Curt and Katie chat about trauma-informed workplaces. We explore what a trauma informed workplace is, why it is important to implement, and how best to do so. We also explore some practical challenges to creating a trauma-informed workplace and ideas for how to handle these challenges. This is a continuing education podcourse.
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In this podcast episode we talk about how to create a trauma-informed workplace
People affected by trauma are expected to perform in the workplace, but often have difficulty with environments that treat them as replaceable. This can lead to employee underperformance, burnout, and turnover in the workforce. Healthy interactions with the workplace can help both the individual and corporate performance. This workshop addresses principles and practices that allow for employers to create a trauma informed workplace.
What is a trauma-informed workplace?
Remembering that all workers are human
Collaboration and encouraging autonomy for employees
Acknowledging that trauma exists for everyone
Trauma is addressed in the workplace (e.g., mitigating secondary or vicarious trauma)
4 R’s of Trauma can give guidance to how to identify and respond to trauma
Supportive policies go beyond self-care
There is a systemic mechanism to support staff and improve
Based in trust and trustworthiness
What are the risks of not having a trauma-informed workplace?
Lower employee productivity, lower quality work
Higher levels of burnout, absenteeism, presenteeism
Recreating past traumas when we’re not aware of the dynamics in play
How can therapists create and benefit from a trauma-informed workplace?
Create supportive policies and procedures
Evaluate how well trauma informed principles are being implemented
We discuss an evaluation tool for this purpose
CTIPP Toolkit (Campaign for Trauma Informed Practice and Policies)
Acknowledge shared humanity
Creating connection and collaboration between team members
This may be something that needs to be repaired or built within a workplace that has problems
Understanding how to build, sustain trust, and effectively take feedback and implement it
Transparency and accountability
What are some challenges in implementing a Trauma-Informed Workplace?
Very challenging conversations needing repeated repair
Avoiding conversations about trauma
Digging deeply into emotional life of employees (i.e., with the potential of HR violations)
Practical limitations to what employers can provide to their employees
Us versus them mentalities and not seeing opportunities to collaborate
Who we are:
Curt Widhalm, LMFT
www.curtwidhalm.com
Katie Vernoy, LMFT
www.katievernoy.com
A Quick Note:
Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves - except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.
Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.