february_2018

Trauma Informed Support: What Is It? Adapted from an article by verywell.com
Fairfield DD is taking a closer look than ever before at trauma Informed support and how this framework can
positively impact the people we support, as well as our employees and the community. In fact, we refer to this
concept as Trauma Informed Support because the objective applies not just to people who receive services, but
to those providing them. In other words, trauma affects everyone. If you don’t work in direct support, however,
you may not be as familiar with the concept. The bottom line—an awakening has occurred over the past few
decades in the understanding of trauma and how it affects well-being.
We now understand that trauma is widespread and the impact of trauma runs deep. Across the health care
and social service fields, people are beginning to adjust their practices, so they do not re-traumatize their clients
and instead are part of the healing process. The movement is called trauma-informed care. At Fairfield DD, a
select group of employees already have undergone extensive training.
The History of Trauma Informed Support
It wasn’t until 1980 that post-traumatic stress disorder was included in the third edition of Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III). That was the first official mental health diagnosis related to trauma. It
marked the beginning of a much broader movement. In 1994, The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAHMHSA) held the Dare
to Vision Conference, which brought the
Meet
Us @ The
An evening
with the 2018
Artists in
Residence
Friday March 23
6 pm
With LIVE Music By
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7—10 pm
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150 W. Main Street
discussion of trauma to the foreground.
At this landmark conference, trauma
survivors shared how standard practices
in hospitals re-traumatized and often
triggered memories of previous abuse.
Since then, the clinical research on trauma
has grown rapidly. Like the Recovery
Model, the movement has grown largely
in part due to advocacy and systematic
documentation by survivors of trauma.
What is the Definition of Trauma?
Unfortunately, the avenues for trauma
are broad and can affect people in all
walks of life. Released in 2014, SAMHSA
gave this definition of trauma:
Trauma results from an event, series of
events, or set of circumstances experienced
by an individual as physically or
emotionally harmful or life threatening
and has lasting adverse effects on the
individual’s functioning and mental,
physical, social, emotional, or spiritual
well-being.
What Are the Long-Term Implications of
Trauma?
Trauma can affect almost everything
about a person: their physical health,
their brain development, their relationships,
and their coping abilities. The research
in this area continues to grow.
We are now beginning to understand
that the stage of development your
brain is in when the trauma is experienced
can impact how it will affect you.
For example, if you undergo a trauma at
age seven, then the impact will likely be
different from if you were 17. As we continue
to learn more about the deep seated effects of trauma, there is also good news. Research shows us that
the impact of trauma is not written in stone. Your brain can continue to evolve and heal after trauma.
Fairfield DD believes trauma-informed support can change the way we do business—both internally and externally.
In the coming months, we will be discussing this to an even greater extent.