Trauma-responsive organizations support both the clients they serve and the staff who are critical to their success. Frontline staff working within systems that respond to trauma carry a high risk for the physical, mental, and behavioral health risks that come from secondary traumatic stress. Building a trauma-responsive organization can create an environment to provide compassionate, collaborative programming for clients, and support a happy, healthy, and resilient workforce. On April 10, 2023 Pathways to Resilience hosted a Learning Network session featuring Justin Brown, Oklahoma Secretary of Human Services; Vickie Choitz from the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce’s Trauma and Resilience at Work team, and Audrey Smolkin from Massachusetts’ Center on Child Wellbeing and Trauma to discuss how to support a trauma-responsive workplace that promotes healing and resilience.

What makes an organization trauma-responsive?

A trauma-responsive organization recognizes the widespread impact of trauma on individuals, communities, and systems, and takes intentional steps to create an environment that promotes healing, safety, and resilience. A trauma-responsive organization acknowledges that trauma is not limited to specific incidents, such as physical abuse or violence but can also result from prolonged exposure to stress, adversity, or discrimination. While many systems of care can perpetuate harm and retraumatize individuals, organizational-level changes can reduce the impact of trauma and toxic stress and promote resilience and strength for individuals and the staff who support them.

Strategies to promote a resilient & trauma-responsive organizational culture

While trauma-responsive workforce development may require an initial investment of time and resources, it can save money in the long run by improving retention, reducing turnover, and creating a healthier and more effective workforce. The following strategies can be implemented to begin working toward system-wide change:

Understand the science of trauma.

Leadership should invest in learning and understanding the science behind trauma, including its effects on clients and the workforce. Leadership can identify champions within the organization to promote trauma-responsive practices.

Build trust & psychological safety.

Creating psychological safety for employees to speak up and share their needs is critical for success. Leadership should cultivate a supportive and empowering culture, listen and respond to staff requests, and model healthy, proactive measures to avoid burnout.

Make measurable changes.

Small changes can produce big results. Staff and leadership can review existing policies within their systems to ensure they are trauma-informed and use trauma-responsive language. Ensure communications to staff and individuals in care are transparent and offered in numerous formats. Identifying outcomes and providing measurable metrics can often lead to greater support for organizational change. Have staff and service users complete surveys and organizational assessments prior to making trauma-responsive changes and again after changes have been implemented.

Practice compassion & gratitude.

Practicing self-compassion and gratitude is important for individuals and organizations engaged in trauma-responsive work. Recognizing the challenges and complexity of trauma and expressing patience, grace, and gratitude can foster resilience and sustain the commitment to trauma-responsive workforce development.

Shifting toward resilience

Finally, as Audrey shared during the session: “You are not required to complete the work, neither are you permitted to desist from it.” By taking small and measurable steps toward becoming trauma-responsive in our organizations, we will begin to see a shift toward increased resilience among staff and improved outcomes for the individuals we serve.

Our speakers provided the following resources for further information on becoming a trauma-responsive and resilient workforce. These resources and others are also available in our Pathways resource library.

    Watch the full Pathways Learning Network session below. Pathways to Resilience will continue to amplify strategies for promoting healing and resilience in the education sector and share resources to provide guidance to states seeking to implement similar approaches.