Trauma-Informed Care
Trauma-informed care is an approach that recognizes the pervasiveness of trauma in the general population and views it as a driving force behind many psychological conditions, physical health ailments, behavioral disorders, public health issues, and systemic racism/oppression.
Based on this understanding ...
The aim of TIC is to reduce the effects of stress, adversity, trauma in individuals (both clients and staff), families, organizations, and broader systems of practice. It does this by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into all aspects of services and trains staff to recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma to help minimize the potential for harm and re-traumatization.
Examples of TIC approaches include (but are not limited to) changing organizational policies, procedures and practices to minimize potential barriers to service, teaching staff and clients de-escalation protocols, stabilization skills, and stress reduction techniques, conducting screening and assessment that identify exposure to trauma and adversity, and when appropriate, providing trauma-specific interventions to effectively resolve the negative impact of trauma.
In recent years, the U.S has seen a dramatic increase in both state and federal legislation requiring trauma-informed practices to be implemented across a broad range of service environments. Our TIC specialization prepares students to answer this call by providing them the tools needed to implement trauma-informed practices safely and effectively.