Working in a trauma-informed way
People working in mental health services have become increasingly aware of the need to reduce the negative impact of the experience of trauma of people that they work with - of working in a trauma-informed way.
The idea that trauma has negative consequences for people’s mental and physical wellbeing is not new. Evidence for this has grown, from the psychoanalysts to Brown and Harris’ work on depression, and we are now aware of good empirical data that supports the role of early life experiences (Adverse Childhood Experiences – ACEs) and other adverse experiences across the life-course, in the causal pathways for many mental health conditions.
The experience of such traumas not only have causal implications but also affect the ways in which people behave in response to their conditions, their interactions with others and their help seeking behaviour. Reducing the occurrence and impact of such traumas have important implications for public mental health preventative approaches and the ways in which we work with people who have significant trauma histories and experiences.
The Attune project, which has been supported by Careif, has made important in-roads into finding innovative ways of helping young people talk about and deal with their traumas. Similarly, the Centre for Mental Health have called for all public services to be trauma-informed to better support women.
Importance of embedding trauma-informed approaches
Careif’s new Associate, Mariam Bhaila and Rachel Tribe (Chair of Careif) recently delivered a workshop, Understanding Trauma and Working in a Trauma-Informed Way to mental health professionals at Fountain House, Lahore. Drawing on research evidence and practice-based examples, the workshop explored what happens when organisations embed trauma-informed approaches. Not only do service users experience less harm and more compassionate care, but staff themselves benefit. In general, restrictive practices reduce, empathy increases, and spaces for reflection and support are strengthened. Trauma-informed care helps whole systems move from surviving to supporting recovery.
This way of working has global significance. Careif’s workshop opened up conversations about mental health in the Pakistani context, with participants reflecting on stigma surrounding emotional distress, fear of losing respect, lack of awareness or trust in professionals, and the silencing of pain within families and communities. These shared reflections highlighted the importance of understanding trauma not only as an individual experience but as something shaped and held within broader social, cultural, and systemic contexts.
The workshop was welcomed by the participants and embodied Careif’s mission to make mental health knowledge accessible worldwide, to foster collaboration across countries and cultures, and to promote culturally sensitive, evidence-based approaches to global mental health in mental health internationally.
In his new book Trauma Industrial Complex, recently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Darren McGarvey reminds us that trauma does not happen in a vacuum and is aggravated by the systems that we have created, including our health and social services. He recognises that trauma and social inequalities are intertwined, but believes that we need to acknowledge the healing process and to place this centrally. Listening to and recognising the lived experiences of others is key to improving the quality of mental health services. Working in a trauma informed way is not a new fad – it is an important component of creating more compassionate public services, of prioritising the voices of people who use those services, and of the need to enhance personal recovery-orientated outcomes.
Mariam Bhaila & Jed Boardman, August 2025.
