Trauma-Informed Care- not just a buzzword here
It all begins with an idea.
In recent years, the concept of trauma-informed care has gained significant traction across various fields, and let’s be real, it has become quite the buzzword. You don't have to look far from healthcare and education to criminal justice and social services to see the phrase used. But what does it truly mean to be “trauma-informed,” and why is it so crucial to the work that we do at RPTC?
What Is Trauma-Informed Care?
Trauma-informed care (TIC) is an approach that recognizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery. It shifts the traditional question from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?”—promoting compassion, empathy, and understanding rather than blame or judgment. The goal is to create environments that are physically and emotionally safe, where individuals feel empowered and supported in their healing journey so that they can open up and break free from the silence that often keeps them stuck.
Understanding Trauma
Trauma is not limited to physical injuries or dramatic events. It encompasses a wide range of experiences that overwhelm a person’s ability to cope. It is truly a subjective experience and one that the individual does not choose, but their nervous system's clock that event or moment in time as trauma. What is upsetting to one may not be to the next. This is a deep consideration that we have for the work we do at RPTC. We acknowledge that each person who steps through our doors is unique, as is that nervous system, and that we need to consider how THEY view their story, not how we or society may come to understand it. Part of how we work with the communities we serve is having a thorough and clear understanding of how the brain works and the various areas that take a hit because of the traumatic event.
How does Trauma-Informed Care Show up at RPTC?
We know that it is truly the client who gets to decide if they have experienced trauma-informed care. And there are considerations that we make as a centre to help that to happen:
Safety: Ensuring physical and emotional safety for clients and staff.
Trustworthiness and Transparency: Building trust through clear, honest communication.
Peer Support: Incorporating voices and experiences of those with lived trauma.
Collaboration and Mutuality: Levelling power dynamics; everyone has a role in healing.
Empowerment, Voice, and Choice: Supporting individuals in making their own choices. Offer options to foster autonomy and self-agency.
Create predictable environments: Consistency fosters a sense of safety and stability.
Cultural, Historical, and Gender Sensitivity: Recognizing systemic trauma and addressing biases.
Language: We know the power of our words, and we choose them carefully.
Practice self-awareness: Reflect on our own reactions and potential biases.
CONSENT, CONSENT, CONSENT. Consent is our work's foundation and an ongoing process at RPTC.
The Benefits of Trauma-Informed Care
Why is this so important to us? Because the communities we support with birth trauma, pregnancy loss, fertility and infertility struggles, maternal and paternal mental health, endometriosis, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Perimenopause, and IUD trauma, they all share a few things in common. Often, they express being harmed or not feeling heard by systems and other providers. They have frequently felt dismissed or minimized and as if they cannot take up space with their trauma. Many have dealt with isolation for years or even decades, and being in a trauma-informed environment allows the opportunity to break free from the isolation and move into healing.
Final Thoughts
Trauma-informed care is more than a checklist—it is more than a buzzword—it’s a philosophy that centers empowerment, dignity, and connection. In a world where trauma is more common than we often acknowledge, embracing this approach is not just compassionate—it’s essential. So, we will continue to amplify silenced experiences at RPTC and work from a trauma-informed lens. We may not always get it perfectly, but we will do our absolute best to try.
Dr. Teela Tomassetti, Founder and Registered Provisional Psychologist specializing in birth trauma.