Key Insights

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  Involving people with lived trauma experience in research teams helps anticipate triggers and design sensitive methods.

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  Trauma manifests differently across cultures; understanding local norms and body language is crucial to avoid misunderstandings.

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  Asynchronous research methods can empower participants to share their stories at their own pace to reduce retraumatization.

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  Self-care and team debriefing rituals like 'Friday feels' are vital for researchers to manage vicarious trauma.

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  Trauma-informed approaches must critically assess systems that perpetuate trauma, avoiding simply reforming harmful institutions.

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  Organizational change, especially in HR policies and leadership openness about mental health, is foundational to trauma-informed cultures.

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  Consent is an ongoing process; participants must feel safe to pause or stop without pressure to produce data.

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  Trauma is ubiquitous and can appear unexpectedly even in sectors like tech, finance, or gaming.

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  Research settings need flexibility — taking breaks, informal moments, and reducing clinical atmospheres relieve participant anxiety.

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  Being trauma-informed is a continuous process of learning and adapting, not a fixed state or checklist.

Notable Quotes