Trauma Informed Practice

Introduction & Understanding Trauma

Introduction

This toolkit equips service providers—especially those working with Indigenous communities—with knowledge and strategies for creating trauma-informed workplaces. It supports staff, leadership, and community members in fostering safety, trust, and compassion while reducing the risk of re-traumatization.

Implementing trauma-informed change is an ongoing process of reflection, evaluation, and reform. Within Indigenous organizations, it’s vital to acknowledge the continuing effects of trauma, particularly the intergenerational impacts of colonization, and to integrate culturally appropriate approaches to human resources and service delivery.

Indigenous Workplace Considerations

  • Keep an Elder available for spiritual and emotional support.

  • Consult Elders regularly to ensure cultural appropriateness.

  • Promote cultural harmony through ceremony, which can release emotions and build resilience.

  • Recognize that lived, vicarious, and intergenerational trauma can affect the workplace.

  • Train all staff on culturally appropriate responses in Indigenous contexts.

A trauma-informed workplace is one where people feel safe seeking help, staff are confident in offering support or referrals, and services reflect an understanding of trauma’s psychological, neurological, biological, social, and spiritual effects. Core values include authenticity, compassion, and respect, which can improve safety, well-being, and productivity.

What is Trauma?

Trauma is a lasting emotional response to a distressing event that overwhelms a person’s ability to cope. It can result from a single incident or from repeated or prolonged experiences. Traumatic events often disrupt a person’s sense of safety, self-worth, and ability to regulate emotions or form healthy relationships.

Trauma can:

  • Create feelings of shame and powerlessness.

  • Lead to negative coping behaviours.

  • Become a central organizing force in someone’s life—sometimes consciously blocked, other times surfacing unexpectedly.

Even when the event has passed, the impact of trauma can remain ever-present. In many cases, people may avoid reminders of the event, either consciously or unconsciously, yet still feel as if it happened recently. Trauma can shape how individuals see themselves, others, and the world around them, affecting mind, body, and spirit.

Effects of a Traumatic Incident

  • Numbness or shock

  • Intense emotional or psychological reactions such as anger, denial, grief, confusion, terror, survivor guilt, difficulty concentrating, and flashbacks

  • Acute Stress Disorder or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

  • Difficulty eating and sleeping

  • Missed work

  • Substance use problems

  • Relationship difficulties

  • Depression

  • Anxiety
    (Tanya J. Peterson)

"Everyone has a right to have a future that is not dictated by the past."

– KLINIC

Intergenerational Trauma

Trauma can be passed from survivors to their descendants. Residential Schools are a clear example.

Residential Schools

Residential schools were government-sponsored, church-run institutions created to assimilate Indigenous children into mainstream Canadian society by cutting them off from their families, communities, languages, customs, and beliefs. Over 130 of these schools operated in Canada, with an estimated 150,000 children attending. The last school closed in 1996.

The assimilation process began immediately upon arrival: children’s hair was cut, their traditional clothing removed, and they were given uniforms. Siblings were separated by gender, and children were punished for speaking their language or practicing their culture.

Many suffered physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Girls, in particular, often experienced sexual abuse that led to feelings of shame about their bodies, internalized the belief that abuse was normal, and created a lasting sense of being “less than” boys or men. These harms caused deep wounds that have rippled through generations.

Residential schools dismantled Indigenous systems of care and replaced them with models based on punishment, coercion, and control. With little experience of nurturing environments, survivors often struggled to parent effectively. The impacts are intergenerational—passed down through families—leaving a lasting legacy of trauma.

