Trauma-Informed Therapy

Trauma-Informed Therapy is a therapeutic approach that recognizes the pervasive impact of trauma on an individual's life and well-being. Trauma can stem from various sources and experiences, and this approach acknowledges that trauma can significantly affect a person's behaviors, emotions, relationships, and overall functioning. Trauma-informed therapy operates under the understanding that many individuals seeking mental health treatment have a history of trauma. As such, it seeks to create a safe and supportive environment where clients can heal and recover from the effects of trauma. Rather than being a specific technique or modality, it’s a framework that informs how therapists work across many therapeutic styles.



Core Principles of Trauma-Informed Therapy:

  1. Safety:

    • Creating a physically and emotionally safe environment is paramount. This includes ensuring that clients feel secure, respected, and protected during therapy sessions.

    • Helping clients develop a sense of control and predictability by providing clear expectations, informed consent, and choices within the therapeutic process.

  2. Trustworthiness & Transparency:

    • Establishing trust is essential in trauma-informed therapy. Therapists foster trust by being reliable, consistent, and transparent in their communication and actions.

    • Maintaining clear and open communication with clients, explaining the therapeutic process, and answering questions honestly.

    • Setting and respecting appropriate boundaries to create a safe and predictable therapeutic relationship.

  3. Peer Support:

    • Recognizing the value of connecting with others who have shared similar experiences. Peer support can help reduce feelings of isolation, shame, and stigma.

    • Encouraging clients to participate in support groups or other peer-based activities where they can find connection and understanding.

  4. Collaboration & Empowerment:

    • Viewing the therapeutic relationship as a collaborative partnership where the client and therapist work together to achieve the client's goals.

    • Empowering clients by recognizing their strengths, supporting their autonomy, and encouraging them to take an active role in their healing journey.

  5. Cultural, Historical, and Gender Awareness:

    • Acknowledging the impact of cultural, historical, and gender-related factors on an individual's experience of trauma.

    • Understanding how systemic oppression, discrimination, and marginalization can contribute to trauma and affect a person's well-being.

    • Demonstrating sensitivity to cultural differences, historical context, and gender identity in the therapeutic process.

Key Elements in Practice:

  • Understanding Trauma Responses: Recognizing and normalizing trauma responses such as hypervigilance, dissociation, emotional numbing, and flashbacks. These responses are understood as adaptive survival mechanisms rather than pathological symptoms.

  • Avoiding Re-traumatization: Therapists take care to avoid practices that could trigger or re-traumatize clients. This includes being mindful of power dynamics, respecting boundaries, and providing choices and control within the therapeutic process.

  • Integrating Somatic and Emotional Work: Recognizing the mind-body connection, trauma-informed therapy often incorporates somatic approaches that help clients connect with their bodily sensations and regulate their nervous system responses.

  • Phase-Oriented Treatment: Many trauma-informed therapies follow a phased approach:

    • Stabilization and Safety: Focusing on establishing safety, grounding techniques, and developing coping skills to manage overwhelming emotions and triggers.

    • Processing and Integration of Trauma: Gradually and safely exploring traumatic memories and experiences, integrating them into a coherent narrative, and developing healthy ways of coping with the impact of trauma.

    • Reconnection and Growth: Fostering resilience, post-traumatic growth, and reconnection with self, others, and the world.

Who Can Benefit?


Trauma-informed therapy can benefit individuals who have experienced various forms of trauma, including:

  • Childhood abuse or neglect

  • Sexual assault or domestic violence

  • Community violence

  • Systemic racism or discrimination

  • Accidents, war, or natural disasters

  • Medical trauma

  • Emotional abuse or betrayal

  • Grief and loss

Trauma-Informed Therapy and Therapeutic Modalities


Trauma-informed principles can be integrated into various therapeutic modalities, including 

  • Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS)

  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

  • Psychodynamic Therapy