Four Common Misconceptions About Working With People Experiencing Trauma Or Post-Traumatic Stress
As we prepare for the first RAT core group session this Sunday (we're so excited!), we've been thinking a lot about the habits, misperceptions and myths that surround post-traumatic stress, and the most common mistakes that get made when many people or organisations try, even with the best will in the world, to work in a way that is "trauma-informed". That phrase in itself is misleading - as we'll explain in a moment.
We'll be sharing some of our insights from the sessions as they go on - so may well find ourselves looking back at this post and feeling embarrassed for missing so much out! But for now, we wanted to reflect back to you some things of which we're hyper-aware as we go into this new chapter.
First things first: why we don't like the phrase 'trauma-informed'
It's not just because it's become too 'cool' and we like being the odd ones out, we promise!
It's because we don't believe it's possible to be 'trauma-informed'. To be 'trauma-informed' implies that one knows how to support any trauma survivor at any point in their life with any need they have. But everybody’s experiences of trauma and of post-traumatic stress are so different, that no amount of training or experience will ever prepare someone to know any other person’s trauma-related triggers and needs off the cuff. Plus, trauma evolves - so even if you get to know someone really well over an extended period of time, and get to know inside out what evokes their trauma, and what makes them both be safe and feel safe, you cannot always be certain that what was true for them one day will be true for them the next.
So what do we have to do? We have to keep watching, listening, engaging, responding. We have to be flexible and reflective, while being clearly led by mutual respect and values. We have to have compassion for ourselves and others, knowing no-one will ever get anything just right and no-one will ever be without blame. We have to be trauma-conscious.
Right - now, here are our four biggest no-noes of trauma-related work, and how we think we can build to a more trauma-conscious world.
Number One: Trauma is not the same as depression and/or anxiety
These conditions often co-exist - but they are very different, and the needs they create in people cannot be met in the same ways.
Symptoms of depression and anxiety can spring from our outside circumstances, but don't always. People can be depressed or anxious without any outside reason at all. When the causes come from the inside like this, symptoms can sometimes be eased purely through talking, good diet, exercise and sensory soothing techniques.
Trauma responses, on the other hand, are healthy internal reactions to outside threat. When our brains receive sensory information they have reason to believe through past experience is dangerous, that information gets sent to the part of the brain that releases stress chemicals around the body to prepare us to fight, run, freeze or appease. They are supposed to do this. We wouldn't survive dangerous situations if they didn't.
When people experience post-traumatic stress, the level of threat perceived can sometimes seem out of proportion - but very rarely is there smoke without any fire at all. And even if threat is totally absent in any one instance, the brain is still doing what it is supposed to do. An animal in the wild will run every time it hears rustling in the leaves, even if it is more often just the wind, because every time it could be a sign that a predator is preparing to pounce.
When survivors are told that their trauma responses are faults in their brains, they stop being able to trust their natural survival instincts. Over time, this can make us lose our connected instincts for self-care, such as feeding and washing; it can increase the risk of us getting into dangerous situations and relationships; it can stop us from being able to express how and why we are feeling, and what unmet needs are causing our feelings; it can make us profoundly dependent on those around us to make decisions for us.
Holding someone’s hand, offering therapy, suggesting breathing exercises and mindfulness, can be valuable to return people to balanced states of mind after trauma responses, and to ease depression, anxiety and other mental health challenges that have resulted from long-term trauma if that is the case. But to be trauma-conscious, one has to acknowledge the threat that someone has perceived, celebrate that their instincts for self-preservation and self-care are in tact, and work with them to address the source of this threat. The change on the inside must begin with change on the outside.
Number Two: Survivors don't need 'protecting' from topics that affect them
Some survivors don't want to talk about what they've been through or any topics connected to it any more than they have to. But for many of us, people have been trying to silence us for years, and we want to tell it like it is. We want to explore the intricacies of our experiences, make some kind of sense of them, be part of change for the better. Trying to protect us from communicating or reflecting on our experiences can feel like another exaction of control and form of censorship, and be very damaging.
