Trauma-Informed Leadership and Workplace Culture Insights

Trust isn't just nice to have. It's critical for safety and efficiency. Use the 7 elements in BRAVING to help your team build trust at work.

Trauma can trap individuals in cycles of pain, disconnection, and emotional paralysis. Creative solutions, such as drama and theater, can...

Training plays a crucial role in nearly every change management strategy, especially when implementing trauma-informed practices. This...

A clear trauma-informed guide to fight, flight, freeze, and fawn—workplace signs, what helps, what makes it worse, and how leaders can respond skillfully.

Understanding the foundational concepts of microaggressions and microresistance helps us promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and...

May is foster care awareness month, and this year, I'd like to increase awareness about the foster care system and how it ties into other social issues we hope to heal from. Foster Care Awareness Month is traditionally a time dedicated to highlighting the needs and challenges within the foster care system. This year at Chefalo Consulting, we're going to do something a little different. My goal is to broaden the conversation. In this article, we'll explore how the foster care

When committing to self-care is too challenging, preparing for self-care is sometimes the best decision we can make to take care of ourselves. Whether you want to chalk it up to mental health struggles, depression, anxiety, or the symptoms of trauma, it's extremely common to struggle with self-care. While some of us might struggle with basic hygiene, other workaholics might struggle to break, and others still might struggle with striking a balance between caring for others an

Emotional intelligence is a superpower in today's workforce. And, leaders need to prioritize their social-emotional skills if they hope...

What does healing look like? We often think the answer will be sold to us in pretty packaging, but the truth is that healing requires...

In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re highlighting women who have made—and are making—history. Foster care is associated with many negative outcomes. Yet, there are so many resilient girls who not only survived foster care but grew into empowered women. Here are 12 of them. We know that experiences in foster care are associated with negative outcomes. Since the 90s, we’ve understood that trauma has a lasting effect on peoples’ lives, especially when that trauma happens at

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

Understanding attachment theory helps us make the important first step of the trauma-informed paradigm shift. Once we make the shift, we can set our sights on healing in our relationships. Whether you’re here because you have an insecure attachment style or you want to know how you can support someone with an insecure attachment style, you’ve come to the right place. These practical tips for building secure relationships can help you and those you care about—whether they’re y

Attachment styles can help us understand how our trauma impacts our relationships—and what we can do about it. I work with many...

Whether you’re considering your romantic, platonic, or professional relationships, knowing these 7 characteristics of a healthy...

Use these 9 ready-to-say phrases to build trust and psychological safety at work—plus when to use each one and what to avoid so it lands well.

People are always asking me: what do I do to heal my trauma? And people are always disappointed when I tell them the answer. Why? Because...

This blog discusses self-harm and suicide, which can be sensitive topics to many readers. Please establish your safety before reading, including your mental, psychological, emotional, and safety. Self-harm is a topic that's often discussed in hushed tones, if at all. When we talk about this common warning sign for crisis (which often goes hand in hand with passive or active suicidal ideation), many people’s minds immediately jump to the more extreme forms of self-destructive

Safety is a crucial topic for trauma-informed systems, and understanding how your community defines safety is no small task. If I asked...

In most circles, safety plans are discussed as a tool for suicide prevention. While they are certainly a great resource for people who may experience a crisis such as suicidal ideation, safety plans are a self-care tool that proves useful in less extreme situations as well. Whether you’re someone who would benefit from a personal safety plan or you’re interested in implementing an organizational safety plan for your workplace, this introduction to safety plans is a great plac

Since the release of Garbage Bag Suitcase, I have had some interesting human encounters. I have traveled around the country and even into...