Trauma-Informed Organizations

When we know better, we do better.

Current research is showing that just as an individual human can experience trauma and live in a traumatized state, so too can entire organizations, or systems. It has been shown that traumatized human beings can become highly disorganized and confused as their brain tries to integrate the traumatic events around them – the same holds true for organizations – that over time they can become organized towards trauma and harmful outcomes to their employees instead of being trauma-informed with the explicit aim of causing no more harm to the members of the organization.

In systems and organizations where trauma - and therefore negativity - runs rampant, we see higher outcomes of employee burnout, increased mental health issues, quiet quitting, heightened conflict & bullying, as well as lower productivity overall. Systems can become entrenched in policy and punishment, doomed to repeat the same cycles over and over.

However, if individual humans can recover from trauma and reconnect to their authentic selves, so can organizations. Closely following the ideas of systems theory and the top researchers in the field of trauma and recovery the Trauma-Informed Organizations training will support leaders in assessing their organization for policy and procedure that perpetuates trauma.

Participants will custom-build support strategies that every employee within the organization can learn and grow from to make work safer for everyone. Further, leaders will gain insight and understanding into how an organization is a living eco-system that requires flexibility and continual assessment of all it’s working parts to stay healthy and to thrive.

Learning Objectives:

  • Responsibilities specific to management roles
  • How staff trauma can impact leadership
  • How trauma may be affecting the organization as a whole
  • Shifting fundamental assumptions and mindsets
  • Integrating trauma-informed systems as an act of social justice & the importance of community leaders aligning with this cause 
  • Trauma-organized vs. trauma-informed systems
  • How to establish a physically and emotionally safe environment
  • Historically unsafe, or practices that are not inclusive, in public systems that have added to intergenerational safety issues in our communities
  • How to develop and implement a trauma-informed mission and vision
  • Developing, revising, and implementing trauma-informed human resources policies, procedures, and processes
  • Establishing trauma-informed collaborations/partnerships

Take-Away Strategies & Tools:

  • Dissociation vs. Association Model to identify where policies, procedures, and mindsets are in denial, repression, or dissociation
  • How to complete an organizational assessment of externally and internally facing policies, procedures, and processes
  • Immediate changes you can make to shift the workplace environment to support people with trauma manifestations from some dysregulation due to triggers all the way to a more complex diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Systems evaluation tool will be provided and practiced
  • Values-Based Leadership strategies, to test and shift human resources policies and procedures as needed to reflect further trauma-informed practices at the organization
  • Small group work to support ongoing evaluation of trauma-informed work being completed
  • Template for tracking tangible changes in organizational systems

Additional Information:

  • This workshop has been developed for senior leaders
  • Workshop length is 7 hours
  • This session includes one Application Session - a follow up where participants review the concepts, discuss mindset shifts & how they've been working on putting their new strategies into practice, and ask for support on challenges they've faced with implementation
  • This session is available for virtual or for in-person delivery
  • Client will be responsible for speaker travel costs, plus a per diem over and above the speaker fee
  • Need additional tailoring of content, or a fully customized session?  We're here for you. Book a free needs assessment today so we can uncover exactly what you need and how we can help

We can't wait to work with your group!

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