Art by: Betty Albert

Impacts at Multiple Levels

Individual:

  • Isolation and alienation

  • Shame and self-hatred

  • Internalized racism

  • Anger toward schools and parents

  • Fear of authority

  • Low self-esteem

  • Self-destructive behaviours (substance abuse, gambling, alcoholism, suicidal behaviour)

  • Aggression

Family:

  • Unresolved grief

  • Parenting difficulties

  • Family violence

  • Loss of stories and traditions

  • Loss of identity

Community & Culture:

  • Loss of language, traditions, and cultural connectedness

  • Loss of Elder guidance

  • Loss of collective support and communal child-rearing

  • Lack of control over land and resources

  • Increased suicide rates

  • Dependency on external systems

  • Communal violence

Harms Caused

  • Stripping away of identity: traditional clothing, hair, language, spiritual traditions.

  • Alienation, shame, and anger that persisted for generations.

  • Normalization of abuse, especially towards girls, with lifelong impacts.

  • Deep psychological wounds leading to ongoing disadvantage for Indigenous peoples.

“Traumatic events overwhelm the ordinary systems of care that give people a sense of control, connection, and meaning. They confront human beings with the extremities of helplessness and terror.”

– Herman (1992)

Principles and Practices of Trauma-Informed Approaches

Trauma Awareness
A trauma-informed approach begins with building awareness among staff and clients about the prevalence of trauma, its impact on development, and the range of coping adaptations individuals may use. This includes recognizing the relationship between trauma, substance use, physical health, and mental health concerns. Such awareness forms the foundation of an organizational culture committed to trauma-informed care.

Emphasis on Safety and Trustworthiness
Physical, emotional, and cultural safety is key, as trauma survivors often feel unsafe and may have experienced abuse of power in important relationships. Safety is fostered through welcoming intake procedures, adapting spaces to be less threatening, providing clear information about programming, ensuring informed consent, and creating crisis plans. The safety of service providers is also vital, with attention to vicarious trauma and burnout. Staff education and policies that support self-care are essential components.

Opportunity for Choice, Collaboration, and Connection
Trauma-informed services create environments that promote self-determination, dignity, and personal control. Providers communicate openly, work to equalize power imbalances, and allow expression of feelings without judgment. Building safe connections—with providers, peers, families, and communities—is critical, particularly for those with early or ongoing trauma.

When Providing Choices to Clients:

  • Be culturally appropriate and informed.

  • Involve the client in decisions regarding treatment or services.

  • Allow the client to set the pace and take breaks as needed.

  • Understand the meaning they assign to trauma from their cultural perspective.

  • Understand what healing means to them within their cultural context.

Qualities and Characteristics Essential for Working with People Affected by Trauma

Empathy
Trauma survivors need support and understanding—not pity. Empathy and compassion create connection, while pity can cause shame. Providers should work to understand the client’s perspective.

Compassion
Compassion benefits both the client’s recovery and the provider’s wellbeing. It involves feeling the suffering of others while maintaining a sense of equality and shared humanity.

Ability to Talk Openly
Providers must be comfortable discussing trauma-related issues without forcing disclosure. Avoid discomfort with certain topics or language, as it can signal to clients that their experiences are unwelcome.

Self-Awareness
An understanding of one’s own trauma history, beliefs, values, and biases is essential. Self-aware providers are more likely to create a space where clients feel safe to share openly.

Self-Care and Wellness
Personal wellness is critical for engaging meaningfully with clients. Organizations share responsibility for creating environments that support staff wellbeing.

Flexibility
Flexibility in approach shows care and adaptability to the client’s needs.

Comfort with the Unknown
Clients’ experiences may be unfamiliar. Remaining open and grounded helps maintain the relationship and supports problem-solving.

Willingness to Learn from Clients
Clients are the experts of their own lives. Avoid replicating harmful power dynamics by positioning yourself as a learner alongside them.

Emotional Connection
Go beyond facts and symptoms to connect emotionally with the client’s experience, helping them feel accepted and genuinely cared for.

Stepping into the Client’s World
Be willing to see the world from the client’s perspective during your time together. Feeling understood can have a profound effect on healing.

Ability to Regulate Emotions
Given the intense emotions that may surface, providers must regulate their own emotions, modeling calmness and emotional control.