Article

Frontline Initiative Trauma-Informed Care

Trauma-Informed Care vs. Traditional Approaches to Care

Trauma-Informed

  • Symptoms or problem behaviors help the person deal with traumatic memories
  • The person’s choice, autonomy and control are central to healing
  • The person defines primary goals for recovery, self-efficacy, and healing
  • Proactive — focus on preventing further crisis and avoiding retraumatization

Traditional approaches

  • Symptoms or problems are handled separately, without reference to previous experiences
  • People providing services are considered experts
  • Service provider defines primary goals, which focus on symptom reduction
  • Reactive — services and symptoms are crisis driven, focusing on minimizing liability