Trauma is far more immediate than most people think: it is triggered by sensory information, not by intellectual processes. So someone who can comfortably talk about their experiences for hours, might be unable to tolerate a smell, sound, phrase, or colour associated with that same context. One can never be certain that they will not stumble upon something that triggers a trauma response in another, as they can seem arbitrary from the outside; so we must instead know how to support people through them, as applies with conversations on difficult topics.
It is especially interesting reflecting on this in an arts context, looking at the arguments that have taken place around trigger warnings for theatre productions and other arts events. These arguments have focused on whether or not someone should have the right to know what sorts of topics are mentioned in the work, or what sorts of scenes get depicted, with some thinking that this ruins the cathartic effect of art, and others thinking it is a basic accessibility measure and not offering it is irresponsible.
Agency always gets a big thumbs-up from us for trauma-conscious working, so we support giving someone the choice to know or not know what themes will come up. But this alone doesn't make work or arts spaces trauma-conscious. As we explained above, often what evokes a response isn't the topic, but the sensory stimuli that take us back to our own experiences of that topic - and these can be anything. People can be triggered by balloons, or bunny rabbits, or sugar canes, or wedding dresses - and who would think to put those sorts of things in a trigger warning?
So, letting people know about things that objectively can be considered potentially upsetting or stressful for most people is kind - but it isn't the end of the road for trauma-consciousness. We can't guarantee that our art won't evoke trauma in anyone, no matter how hard we try, so we need also to make sure there are people in our theatres, galleries - everywhere, really - who are able to support someone to regulate if they do experience post-traumatic stress.
Number Three: Nobody can learn how to be trauma-conscious just by reading about trauma
It is tempting to sign up for a convenient online course that will explain to you what trauma is and how to respond to it, and consider yourself trained to work appropriately with survivors. But trauma-consciousness is a muscle, and a very physical one. People in states of trauma are acutely alert to body language, tone of voice, breath and internal rhythm, and linguistic choices, so it is not enough to understand what is happening and offer a learned response. People need practise to embody that understanding, so that their natural responses to the survivor prove to them that they are safe and heard and seen.
So often in professions we are trained or conditioned out of being emotionally present, so in-person practical work on communicating trauma-consciously is necessary for unlearning and relearning that muscle memory.
Number Four: People supporting survivors cannot and should not be invulnerable, or try to pretend they are
Sorry, everyone. Most of us don’t like the idea of being vulnerable, especially with people to whom we have responsibilities. And most of us have been led to believe that the best way to support the wellbeing of survivors at work is by putting our own needs aside. This just isn’t true.
Without access to your own emotional life, you cannot engage relationally with the survivor to understand what they need - and translate how their need is being communicated, into action that can move towards meeting that need. You also can’t show the survivor that they do not deserve to suffer, and that something better for them is possible.
But it isn’t fair to expect people to be vulnerable to people for whom they are responsible, without preparing them to manage the emotional load of that. And that emotional load doesn’t have to - indeed, shouldn’t - take the form it might take in personal relationships. It can be a psychophysical, even somatic experience, that doesn’t usurp your psychological wellbeing - if you are aware of your emotional reflexes, know how to be with them physically, and learn how to release them when the moment has passed.
It is very similar to the skills an actor needs to be able to embody a role and go home tired, but not traumatised, after a performance. This is why theatre-based tools and techniques are so valuable in this work.
If this has rung a few bells for you and you would like to talk to us about bringing us in to deliver some trauma-conscious communication training in your workplace, please e-mail us at info@responseabilitytheatre.com. We'd love to come and help you out.
It isn't too late to sign up for our first core group session on Sunday! Get yourself onto the sign-up form or let anyone who might benefit from it know. There are also already sessions booked in on 25th August and 15th September, for which you can register at the same time.
If you can't or don't want to engage with anything right now, but want to keep track of us for the future, make sure to sign up to our mailing list to keep informed about what we have coming up and our reflections on what we're doing now.
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