Key Insights

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  Including people with lived experience on research teams helps anticipate trauma triggers and design safer studies.

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  Allowing participants asynchronous, nonverbal, or self-paced storytelling can reduce retraumatization risks.

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  Cultural differences profoundly affect trauma expression, body language, and perceptions of research, requiring flexible approaches.

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  Trauma-informed design must recognize its limits and avoid replicating or legitimizing harmful systems, like prisons.

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  Self-care practices such as debriefs, breaks, and paired interviewing are critical to managing vicarious trauma among researchers.

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  Organizational policies, especially within HR, need trauma-informed reform to support employees holistically.

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  Trauma is present across all sectors and populations, even where not immediately obvious, so assume trauma might be present.

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  Repeatedly asking survivors to retell their trauma can be extractive; existing research should be reviewed first.

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  Consent is ongoing; researchers need to monitor participant discomfort actively and respect their agency to stop at any time.

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  Trauma-informed work is a continuous journey of learning, adaptation, humility, and cultural sensitivity—never a fixed state.

Notable Quotes