Trauma Awareness and Trauma-Informed Approach

When looking through past blogs from The Pelvic Rehab Report, I ran across this gem submitted by Lauren Mansell explaining Trauma-Informed Approach and her course Trauma Awareness for the Pelvic Therapist. While it is not policy to recycle past articles, this was too good not to share again. Lauren succinctly explains the Trauma-Informed Approach that is instructed in her remote course, Trauma Awareness for the Pelvic Therapist, and it is as pertinent today as it was when first published in 2018.

[as written by Lauren Mansell]…

In my experience, trauma creates the trauma, and the body responds in characteristically uncharacteristic ways.

People in distress/trauma-affected do not respond rationally or characteristically, so I have learned to respond to distress/trauma in a rational, ethical, legal, and caring manner. Always. Every time. To the best of my ability, and without shame or blame.

Let’s talk briefly about Trauma-Informed Approach. This is a (person), program, institution, or system that:

• Realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery
• Recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others affected
• Responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices
• Seeks to actively resist retraumatization

The tenets of Trauma-Informed Approach are:

• Safety
• Trustworthiness and transparency
• Peer support
• Collaboration and mutuality
• Empowerment, voice, and choice
• Cultural, historical, and gender issues

Trauma specific interventions:

• Survivors need to be respected, informed, supported, connected, and hopeful- in their recovery
• Interrelation between trauma and symptoms of trauma such as substance abuse, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, musculoskeletal presentation, and acute crisis- including suicidal/homicidal ideations (coordination with other service providers)
• Work in a collaborative way with survivors, families, and friends of the survivor, and other service providers in a way that will empower survivors.

Types of trauma are varied, but I usually treat survivors of emotional, verbal, sexual, and medical trauma. I have even treated patients who felt traumatized by other pelvic floor physical therapists (again, no judgment). Since most of my clinical experience includes sexual and medical trauma survivorship, I try to reframe these experiences as potential post-traumatic growth, especially when working with my oncology patients. For my pelvic patients who divulge sexual trauma, I don’t dictate or name anything. I allow the survivor to make the rules and definitions. Survivors of sexual trauma need extra care when treating pelvic floor dysfunction.

First, when treating survivors of sexual trauma: expect ‘characteristically uncharacteristic’ events to occur. These include the psychological/somatic effects of passing out, flashbacks, seizures, tremors, dissociation, and other mechanisms of coping with the trauma. Have a plan ready for these patients.

Triaging the survivor to assess their needs, when trauma has been verbalized/disclosed:

• Are you safe right now?
• Do you need medical treatment right now?
• What do you need to feel in control of (PT session/immediately after disclosure of trauma)?
• You have choices in your treatment and in your response to trauma.
• I believe you.
• Lastly, is this a situation for mandated reporting?

After assisting the survivor in their journey towards healing, it is imperative that you take care of yourself. Make healthy boundaries (with patients and others) and take time to decompress, create healthy ritualistic behaviors, mindfulness/relaxation, and somatic release (like yoga, massage, or working out). These are crucial to successfully treating patients who have experienced trauma and who have shared that trauma experience with you.

Because I use gentle yoga for both my trauma survivors’ treatment and for my own self-care, my course implements evidenced-based trauma-sensitive yoga. Additionally, modifications for manual therapy are explored. The class is designed to be informative and experiential while integrating the Trauma-Informed Approaches of Safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment, voice and choice and cultural, historical and gender issues.

Join Lauren Mansell and H&W to learn more in the remote course Trauma Awareness for the Pelvic Therapist, scheduled for September 25-26, 2021.