Here's the thing: 

“trauma-informed” is a term used a LOT these days!

Here’s what being a trauma-informed practitioner means and helps you do:

: You’re soooo much less likely to do harm, and are so much more likely to actually support your clients to have the transformation and healing they hired you for. 

: You can do deeper, more profound and effective work with your clients. Being trauma informed makes you a more empathetic and well rounded practitioner that allows you to better serve your clients.

: You understand that individual, systemic, collective, ancestral, and generational trauma are real, and you are committed to equity and inclusion for everyone regardless of race, gender, age, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or physical appearance/ability.

: You have greater confidence, because not only is your work deeper and you have greater skills, but also…you know what to do when or if trauma comes up during your work.

: You can repair when/if you mess up. Look, we’re human! And we err. Being trauma-informed helps you have the tools to acknowledge and hopefully repair a rupture if it happens. : You notice possible trauma responses showing up in sessions...and you know what to do if that happens.

: You infuse consent and choice in all areas of your business, from marketing to sessions to correspondence and more. 

: You know how to market ethically and with integrity.

: You know how to recognize when your client is activated, and how to help them regulate in sessions. 

: You know how to separate between your own experiences and your clients’. 

: You know how to handle systemic and collective trauma when it shows up with your clients.

: You know how to stay in your lane with your practice, without delving into therapy territory.

: You know how to refer when necessary.

: Your container and boundaries are clear. 

: Your onboarding and ending processes are effective and help create an environment where powerful work can be done with your clients.

: Your clients know what to expect, which leads to increased safety and deepened trust. 

: You know how to take care of yourself so you’re not bringing your own issues and concerns to your work.

: Instead of seeing or labeling your clients as resistant or uncoachable, you know how to work with that so your client can continue to move forward. 

: You have a theoretical framework through which you understand trauma and how to work with people. 

To name a few! There are so many more!

Here's another thing: 

Many professional training programs in the personal development, healing, and transformational 

industries don't teach trauma-informed practices. 

That is...not great. 

And that can lead to some practices that are also...not great.

Things like:

~ going into territory outside of the scope of practice and training

~ not knowing enough about systemic oppression and how it can impact clients 

~ questionable boundaries

~ causing harm in myriad ways

~ creating unhealthy power dynamics

~ not being sufficiently consent-based

~ making assumptions

~ overriding clients and pushing them too far and too fast

~ prioritizing our vision for them, rather than their vision for themselves

~ and more, alas

The thing is, there is so much potential for good in the personal development, coaching and healing industries! 

We literally help change people’s lives, we help them heal, we help them create awesomeness.

With that, though, comes responsibility. 

We literally have our hands on people’s bodies, in their brains, in their money, their energy, their creativity. 

That is powerful, and with power comes responsibility. 

And so it is deeply important that we acknowledge the power we have as practitioners, and that we act responsibly with our power, and do our best not to cause harm. 

One of the key ways to do that is to be a trauma-informed practitioner.