Broadly, a way of relating that intends to support, empathise and be of value to the person with whom one is communicating (and to do no harm). An approach in which a practitioner engages clients with a view to support healing from harm, prevent further harm, build resilience and/or empower individuals, families and communities.

“Individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being.” (SAMHSA 2014) Collective trauma can also be experienced by whole communities of people. For example, this is apparent in groups of people with shared experiences (such as surviving a natural disaster, forced adoption or institutional abuse) and in Indigenous populations and people from refugee backgrounds who have been exposed to violent dispossession and physical, cultural and spiritual genocide over long periods of time.

A violation of rights and/or physical, emotional or cultural safety, which can be: which can be: Interpersonal (relational), structural (disadvantage, discrimination and social exclusion), institutional (a service response that perpetuates harm), lateral (within communities), intra-personal (self-harm).

“‘Intersectionality’ refers to the ways in which different aspects of a person’s identity can expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalisation. These aspects can include gender, ethnicity and cultural background, language, socio-economic status, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age, geographic location or visa status. This amplifies barriers to services, increases the risk of social isolation, and exacerbates social and economic disadvantage, including housing insecurity.” (sourced from DHHS Diversity and Intersectionality webpage).

“An environment that is safe for people: where there is no assault, challenge or denial of identity, of who they are and what they need. It is about shared respect, shared meaning, shared knowledge and experience of learning, living and working together with dignity and true listening.” Australian Human Rights Commission.

“Aboriginal self-determination encompasses a spectrum of rights that are necessary for Aboriginal Victorians to achieve economic, social and cultural equity, based on their own cultural values and way of life. This includes rights to: not be discriminated against; enjoy language, culture and heritage; land and natural resources; have access to the basic necessities of life and be economically self-sufficient; make decisions that impact their lives from a position of wellbeing and empowerment; ‘grassroots community’ having ownership and responsibility for their own affairs and their own communities, including through designing and delivering policy and services on their own terms, setting their own funding priorities and holding their service providers accountable.” (Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework 2018-2023).

Trauma specialist services provide trauma-specific interventions explicitly intended as treatment for people in relation to their experiences of trauma.

Trauma informed services are designed and delivered in ways that recognise that both people using and people working in services may have experienced trauma. Trauma informed services are not directed at treating trauma but rather endeavour to ensure that the service experience will not cause further harm and distress. They do this by incorporating principles and values that support wellbeing and applying them in a dynamic and reflective ways across the service environment, workforce, culture, policy and practice.

Trauma informed practice is an approach that is cognisant of the pervasive prevalence and adverse impact of trauma among both people accessing services and people delivering services. It’s an integrated approach that is holistic, empowering, strengths-based, reflective and collaborative, as well as promoting physical, emotional and cultural safety.

Re-traumatisation occurs when a person who has experienced trauma previously has a physiological and emotional stress response triggered by an event, circumstance or interaction that causes distress. Re-traumatisation occurs when a person’s experience of a service (as a service user or worker) results in further harm.

Unresolved individual or collective trauma can be transmitted to subsequent generations in a cumulative, prolonged and pervasive pattern. This can occur through parenting relationships and through the “collective, cultural memory” (Healing Foundation 2013) of a community.

“‘The negative transformation in the helper that results (across time) from empathic engagement with trauma survivors and their traumatic material, combined with a commitment or responsibility to help them’ (Pearlman and Caringi, 2009). The greater the exposure to traumatic material, the greater the risk of vicarious trauma. People who work in services to which people with traumatic histories present seeking help, or who work with traumatic material are at particular risk.” (Blue Knot Foundation website).