Growing evidence suggests that most people accessing mental health and addiction services have experienced trauma at some point in their lives. Community services, treatment agencies and hospitals are recognizing that they need to understand the potential effects of trauma on all of their clients and create programs, spaces and policies that are trauma informed. Becoming Trauma Informed describes trauma-informed practice at the individual, organizational and systemic levels. The editors and authors bring unique perspectives from various settings and from the diverse groups with which they work, sharing how trauma-informed principles have been integrated into different mental health and addiction treatment and social service environments. They emphasize how trauma-informed services must take into account an understanding of trauma, and place priority on trauma survivors’ safety, choice and control. These contributors offer hope and direction for becoming trauma informed, showcasing their innovation, leadership, practices, ideas and compassion. I found this book both exciting and inspiring. It should be read by practitioners, administrators, researchers and educators who work in mental health, addictions, child welfare, violence against women; in fact, by everyone who labours to improve the lives of people who are hurting. The content provides state of the art knowledge about the transformation in service delivery and improved outcomes that occur when helping professionals and helping systems are trauma informed. Carol A. Stalker, PhD, RSW
Professor and Associate Dean, PhD program, Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON This is an ambitious and powerful book, whose editors and authors have more than risen to meet the challenge of demonstrating to their colleagues creative ways to think about delivering care through the lens of trauma. Every health and mental health practitioner should read this book, whether they believe themselves to be working with trauma survivors or not. The compassionate, thoughtful and evidence-based information in this volume will improve quality of care for all patients and clients. Laura S. Brown, PhD, ABPP
Author of Cultural Competence in Trauma Therapy: Beyond the Flashback, and Director, Fremont Community Therapy Project, Seattle, WA |
