(Submitted by Courtney Rice, of National Alliance on Mental Illness)
If you’ve ever been to an airport, you’ve probably seen people carrying bags of all shapes and sizes. Some bags may be super heavy, and others may be lighter. There may be some bags that aren’t necessarily heavy, but just “awkward” to carry at times.
Often, we see people struggling to carry their suitcases and duffel bags through the terminals. And we keep walking and ignore their struggle. Sometimes, we may even get frustrated with how slow they are walking, and hope that they just hurry up.
But what if instead, we took a moment to see the situation from their point of view. We took time to not think “Why can’t you just keep moving? Just hurry up!” and instead consider “Wow that looks so hard to carry. Maybe I should help them out.”
In our busy lives, we may not realize how much someone’s emotional baggage is weighing them down. And sometimes, instead of showing empathy and understanding for a person’s emotional outburst, we instead assume they are “unhinged” or “moody.”
We do not consider what in their life has brought them to this moment of emotional release, like past trauma. Trauma can be defined in many ways but in general, it is an event or situation that is outside of the range of the usual human experience and causes distress.
If there is unresolved trauma in an individual’s life, they may show signs that are physical or emotional, such as anger or sadness. An approach in the human service field called Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) is creating a shift in mindset for individuals, groups, and organizations to take into consideration “what’s happened to you?” instead of “what’s wrong with you?”
This approach not only encourages us to recognize that our responses to emotional situations could be from a past trauma experienced, and how we can respectfully respond to trauma responses in others.
Being trauma-informed does not mean that we have to fix everyone’s problems. It doesn’t even mean we have to be someone’s counselor or therapist. It means we lift them up in hard times, we encourage them to seek help so they can heal, and we let them be heard. Here are five principles of Trauma-Informed Care we can consider:
1. Safety: First and foremost, making sure that the person is physically and emotionally out of harm’s way. Some traumatic situations can be physically threatening, so we want to make sure these basic safety needs are being met.
2. Choice: We want people to know that they have control over their own situation. We are the narrators of our own story, and we can choose how and when it is told as well as how we want to deal with our emotions.
3. Collaboration: Working together in making healthy decisions can be very powerful. Allowing space for someone else to share their story can also be powerful and really help build a collaborative effort with everyone. It’s a great opportunity to learn new, healthy ways to cope, too.
4. Trustworthiness: Maintaining boundaries is key. Just because someone has experienced a traumatic event, does not mean they want to talk about it, so be sure to let the person talk at their own time. Just be there to listen when they are ready.
5. Empowerment: By providing an affirming atmosphere, it allows people to feel validated and know that there is nothing abnormal about them.
In a perfect world, there would be no emotional baggage or traumatic events. We could walk through life without carrying heavy burdens. While we cannot remove all the trauma in this world, we can help someone struggling by giving them the space to heal and grow.
Remember, don’t forget to take care of you. Learn more about Wood County resources by visiting www.wcadamh.org.
