Paving the way for resilient organizations
“The expectation that we can be immersed in suffering and loss daily and not be touched by it is as realistic as expecting to be able to walk through water and not get wet.”
Rachel Naomi Remen
The modern workplace is increasingly complex, with organizations navigating environments shaped by economic fluctuations and mounting societal pressures.
Leaders who adopt a trauma-informed care (TIC) approach foster resilience within their teams, creating an environment where employees can thrive, grow, and reach their full potential. TIC provides a framework that prioritizes safety, trust, and empowerment while addressing the pervasive impacts of trauma on individuals and organizational systems.
Understanding trauma and its organizational impacts
Trauma is increasingly being recognized as a public health issue (Dube, 2018; Purtle & Lewis, 2017) and could be considered a public health crisis given its frequency and the impact it has on society (Ranjbar et al., 2020).
Studies indicate that nearly 90% of adults have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime. Trauma manifests in diverse forms—individual, mass, group, and community trauma—and extends to workplace dynamics, including conflicts, harassment, and organizational instability.
Harmful work environments may lead to traumatic experiences. Factors such as perceived injustice, persistent negative feedback, excessive or unreasonable job demands, ongoing threats of termination, or instability stemming from leadership or colleagues can contribute to feelings of distress or trauma.
Traumatic experiences can impair staff morale, leading to increased risk for burnout, high turnover rates, and diminished professional efficacy (e.g., Velez et al., 2020). Exposure to traumatic events has a negative impact on a host of social, physical, and mental health outcomes (Kuo et al., 2011; Park et al., 2014). Turnover rates in behavioral health can incur significant costs in recruiting and training, stressing organizations with limited resources.
Trauma’s cognitive and emotional impacts are significant, affecting decision-making, concentration, and perceptions of safety. Employees may display behavioral changes, such as disengagement or hyper-vigilance, further straining workplace relationships.
The cognitive triad of traumatic stress in organizations
This framework highlights how trauma can reshape an individual's cognitive patterns, which can extend to their professional lives:
Recognizing and addressing these manifestations is crucial to fostering a supportive and productive environment.
The need for a trauma-informed approach
Traditional, individual-focused interventions often fall short in addressing systemic workplace challenges. Employees may perceive initiatives like self-care workshops as insincere when underlying structural issues persist. Furthermore, engagement with mental health resources can be hindered by stigma and inadequate quality of services (Harvard Business Review, 2024). To create meaningful change, organizations need to transition to holistic, trauma-informed strategies.
Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) redefines organizational care by shifting the focus from "What’s wrong with you?" to "What happened to you?" This compassionate perspective acknowledges the prevalence of trauma and emphasizes creating an environment where individuals feel valued and supported.
TIC is a strength-based framework that assumes individuals are more likely than not to have a history of trauma and recognizes the role that trauma may play in the lives of employees, customers, organizations, and the public. This comprehensive framework integrates current knowledge of trauma and healing into practice, policy, and organizational culture. Leaders play a pivotal role in implementing this paradigm, modeling behaviors that promote resilience and inclusion.
Principles of trauma-informed care
TIC is underpinned by six core principles as per Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach (2014).
- Safety: Ensuring physical and psychological safety through transparent policies and secure environments.
- Trustworthiness and Transparency: Building trust via consistent actions, open communication, and equitable processes.
- Peer Support: Fostering connections among employees to enhance mutual understanding and resilience.
- Collaboration and Mutuality: Encouraging shared decision-making and teamwork to create inclusive spaces.
- Empowerment, Voice, and Choice: Validating individual strengths and providing opportunities for growth.
- Cultural, Historical, and Gender Issues: Addressing systemic inequities and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Implementing TIC in organizational settings
Adopting a Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) framework requires a comprehensive cultural shift, demanding intentional integration of trauma-informed principles into every aspect of organizational operations.
Key steps include:
- Leadership training to equip leaders with the skills needed to recognize and respond to trauma effectively.
- Policy development that reflects trauma-informed principles, such as promoting safety, trust, and inclusivity.
- Employee engagement through participatory decision-making and platforms for open feedback.
- Continuous learning initiatives focused on trauma-informed care, cultural competence, emotional intelligence, and resilience-building to meet the diverse needs of employees.
Organizations should also regularly evaluate the effectiveness of TIC initiatives using feedback and measurable outcomes to ensure continuous improvement and meaningful progress.
Benefits of trauma-informed practices
The implementation of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) offers numerous organizational benefits, fostering a healthier and more effective workplace.
