Support People in the Face of Trauma

You may be aware many people receiving support from our system have experienced trauma. As a supporter in the system, what does that mean for us? One thing it means is that we must humble ourselves to maybe look at the person’s response to their world a little differently. We may feel we know the reason a person is responding the way that they do. Maybe we think it is non-compliance, avoidance, or escape. However, if we turn that around and consider that trauma may be playing a role, we may see the person’s response way differently.

Therefore, we need to consider that most people in our system have experienced trauma. Remember that many of them have experienced trauma multiple times. This may help us to understand why they may do what they do. Did you know that multiple experiences of trauma can change a person’s brain?

According to the Vera Institute on Justice, the areas typically affected are The Control Center (pre-frontal cortex), The Emotional Center (amygdala), The Messenger Center (hypothalamus), and The Memory Center (hippocampus). When someone has been exposed to multiple instances of trauma these areas change. The Control Center balances or regulates the emotional response center.

Let’s say while living at home a person was sexually assaulted by their stepfather. The stepfather had dark hair and a beard. Now fast forward 15 years: the person is walking in a supermarket and a man with dark hair and a beard walks very closely to the person.

The Control Center allows the Emotional Center to spike. The person may become very fearful. If the person never had the trauma of sexual abuse, and only had the male walk too closely to them, the heightened fear would resolve once the man was out of their view. Since the person had the sexual assault by someone with similar physical attributes, it may kick up a heightened fear response that does not dissipate. In this state the body remains in a trauma response. This means the muscles are getting more oxygen, the heart is beating faster, and breathing speeds up.

Our memory center moves information from short-term to long-term memory. It has been shown that people who have had prolonged exposure to trauma may have shrinkage in this area of the brain. This can cause the memory to become patchy in stressful situations.

So, if we know that most of the people that we support have indeed suffered trauma in their lives, what are we doing about it? How are we supporting them to reduce the effects of trauma? At the very least, how are we taking care not to retraumatize them? According to the article from the Vera Institute, the following principles of trauma-informed care should be enacted.

• Safety
• Choice
• Collaboration
• Trustworthiness
• Empowerment

As supporters it is not only our responsibility to make sure people are physically healthy but also that they feel safe to grow and flourish. If a person is living in a traumatic spiral, the ability to be happy and grow seems unattainable.

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