Trauma-Informed Leadership and Workplace Culture Insights

Trauma-informed change is a revolutionary approach that acknowledges the far-reaching impact of trauma on individuals, communities,...

We often discuss feelings, cultural practices, and relationships in trauma-informed systems change—but don’t let that fool you. Trauma is a science, and our emotional experiences can have lasting physiological and neurological impacts. In the realm of trauma-informed care and systems change, understanding the close connection between trauma and the brain is pivotal. Whether you work with populations who are at a high-risk of exposure to trauma or you yourself are healing from

If we want to create real change, we have to zoom way out to look at the issues, solutions, and goals from a systems perspective. We also...

The annual NCSEA Leadership Symposium provides a space for the child support community to share and celebrate the application of best...

We are proud to announce another successful project. Our work with ODRC has already begun to transform lives for Ohio state employees and...

We need to work to live, but is work negatively impacting our well-being? For most of us, work allows us to meet some of our basic needs: such as a stable living situation, healthcare, and nutritious food. The issue is that, for most of us, work also contributes to toxic stress, compassion fatigue, and burnout, which negatively impacts our mental, emotional, and physical health. If I asked you this question: “How do you feel about your job?” How would you respond? If your ans

Start here:  Want the full set of trauma-informed tools for leaders? Visit our Trauma-Informed Leadership Toolkit  for scripts, boundary phrases, regulation tools, and practical next steps. There are tons of trauma-informed tools out there to help you integrate trauma-informed practices into your everyday life, and today we’re going to focus on powerful questions. Trauma-Informed Tools: Powerful Questions & TIC Coaching Powerful questions are a core component of trauma-inform

Universal precautions at work means leading as if anyone may be carrying trauma or chronic stress. Learn why it matters for communication, psychological safety, and follow-through plus 11 trauma-informed leadership habits you can use immediately.

Universal precaution means assuming anyone may be carrying trauma or chronic stress. Learn what it is, what it is not, and how to apply it at work to reduce harm and build safety.

Most of the time when we talk about trauma, our minds go to individual trauma: the trauma that we or someone we know has personally experienced. Some people might share their trauma with someone else, like a sibling. But there are also many collective experiences of trauma, such as systemic racism, an environmental disaster, or a school shooting. In each of these instances, the communities affected experience collective trauma. Today, we’re going to explore a unique type of c

Download this newsletter as a printable PDF: Monthly Reflections For many, December is a month full of festive holiday activities and gratitude. It can also be a month that triggers us into our trauma responses. As we walk along our healing journey, we often see others who have not chosen healing. This experience can be deeply frustrating, especially when we care for those people. And, during the holidays, feelings of loneliness may increase. When we look back at this month,

Use these 11 trauma-informed boundary phrases to say no, pause conflict, set work-hour expectations, and protect wellbeing without escalating tension.

We’ve all heard it: “our team is a family.” Organizations across every industry use this language. From non-profits to corporate teams, the idea that our working relationships should be as close-knit as our familial ones has become embedded into cultural norms—and even some of our mission statements. But “The Corporate Family” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. This news might be hard for some of you to hear: calling your work team a family is not a trauma-informed practice. I

Download this newsletter as a printable PDF: Monthly Reflections November is over, and there is a lot to be grateful for. There were also many stressors. Let's take a moment to let both be true and acknowledge all of the feelings we experienced this November. Make space for your frustration, elation, anger, sadness, and joy. They all have a home within you, and your inner experience is valid, no matter what is happening or how tumultuous it may seem. Your feelings are valid.

Trauma-informed care is like an umbrella that encompasses the social determinants of health, social-emotional learning, and actionable solutions to create real change. I think a lot of people don’t understand this yet. Understandably, when people hear “trauma-informed,” they’re confused. If you’re not already informed about the impacts of and solutions to widespread trauma in our society, it’s hard to imagine what type of information relates to trauma. So, let me frame it wit

In the trauma-informed care space, we often reference trauma-informed values. While we can refer to values within the TIC space broadly, there are specific models that we teach our clients, including SAMSHA’s 6 Guiding Principles and the Sanctuary 7 Commitments. The values outlined in these guides provide structure for organizations new to trauma-informed care, and they’re an essential piece of the work for any trauma-informed leader. So, we’re going to explore these values i

Organizational restructuring is often on the table when companies decide they need transformational change. And when organizations take on the major change of trauma-informed implementation, many of them also decide to change their organizational layout. When we talk about organizational structures through a trauma-informed lens, we often focus on moving away from a hierarchal structure and toward a flat structure—but those are not our only two options. There are 5 other orga

Recognizing trauma responses is an important skill for trauma-informed leaders to learn—and knowing these common trauma responses is a great place to start. When we view the world with a trauma-informed lens, we can identify two distinct states of mind or headspaces. Of course, this is an overly simplified model that helps us understand the neurobiology of trauma —but it can help us easily identify when someone (including ourselves) is experiencing a trauma response. These t

If you asked me what the single most important aspect of trauma-informed implementation is, I’d say it’s much more complex than that. But then I’d say safety at work . To be fair, there are a lot of moving parts when we aspire to create safety at work. It’s not an easy task to undertake. From encouraging employees to develop individual safety plans to creating a comprehensive organizational safety plan , truly establishing safety at work can take years to achieve. It’s a lot

If you’re familiar with the trauma-informed space, you know that we often talk about the experience of feeling seen, heard, and valued. We talk about creating space at the table for everyone, practicing vulnerability to strengthen relationships, and holding ourselves accountable when we make mistakes. These are all great topics to discuss, but it can prove challenging to distill these larger ideas into practice. But, when we talk about apologizing, we wrap all of these comple