Why Trauma-Informed Care Is Vital for Abuse Survivors

Survivors of domestic abuse, intimate partner violence, and human trafficking experience specific forms of trauma. This means that these individuals often face immense psychological and emotional hurdles long after the abuse has ended. While traditional survivor care approaches focus on addressing the immediate needs and symptoms, trauma-informed care takes a more compassionate and holistic approach, recognizing the profound impact of abuse on survivors' lives. 

Here’s what trauma-informed care is and why it’s essential for survivors of all forms of abuse.

What Is Trauma-Informed Care?
Trauma-informed care is a framework that acknowledges the prevalence and impact of trauma — not just finite types or instances of abusive acts — and seeks to create environments and tools that promote healing and resilience. It’s not a specific set of procedures, but rather a paradigm shift in how care is provided across various settings, including health care, social services, and law enforcement. 

Because this form of care takes a detailed survivor- and patient-centered approach, it’s important that professionals who are most likely to interact with survivors complete trauma-informed care training.

The Principles of Trauma-Informed Care
The best practices around emergency housing and services for survivors of abuse include the following trauma-informed care principles:

• Safety. Ensuring the physical and emotional safety of survivors is vital for their well-being and recovery.

 

• Trustworthiness and transparency. Building and maintaining trust through transparency in actions and intentions removes unnecessary stressors for survivors whose sense of vigilance regarding self-preservation may be heightened.

 

• Peer support. Incorporating support from individuals with lived experiences of trauma fosters understanding and healing.

 

• Collaboration and mutuality. Emphasizing partnership and collaboration between providers and survivors demonstrates respect and allows for a path to recovery tailored to each individual’s needs.

 

• Empowerment, voice, and choice. Supporting survivors in regaining control and making decisions about their care is important for rebuilding a sense of stability and independence.

 

• Cultural, historical, and gender competency. Recognizing and addressing the unique experiences of trauma survivors from diverse backgrounds helps individuals feel seen, understood, and respected. This is essential for building trust for survivors from marginalized communities and for increasing the effectiveness of care.

These principles form the foundation of trauma-informed care, aiming to create an environment and policies that facilitate healing and empowerment.

Trauma-Informed Care Language
One aspect of effective trauma-informed care includes how service providers frame their communications with survivors, namely, the use of appropriate trauma-informed language. This is crucial in creating a supportive path to safety and recovery and regaining stability for abuse survivors. Anyone, including friends and family members who aren’t trained in comprehensive survivor support, can use language that shows empathy and respect:

• Using non-judgmental language. Avoiding words that may imply blame or judgment helps prevent retraumatizing survivors, especially as abusers often gaslight their partners into blaming themselves for how they are being treated. Using non-judgmental language and teaching others about it also helps dispel the common myth about abuse that survivors somehow “brought it on themselves” or “had it coming.”

 

• Validating experiences and providing reassurance. Acknowledging and validating survivors’ perceptions of their experiences helps them avoid the pitfalls of self-blame and isolation and feel more connected to others on a basic human level.

 

• Making empowering statements. Using language that empowers survivors and emphasizes their strengths and resilience can help them avoid identifying as victims and focus on recovery. 

Why Trauma-Informed Care Is Essential for Abuse Survivors
Trauma-informed care is essential for survivors of domestic abuse, intimate partner violence, and human trafficking for several reasons:

• Acknowledging and addressing the full impact of abuse. Trauma-informed care recognizes that the psychological effects of abuse can affect all aspects of an individual's life, including their physical health, mental health, relationships, and overall well-being. This understanding is crucial for providing effective support.

 

• Creating safe spaces. Survivors often have heightened sensitivity to potential threats due to their past experiences or even fully-fledged post-traumatic stress disorder. Trauma-informed care prioritizes creating safe and supportive environments, which are vital for their sense of security and trust.

 

• Encouraging trust. Survivors often have a severely damaged sense of trust because of their experiences with abuse and exploitation. Trauma-informed care works to rebuild trust through consistency, transparency, and respect, which are essential for effective therapeutic relationships. Simply put, survivors can’t recover if they don’t feel that support staff have their best interests in mind.

 

• Building resilience. By returning a sense of control and empowerment to survivors, trauma-informed care helps them recover, build resilience, and develop coping strategies to manage their trauma's long-term effects. This not only helps them to become more stable and independent as individuals but provides a better quality of life — and of human development — for survivors’ children as well.

 

• Promoting healing. Traditional care methods might be inadvertently callous to survivors’ needs by not taking their altered psychological states and perspectives into consideration. This can seriously complicate recovery and worsen care outcomes. Trauma-informed care avoids this by recognizing triggers and adapting interventions accordingly, promoting genuine healing.

Trauma-informed care is a vital approach to supporting survivors of domestic abuse, intimate partner violence, and human trafficking. By prioritizing safety, trust, empowerment, and understanding, this approach provides a compassionate and effective pathway to healing and resilience. As we continue to understand and address the profound impacts of trauma, integrating trauma-informed care across all levels of service delivery is crucial in fostering recovery and long-term well-being for survivors.

Support Trauma-Informed Care With Project Woman
Project Woman is dedicated to ending domestic violence and sexual assault by providing resources to protect, educate, and empower. We offer a wide range of programs and services to support those affected by domestic violence, sexual violence, intimate partner violence, dating violence, and/or stalking. Our first line of defense for survivors experiencing emergencies is our crisis center. This center provides a safe home for those fleeing domestic and intimate partner violence, sexual assault, rape, or human trafficking. 

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, don’t wait. Call our 24-Hour Crisis Line at 1-800-634-9893.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about the programs and services available, please contact us.

Project Woman offers many ways to help survivors. Financial contributions help provide safety, shelter, and trauma-informed services. Donations of items on our wish list or posted on our Facebook page provide survivors with necessities and comfort. We also regularly post volunteer opportunities on our site. All gifts of money, items, and time — no matter how large or small — make a profound difference in people’s lives! Thank you for caring.