Alexandra Olsen

This chapter dives into a deep discussion about trauma and trauma-informed care. First, trauma is defined, and different forms of trauma are detailed. From here, we’ll look at how human service professionals address specific traumas in their work. Most importantly, this chapter covers trauma-informed care, a set of principles that can be applied in any organization or system to improve care for clients. Trauma-informed care relates to Ethical Standard 15: that professionals can identify, address, and advocate for the needs of their clients. Identifying and effectively addressing trauma is crucial to providers being able to meet their clients’ needs. When engaging in trauma-informed practices, human service professionals also identify and call attention to their clients’ assets. More broadly, people working in human services can and should advocate for using trauma-informed care practices in organizations within their communities so that clients’ needs can more effectively be met.

This chapter also explores how working with people who have experienced trauma impacts human service professionals. Human service professionals are exposed to significant trauma during their work. Because of this, people within this profession need to have wellness and self-care practices. Just as human service professionals need to call attention to the needs of others, it’s also important that they have their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs, so they can be effective at helping others.

9.1.2 References

National Organization for Human Services, 2015. Ethical Standards for HS Professionals. https://www.nationalhumanservices.org/ethical-standards-for-hs-professionals