ABSTRACT
The effort at being trauma-informed is of value for everyone involved. Completing a trauma-informed organizational assessment and using that information to rewrite policies and practices is an effort that needs to be applauded; however, the hard work is translating that information into practices that support an informed approach to care. It is important to also appreciate that three or four days of presentations on trauma do not make one trauma-informed, perhaps trauma aware but not trauma-informed or trauma-sensitive. The Secondary Traumatic Stress Core Competencies in Trauma-Informed Supervision lists nine core supervisory competency areas. There are trauma-serving organizations that are themselves traumatized. This is often reflected by authoritative, inflexible, punitive leadership practices, driven by crises, being conflict avoidant, having an unclear mission, giving little attention to values, and having an emotionally and/or physically unsafe environment.
