally safe. Professionals utilising Trauma-informed Practice prioritise safety, trust, collaboration, choice, and empowerment in their interactions with traumatised young people. They work with young people, not on or for them, prioritising the building of relationships, and working to avoid re-traumatising whenever possible. They understand the ways in which trauma responses can manifest, and ensure that the young people they work with feel physically and emotionally safe before, during and after any interactions. A growing body of research indicates that working in a trauma-informed way does effectively reduce trauma symptoms and lead to positive behaviour change. This has led to significant, increasing interest in TiP in the UK from a range of sectors including health, social care and criminal justice.