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Trauma-Informed Leadership and Workplace Culture Insights
Tools, language, and implementation guidance for leaders building safer, more accountable workplaces.
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Start With These!
Start here if you are leading culture change, supporting staff well-being, or navigating conflict. These three posts teach the core tools we use in training and implementation.






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15 Tools to Stay in Your Executive Functioning
If you’re someone who’s always looking for one more trauma-informed resource to add to your toolkit, you’re in luck. This list of 15...

Shenandoah Chefalo
Dec 19, 202310 min read


What Are the 12 Executive Functioning Skills?
Trauma disconnects us, making it difficult for us to access the parts of our brain responsible for executive functioning skills. When we...

Shenandoah Chefalo
Oct 31, 20234 min read


Building Resilient Organizations: Lessons in Trauma Informed Change and Organizational Resilience
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...

Shenandoah Chefalo
Oct 17, 20236 min read


Reflections on the 2023 NCSEA Leadership Symposium
The annual NCSEA Leadership Symposium provides a space for the child support community to share and celebrate the application of best...

Shenandoah Chefalo
Aug 10, 20232 min read


5 Powerful Trauma-Informed Questions to Fuel Self-Exploration
There are tons of trauma-informed tools out there to help you integrate trauma-informed practices into your everyday life, and today...

Shenandoah Chefalo
Apr 18, 20234 min read


Universal Precautions in Practice: 11 Trauma-Informed Leadership Habits That Build Safety
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.

Shenandoah Chefalo
Mar 28, 20235 min read


Trauma-Informed Boundaries at Work: 11 Phrases to Say No and Set Expectations
Use these 11 trauma-informed boundary phrases to say no, pause conflict, set work-hour expectations, and protect wellbeing without escalating tension.

Shenandoah Chefalo
Jan 4, 20233 min read


October 2022 Trauma-Informed Newsletter
Download this newsletter as a printable PDF: Monthly Reflections As October ends and Halloween marks the transition into November, we may...

Shenandoah Chefalo
Oct 31, 20223 min read


7 Types of Organizational Structures
Organizational restructuring is often on the table when companies decide they need transformational change. And when organizations take...

Shenandoah Chefalo
Oct 26, 20225 min read


7 Tips to Reach Someone During a Trauma Response
Last week, we discussed how to recognize trauma states at work. The classic fight, flight, freeze, and appease trauma responses can...

Shenandoah Chefalo
Oct 18, 20225 min read


7 Ways to Practice Active Listening and Become a Better Listener at Work
What's the difference between listening and hearing? We can’t control what we hear. Hearing is second nature. Listening requires focus....

Shenandoah Chefalo
Sep 27, 20225 min read


How to Apologize: Advice from a Trauma-Informed Expert
If you’re familiar with the trauma-informed space, you know that we often talk about the experience of feeling seen, heard, and valued....

Shenandoah Chefalo
Sep 20, 20228 min read


What Does Trauma-Informed Leadership Look Like in Practice?
Trauma-informed leadership is crucial if you want to accomplish trauma-informed change in your organization. Here’s some expert advice on...

Shenandoah Chefalo
Sep 6, 20223 min read


9 Ways to Embody Trauma-Informed Values
Throughout our last several blogs, we’ve explored the broader themes of how to accomplish trauma-informed cultural change. We’ve also...

Shenandoah Chefalo
Aug 23, 20228 min read


How to Change a Toxic Workplace Culture: The Paradigm Shifts Leaders Must Make
A trauma-informed framework for shifting toxic workplace culture. What leaders must change in norms, communication, and accountability to build trust and safety.

Shenandoah Chefalo
Aug 8, 20225 min read


How to Create Lasting Change at Work: The Technical vs The Cultural
Creating lasting change is no small task. Still, it’s frustrating when most organizations fail to create the sort of lasting change that...

Shenandoah Chefalo
Aug 2, 20228 min read


July 2022 Trauma-Informed Newsletter
Download this newsletter as a printable PDF: Monthly Reflections July brought challenges for many as we collectively processed the trauma...

Shenandoah Chefalo
Jul 30, 20225 min read


Trauma-Informed Leadership and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Last week I spent 3 days with a room full of exhausted yet engaged teachers, who were eager to learn about trauma and not only how it...

Shenandoah Chefalo
Jun 21, 20222 min read


Why You Should Focus on Improving Trauma-Informed Leadership
Recently, I've noticed a plethora of articles written about vulnerability in leadership, empathetic leadership, coaching leadership and...

Shenandoah Chefalo
Feb 28, 20224 min read
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