In a previous post, we talked about how trauma and access to traumatic events is becoming more widespread as we become a more virtually connected and global society. Over 50% of US adults have directly experienced one or more traumatic events in their lives. They and all of the rest now have access to see traumatic events that happen around the world every day. The effects of trauma are not something that we can ignore anywhere – especially in our workplaces, where we expect employees to be able to perform to their very best potential every single day, regardless of what may have happened or be happening in their lives outside of the workplace.
It’s becoming so important to build trauma-informed and trauma-responsive spaces and workplaces, mostly because we don’t know what has gone on in another person’s life up to the point we hire or work with them. A workplace that is trauma-responsive is one that is as least triggering to anyone who has experienced trauma in their lives (again, that’s over half of us!), and is at best supportive of the mental health of all who enter/work there, even and especially those who have been through hard things.
Ways we can start to build trauma-responsive spaces and workplaces include:
· Demonstrating a clear commitment to mental health and trauma responsiveness by stating it overtly in workplace policies and handbooks.
· Communicating that employers/managers know about trauma and mental health, and have real, practical ways that they show employees that they understand and lead by example.
· Having someone from outside the agency do a walk-through to let you know how your physical space does/doesn’t support the needs of someone who may have been through trauma or have mental health issues.
Connect for more training/consultation on trauma-responsive spaces!
Next week, I’ll be off on a family vacation through some beautiful national parks in Canada and the US! I plan to post about Nature and Mental Health while I’m there, so stay tuned!
