Trauma-Informed Therapy: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It Matters
Trauma-Informed Therapy recognizes the lasting effects of trauma and emphasizes safety, trust, and empowerment in healing. By focusing on the whole person, not just symptoms, this approach builds understanding, reduces retraumatization, and fosters resilience, allowing individuals to regain control and move toward healthier, more fulfilling lives.
What Is Trauma?
Trauma is when someone has been exposed to actual or potential situations that can involve serious injury, sexual violation, or even death. Examples of exposure to these situations can be through witnessing first-hand, learning about traumatic experiences felt from others, or being repeatedly exposed to distressing details of a traumatic event.
When trauma happens, it can create negative effects on someone’s functioning in their daily living. This can lead to the decline in mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being. Trauma-Informed Therapy focuses on six principles that help best serve individuals and families to reach a healthier lifestyle. These six principles are:
Safety
Trustworthiness & Transparency
Peer Support
Collaboration & Mutuality
Empowerment
Consideration of Cultural, Historical, and Gender Factors
Why Is Trauma-Informed Therapy Important?
The significance for Trauma-Informed Therapy continuously grows as the percentage of individuals with a history of trauma increases. A study with 35 million children aging from birth to 17, found that nearly 50% of them had experienced trauma in childhood. Another study involving adult inpatients increased to 81%.
Talking about traumatic events can be difficult, and is oftentimes not assessed. When care is not trauma-informed, it can lead to misunderstandings of presenting issues and may lead to retraumatization from unintentionally triggering a client. This can hinder the client’s progress and therapy altogether.
“People Who Experience Trauma Often Carry Guilt and Embarrassment That’s Not Theirs to Carry.”
How Trauma-Informed Therapy Can Help
Trauma-Informed Therapy can provide benefits across various dimensions, as it centers on the entirety of a person, not just one part. It allows a person to step out of survival mode, in a safe, consistent environment, so that they can focus more on living. A trauma-informed therapist can offer the validation and clarity on the individuals struggles, allowing them to better understand their behaviors and how what they have been through has impacted them.
Here are a few examples on where Trauma-Informed Therapy can provide support:
Client satisfaction: Not only does Trauma-Informed Care build satisfaction for the consumer, but also enhances the relationship between therapist and client and increases self-esteem.
Housing stability: In one study, 88% of people receiving Trauma Informed care were able to maintain placement in section 8 housing, or were able to transition into permanent housing.
Trauma-Informed Therapy also decreases the demand for crisis-interventions and hospitalizations.
What We Can Learn From Trauma-Informed Therapy
At its core, Trauma-Informed Therapy is about more than treatment - it’s about learning how to create safety, connection, and empowerment in every interaction. These points highlight the essential lessons and benefits of Trauma-Informed Care and why it plays a vital role in supporting healing and growth.
Trauma is more common - and more complex - than we realize:
Trauma isn’t limited to one event or type of person. Nearly half of children and the majority of adult inpatients have experienced trauma, often in ways that are unseen or unspoken. Recognizing that reality helps explain why Trauma-Informed Care isn’t a niche approach - it’s essential in every therapeutic setting.
Safety and Understanding are the Foundation of Healing:
By emphasizing the six core principles mentioned earlier, it’s highlighted that recovery can’t happen without first creating a safe, transparent, and empowering environment. It’s not just what is treated, but how care is given that matters most.
Trauma-Informed Therapy Benefits Both Clients and Communities:
This approach to therapy has measurable outcomes - greater housing stability, higher client satisfaction, and fewer crises. Beyond symptom management, Trauma-Informed Therapy restores agency, builds trust, and fosters long-term resilience in individuals and systems alike.
You Deserve Trauma-Informed Care
Healing from trauma is a deeply personal journey, and you don’t have to walk it alone. Working with a trauma-informed therapist can help you feel seen, supported, and empowered as you navigate the effects of past experiences. Through approaches like EMDR and somatic awareness, trauma therapy offers a safe space to reconnect with your body, regulate your nervous system, and rediscover your capacity for calm and confidence.
If you’re in need of a trauma-informed clinician near you, reach out today for a free consultation.
