City-Wide Trauma Awareness, Sensitivity and Healing Through Relationships
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, (SAMHSA, 2014) posit that Trauma- informed Practice is a strengths-based framework that is underpinned by six core principles which are; 1. Safety 2. Trustworthiness and Transparency 3. Peer Support 4. Collaboration and Mutuality 5. Empowerment, Voice and Choice, and 6. Cultural, Historical and Gender Issues (Pemberton & Loeb, 2020). “Research would indicate that exposure to adverse experiences is common, the psychological impact of these adversities varies from person to person. There are many people in our communities who have experienced adversities at a level that drastically impacts on their day to day living, including access to and use of public services. Creating an inclusive community requires us to think that how we can improve access to services to those who have experienced psychological trauma. Cork City’s journey to become a trauma aware city is an exciting development with the potential to improve outcomes and experiences for both the public and staff working in public services” Dr Sharon Lambert University College Cork The physical, psychological and emotional safety of service users and staff are prioritised, by: • people knowing they are safe or asking what they need to feel safe • there being reasonable freedom from threat or harm • attempting to prevent re-traumatisation • putting policies, practices and safeguarding arrangements in place Safety
Transparency exists in an organisation’s policies and procedures, with the objective of building trust among staff, service users and the wider community, by: • the organisation and staff explaining what they are doing and why • the organisation and staff doing what they say they will do • expectations being made clear and the organisation and staff not overpromising Service users are supported in shared decision-making, choice and goal-setting to determine the plan of action they need to heal and move forward, by: • ensuring service users and staff have a voice in the decision- making process of the organisation and its services • listening to the needs and wishes of service users and staff • explaining choices clearly and transparently • acknowledging that people who have experienced or are experiencing trauma may feel a lack of safety or control over the course of their life which can cause difficulties in developing trusting relationships
Trustworthiness Transparency
Peer Support
Cork Trauma Sensitive City
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