What Is Trauma-Informed Care in Mental Health?

Trauma-informed care recognizes the effect trauma has on a person’s mental health to foster a safer space to heal. It’s about addressing “What happened to you?” rather than “What’s wrong with you?” in treatment. Mental health providers integrate knowledge about trauma into their procedures and practices to avoid re-traumatization. They prioritize physical, psychological and emotional safety to support a more effective treatment process for patients.

Why Is Trauma-Informed Care Important?

Trauma-informed care is important because it recognizes how a person’s past traumatic experiences can affect their mental health to provide safer, more effective care. A significant portion of the population has experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime. Trauma-informed care can foster a safer, more trusting space to protect these patients from further harm and promote healing. 

Not addressing the trauma can lead to mental health conditions, social difficulties and physical effects. Addressing it also helps patients engage more in the care, helping them heal from traumatic experiences.

What Are the 6 Principles of Trauma-Informed Care?

The six principles of trauma-informed care, as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), include:

1. Safety: It’s important to ensure physical and emotional safety for patients and staff, making sure they feel secure, calm and supported in their environment.  
2. Trustworthiness and transparency: Organizational decisions should be conducted with transparency to promote trust between patients and staff.
3. Peer support: Social support groups can help aid recovery by involving people with lived experiences of trauma. They can share their experiences to foster hope, provide validation and help others heal.
4. Collaboration and mutuality: Healing often happens in relationships. That power can be shared between providers and patients, with decisions made collaboratively.  
5. Empowerment, voice and choice: Trauma-informed care is all about strengthening the individual’s abilities, emphasizing their strengths and supporting their right to make choices in their care.  
6. Cultural, historical and gender issues: The care approach actively recognizes and addresses the impact of cultural, historical and gender-based biases and stereotypes on trauma and recovery. 

How Does Trauma-Informed Care Differ From Standard Care?

Trauma-informed care differs from standard care by addressing the impact of trauma on behavior and actively avoiding re-traumatizing the patient, while standard care often just focuses on reducing symptoms or solving problems.

Incorporating trauma into services is about prioritizing safety and is more sensitive to cultural contexts. Rather than wondering what’s wrong — the focus of standard care — it shifts to what happened, then applies that understanding to all aspects of treatment.

Who Benefits From Trauma-Informed Care?

Trauma-informed care can benefit survivors of different forms of trauma, including those with histories of abuse, neglect or violence. It can promote more safety and trust for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use disorders, mental health conditions and those in the criminal justice system. Trauma-informed care can also benefit clients, patients, students and staff alike. 

Embrace Recovery With Trauma-Informed Care

Trauma-informed treatment forms the foundation for all of our services and programs at Bournewood Health Systems. We understand the complexities of mental health and co-occurring substance use conditions, especially for those with a history of trauma. We provide inpatient programs and a Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP), with specialized care for the LGBTQIA+ and Gender Expansive community. 

If you or a loved one is seeking trauma-informed care, we are here for you. Call us today at 800-468-4358 to schedule an intake and begin your healing journey.