What is Trauma-Informed Care (TIC)?
Most individuals seeking public behavioral health services and many other public services, such as homeless and domestic violence services, have histories of physical and sexual abuse and other types of trauma-inducing experiences. These experiences often lead to mental health and co-occurring disorders such as chronic health conditions, substance abuse, eating disorders, and HIV/AIDS, as well as contact with the criminal justice system.
When a human service program takes the step to become trauma-informed, every part of its organization, management, and service delivery system is assessed and potentially modified to include a basic understanding of how trauma affects the life of an individual seeking service. Trauma-informed organizations, programs, and services are based on an understanding of the vulnerabilities or triggers of trauma survivors that traditional service delivery approaches may exacerbate, so that these services and programs can be more supportive and avoid re-traumatization.
What are Trauma-Informed Interactions?
Community Reach Center is a Trauma-Informed agency staffed by compassionate professionals committed to the following TIC principles:
- The survivor's (and staff) need to be respected, informed, connected, and hopeful regarding their own recovery
- The interrelation between trauma and symptoms of trauma (e.g., substance abuse, eating disorders, depression, and anxiety)
- The need to work in a collaborative way with survivors, family and friends of the survivor, and other human services agencies in a manner that will empower survivors and consumers
- All staff, no matter their roles (leadership, business staff, clinical staff, support staff, etc.), develop a culture that supports understanding and responding respectfully to those impacted by trauma. A paradigm shift occurs through education and ongoing support
- TIC supports de-stigmatization of mental illness
- By creating a TIC culture, we create an agency more resilient and adaptable from individual services to community disaster response