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Summary
The fatigue and trauma from events of the past few years has affected many of us – not just personally, but also professionally, and at the organizational level as well. For the most part, the corporate world has recognized the impact these past years have had on employees and teams. However, many organizations have only recently become aware of the longer-term effects and are struggling to support their people as they work through the long tail of trauma.
Key Insights
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Including people with lived experience on research teams helps anticipate trauma triggers and improves method design.
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Trauma varies deeply across cultures, requiring adaptable, non-neutral research approaches sensitive to cultural expression.
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Trauma-informed care involves not just minimizing retraumatization but actively restoring safety, power, and self-worth.
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Building strong community partnerships and rapport with service providers is crucial when working with vulnerable populations.
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Researchers and designers must recognize their role in potentially perpetuating trauma through products and services.
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Organizational change, especially in HR and leadership culture, is foundational for trauma-informed workplaces.
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Vicarious trauma affects researchers as much as participants; debriefing and peer support are essential self-care strategies.
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Trauma-informed design risks commodification and performative uses that can legitimize harmful oppressive systems.
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Careful consent processes and offering participants control over interviews reduce emotional burden and retraumatization.
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Trauma is universal and present in all human interactions, even in sectors not traditionally associated with trauma like tech or finance.
Notable Quotes
"Trauma is not so much an external event as it is the way that event embeds in individual bodies."
"You cannot heal your way out of death or oppression by reforming oppressive systems or making them more user-friendly."
"Being trauma-informed is a journey, not a destination; you’re always becoming trauma-informed."
"All processes are extracted. Even if there is an element of enrichment in it, you want to reduce trauma extraction."
"If you have any leadership in your organization, start with the way you organize, especially HR policies."
"Sometimes you’re getting data without consent when people don't feel safe to say no anymore."
"Professional spaces often suppress deep trauma behind a middle-class promise of protection that isn’t real."
"Assume everybody has the potential for trauma to show up in an interaction or engagement."
"We are responsible when people are in our care, even if we are not clinicians or psychologists."
"You cannot become trauma-informed; you are trauma-informed because it’s a continuous act of learning and care."
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