Greer’s (2024) study identified four key categories that provide valuable insights into workplace dynamics: safety, trustworthiness, choice and collaboration, and empowerment. Among these, empowerment emerged as the most significant factor, emphasizing the importance of employees feeling valued, having their voices heard, and being offered opportunities to develop new skills. The study underscores the need for organizations to prioritize skill development and maintain open, honest communication with their staff.
Evidence further demonstrates that TIC fosters healing environments, resulting in improved outcomes across critical organizational objectives, including enhanced employee well-being and satisfaction, improved system functionality, and cost efficiency (e.g., Hambrick et al., 2018).
A culture rooted in trauma-informed principles drives productivity, creativity, and overall organizational success. By building trust and collaboration, organizations can reduce employee turnover and absenteeism, contributing to greater overall well-being and operational effectiveness (e.g., Hales et al., 2017; Lovell et al., 2022).
The role of leadership in trauma-informed care
Leaders serve as the cornerstone of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) implementation. Effective trauma-informed leaders demonstrate authentic warmth, transparency, and empathy. They validate diverse perspectives, encourage autonomy, and provide opportunities for professional development. By modeling these behaviors, leaders foster an environment where employees feel valued and empowered.
Leadership in TIC also involves addressing organizational challenges with resilience. This includes effectively managing crises, promoting adaptive problem-solving, and maintaining a focus on long-term goals. Leaders must balance accountability with compassion, creating an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect.
Purtle's (2020) systematic review of evaluations of trauma-informed organizational interventions highlights limitations in the effectiveness of these trainings. Challenges include single-group designs, short follow-up periods, inconsistent assessment tools, and basic analytic methods. The review found that while staff knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors often improve immediately after training, retention and the translation to client outcomes remain unclear. The review recommends that meaningful client outcomes are more likely when trauma-informed trainings are paired with broader organizational policy changes.
Cultural competency is another essential element of TIC, enabling organizations to respect and acknowledge the diversity of their workforce and service populations. By embracing cultural competency, leaders can further enhance inclusivity and equity within their organizations.
Trauma Informed Oregon. (2020). Behaviors and actions of trauma informed leaders. Trauma Informed Oregon Research Notes. traumainformedoregon.org
Building organizational resilience
Organizational resilience encompasses the ability to anticipate, cope with, and adapt to challenges. Organizational resilience is supported by planned and adaptive strategies, such as emergency preparedness, collaborative leadership, and innovative problem-solving. Psychological resilience, on the other hand, focuses on individual adaptability and recovery from adversity.
Wut et al. (2022) examined the effect of organizational resilience and psychological resilience on perceived well-being and employee resilience in the workplace from the internal stakeholder perspective. Findings indicated organizational resilience is associated with perceived well-being and employee resilience. Psychological resilience is associated with perceived well-being and employee resilience. Employee resilience and perceived well-being are associated with work engagement.
Trauma-informed care (TIC) enhances organizational resilience by fostering environments that prioritize safety, trust, and adaptability, enabling teams to navigate and recover from adversity effectively. TIC principles address systemic challenges, reduce burnout, and improve staff well-being, thereby bolstering an organization’s capacity to respond to crises. Research highlights that trauma-informed practices lead to improved employee engagement and psychological safety, both critical components of resilience.
For instance, Berring et al. (2024) found that organizations implementing TIC reported enhanced functionality and staff satisfaction, underscoring the framework's effectiveness. Similarly, Wut et al. (2022) emphasized the role of both organizational and psychological resilience in fostering employee engagement, demonstrating that trauma-informed strategies amplify resilience through stronger leadership, collaboration, and support systems. These studies collectively affirm TIC as a vital approach for cultivating robust, adaptable, and thriving workplaces.
Organizations can enhance resilience by: developing meta-capabilities (strengthening the ability to learn from crises and adapt to changing circumstances), promoting well-being (implementing wellness programs and stress-management initiatives to support employee health), and encouraging post-traumatic growth (facilitating opportunities to find meaning and growth in the aftermath of adversity) and compassion satisfaction (Positive feelings from helping others, enhancing meaning and value in personal contributions to society).
Conclusion
The benefits of TIC extend beyond individual well-being, contributing to enhanced productivity, stronger relationships, and overall organizational resiliency and success. As workplaces continue to navigate complex challenges, trauma-informed practices offer a path toward a more inclusive, resilient, and thriving future.
