Example: Trauma Informed Approaches and Mental Health
The Regional Hospital’s psychiatric unit helps people with acute symptoms of mental illness who have committed a crime and faced criminal charges in Brookhaven. Many of the people admitted to the unit have histories of homelessness, emotional abuse or neglect, sexual abuse, and substance use. People suffer from grief and loss as they recover from their symptoms and realize the changes in their life due to their crimes.
The new unit supervisor attended training in Trauma Informed Care. She knows that the people she supports in the unit have been exposed to many traumatic events. The supervisor encourages her staff to review Trauma Informed Care and invites people to work as a team. The unit supervisor, staff members, and people supported meet to learn more and create a plan that can be used across the unit.
The supervisor introduces trauma informed care to everyone. The staff learn that many of the problems people face in their daily work are connected to people’s experience of trauma. Instead of viewing behavior as a “challenge” the staff members learn that people are expressing the effects of trauma. Some people exposed to trauma may not understand how these memories impact their every day life. The team creates a goal to make sure that people in the unit feel safe and trust the staff who work with them. They will assess how people feel on a regular basis to make sure they are achieving their goal.
The team is also reviewing policies from a trauma informed view. Team members are changing these policies to make sure that efforts are made to avoid re-traumatizing people while keeping everyone on the unit safe. People who are committed to the unit are now given opportunities to build on their strengths while they are staying at the hospital.
The team at the Regional Forensic Unit is now implementing the Trauma, Addiction, Mental Health, and Recovery (TAMAR) Education Project. TAMAR is an intervention that helps people who have a history of trauma and are living in a residential setting. The TAMAR Project is a 10-week program. The focus is to understand the impact trauma and violence has on a person’s life. This approach also sets the stage for building a way for staff and people on the unit to interact within each other in a positive way. The team working on trauma informed care efforts started to run TAMAR groups to support the residents of the Forensic Unit. The groups help people learn how to cope with trauma and learn new skills. The team assesses the TAMAR approach and finds a reduction in people returning to the hospital, increases in trust between staff and people at the unit, and a decrease in incidents requiring crisis interventions. Click here for more information about TAMAR.
The therapists at the Regional Forensic Unit use individual plans with people who need more intensive support to address past trauma. Two people who attend the TAMAR groups still need more support. There are a number of different trauma informed therapies that can be used. For example Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based practice that helps people work through their trauma. Another approach that can be used is called Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR). STAIR helps people learn how to process childhood abuse. This model helps people learn how to label and identify feelings and manage their emotions.