Trauma-Informed Practice

Healing Organizations Through Structural Transformation

Trauma isn’t just individual pathology—it’s often the predictable result of oppressive systems that treat people as disposable. My trauma-informed approach examines both personal healing and the systemic conditions that create trauma in the first place.

Drawing from critical trauma studies and community healing frameworks, I help organizations move beyond victim-blaming narratives to address the root causes of workplace trauma and build genuinely supportive environments.

Ready to address trauma at its roots?
Contact me to discuss systemic trauma-informed transformation.

Beyond Individual Resilience: Systemic Trauma Analysis

The mainstream “trauma-informed care” industry often focuses on helping individuals cope with harmful systems rather than transforming those systems. This approach can inadvertently blame survivors for their responses to organizational violence.

My framework addresses:

  • Structural violence embedded in workplace hierarchies and policies
  • Historical trauma affecting marginalized communities in organizational spaces
  • Vicarious trauma experienced by those supporting others through crisis
  • Systemic retraumatization through punishment-based approaches to conflict

Core Areas of Expertise

Trauma-Informed HR Policies

Developing policies that center survivor agency and address systemic causes of workplace trauma. This goes beyond compliance to examine how organizational structures can heal rather than harm.

Related services: HR Consulting & Organizational Development with trauma-informed lens

Workplace Trauma Response

Creating community-centered response systems when trauma occurs in organizational settings. This includes immediate support, investigation processes that don’t retraumatize, and long-term healing strategies.

Specialized approach: Workplace Misconduct & Ethics with trauma-informed investigations

Secondary Trauma Prevention

Supporting organizations and individuals who work with trauma survivors to prevent burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious traumatization through sustainable practices and structural support.

Connect with: High-Control Group Recovery for specialized trauma contexts

Trauma-Informed Leadership

Developing leaders who understand how power dynamics can create or heal trauma, and who take responsibility for creating psychologically safe environments through structural change.

Related coaching: Coaching Services with trauma-informed leadership focus

My Approach: Collective Healing Through Justice

Following transformative justice principles, my trauma-informed work focuses on healing both individuals and communities while addressing root causes of harm.

Structural Analysis of Trauma

  • Power mapping to understand how organizational hierarchies create vulnerability
  • Historical analysis of how past harm affects current organizational culture
  • Intersectional assessment recognizing how multiple oppressions compound trauma
  • Resource analysis examining how scarcity and competition create toxic environments

Community-Centered Healing

  • Survivor leadership in designing response and prevention strategies
  • Collective care practices that distribute support rather than relying on individual resilience
  • Healing justice approaches that address harm without perpetuating carceral logics
  • Cultural transformation toward interdependence and mutual support

Sustainable Support Systems

  • Organizational capacity building for long-term trauma-informed practices
  • Resource allocation ensuring support systems are adequately funded and staffed
  • Policy integration making trauma-informed approaches central rather than peripheral
  • Accountability mechanisms for addressing harm when it occurs

Specialized Areas of Focus

Religious and Spiritual Trauma

Many individuals carry trauma from religious institutions that used shame, fear, and control tactics. Creating spiritually safe workplaces requires understanding these dynamics.

Specialized expertise: Religious Trauma Recovery and Conversion Therapy Recovery

Organizational Trauma from Discrimination

Systemic oppression creates ongoing trauma for marginalized communities. Trauma-informed practices must address racism, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of institutional violence.

Related work: LGBTQ+ Issues & Inclusion and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Economic Trauma and Labor Exploitation

Financial insecurity and workplace exploitation create significant trauma that organizations often ignore. Trauma-informed practices must address economic justice and worker power.

Connect with: Labor Rights & Ethics for economic justice approaches

Working with Organizations

I work with organizations ready to examine their complicity in creating trauma rather than just responding to its symptoms.

Healthcare and Service Organizations

Nonprofits, healthcare systems, and social services that work with trauma survivors but may inadvertently retraumatize through their own policies and practices.

Educational Institutions

Schools and universities seeking to address both interpersonal trauma and the systemic trauma created by punitive academic and disciplinary systems.

Faith Communities

Religious organizations working to heal from histories of spiritual abuse while building genuinely supportive spiritual communities.

Additional support through Faith-Based Consulting for religious trauma healing

Training and Development Focus

My trauma-informed training moves beyond individual coping strategies to build collective capacity for transformation:

Critical Trauma Literacy

  • Understanding social and historical contexts of trauma
  • Recognizing structural violence and its impacts
  • Analyzing power dynamics that create vulnerability
  • Developing systemic intervention strategies

Healing Justice Practices

  • Community accountability processes that address harm without punishment
  • Collective care strategies for sustainable support
  • Resource sharing and mutual aid approaches
  • Cultural transformation toward interdependence

Training delivery through: Training & Professional Development

Research and Evidence Base

My approach draws from liberation psychology, critical trauma studies, and healing justice movements rather than just clinical trauma literature.

Key frameworks include:

  • Historical trauma theory understanding intergenerational impacts of oppression
  • Structural competency addressing social determinants of mental health
  • Community healing models from grassroots social justice movements
  • Transformative justice practices that heal without reproducing harm

Research support available: Research & Program Support

Investment in Transformation

Trauma-informed transformation requires sustained commitment to addressing root causes, not just symptoms. This work challenges organizational cultures built on competition, punishment, and scarcity.

Engagement options include:

  • Comprehensive organizational assessment and transformation planning
  • Crisis intervention when traumatic incidents occur
  • Leadership coaching for developing trauma-informed consciousness
  • Training intensives for building organizational capacity

Conflict resolution support: Mediation & Conflict Resolution with trauma-informed approaches

Resources for Continued Learning

Start the conversation about trauma-informed transformation in your organization.

Stay connected with analysis on trauma, healing, and social justice through my Spotlight on Society newsletter:

Next Steps

If your organization is ready to move beyond individual resilience narratives toward systemic trauma-informed transformation, let’s discuss how we can work together.

Schedule a consultation to explore healing-centered organizational change.

For immediate support with organizational trauma response, contact me directly.

Ready to build healing rather than harm into your organizational DNA?
Let’s begin the transformation →