Living Proof with Tyra

Living Proof with Tyra

Trauma-Informed Workplace Strategy

How trauma-informed is your workplace?

Eighteen questions, about four minutes. Answer as your organisation actually behaves on an ordinary week, not as your policies say it should. The gap between those two is usually where the work is.

Before you start: this is a conversation starter, not a validated clinical instrument, and it is not a SAMHSA product. SAMHSA’s six principles are a framework for practice rather than a scored test. These questions are our own, written against those six principles.
Principle 1

Safety

Physical and emotional safety for staff and the people they serve.

  1. 1Staff can raise a concern about a colleague's behaviour without fear of being punished, sidelined, or labelled difficult.

  2. 2Our physical spaces, including entrances, waiting areas and meeting rooms, have been looked at specifically with the comfort of distressed people in mind.

  3. 3When something distressing happens at work, people are given time and support rather than being expected to carry on as normal.

Principle 2

Trustworthiness & Transparency

Decisions made openly, so trust can be built and kept.

  1. 4Decisions that affect staff are explained, including the reasoning, not simply announced.

  2. 5We tell people what to expect from a process before it begins, and we do what we said we would do.

  3. 6When leadership gets something wrong, it is acknowledged openly rather than quietly corrected.

Principle 3

Peer Support

Shared experience as a vehicle for safety, hope and mutual self-help.

  1. 7People with lived experience of the issues we work on have a real role in shaping how the work is done, not just telling their story at events.

  2. 8Staff have a structured way to support one another, beyond informal friendships and hallway conversations.

  3. 9New staff are paired with someone who helps them navigate the hard parts of the job, not only the paperwork.

Principle 4

Collaboration & Mutuality

Levelling power differences, recognising that healing happens in relationships.

  1. 10The people we serve have genuine influence over how our services are designed, beyond a satisfaction survey.

  2. 11Frontline staff are consulted before policy affecting their daily work is finalised, not after.

  3. 12Power differences between leadership and staff are named and actively managed rather than treated as simply how things are.

Principle 5

Empowerment, Voice & Choice

Skill-building, shared decisions and a real experience of choice.

  1. 13The people we serve are offered real choices about how they participate, rather than one path to take or leave.

  2. 14Staff are supported to build skills and take on responsibility, not only to meet targets.

  3. 15When someone declines a service or a step, that decision is respected without penalty or pressure.

Principle 6

Cultural, Historical & Gender Responsiveness

Moving past stereotypes and bias, honouring history.

  1. 16Our services fit the cultures of the communities we serve, rather than being a standard model translated into another language.

  2. 17We have honestly examined how our own institution's history affects how much the community trusts us today.

  3. 18Our staff reflect the communities we serve at every level, including leadership and the board.

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