“Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don't much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.
Alice: ...So long as I get somewhere.
The Cheshire Cat: Oh, you're sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Originally written in 1865, the message then is still incredibly relevant today. Having a clearly defined goal/destination can make all the difference in the process and outcome of the journey. Once we’ve identified where we are going, then we can work backwards and determine the steps we need to take to achieve our goal. In terms of being trauma-informed, that means having a clear vision of what it means to be trauma-informed and a clear understanding of the developmental process (or journey) that needs to occur to become trauma-informed. One model that has been used by many to map the journey to being trauma-informed is the Missouri model (MO Department of Mental Health and Partners, 2014). This model “was developed by a group of organizations in the state of Missouri who were active champions in addressing the impact of trauma and working towards becoming trauma informed organizations.” The organizations involved in developing this model “represented a variety of organizations that serve children, youth, families and/or adults in a variety of settings including healthcare, inpatient psychiatric, substance abuse, and community based mental health services.” The model is a continuum of development from building basic knowledge and skills to implementation to evaluation. One can think of this as a continuous process improvement model – even though there appears an end to the journey (trauma-informed), it’s imperative that we are continually revisiting the process learning, growing, implementing, assessing, learning...as new information and tools become available.
One potential tool that individuals and organizations can use to map their journey to be trauma informed is A Trauma-Informed Framework for Higher Education (Berke, DaCunha, Killian, & Wilson, 2022). This framework builds upon the Missouri model (2014) by developing competencies in skills, knowledge and attitudes/beliefs for individuals (those who have direct client interaction and those who do not) as well as for organizations across the four stages of the journey (trauma aware, trauma sensitive, trauma responsive, trauma informed). Thus, both individuals and organizations can determine where they are in the process of becoming trauma-informed, identify needed steps to take to achieve their goal, and map the necessary steps needed to the goal.
Debra L. Berke, Ph.D., CFLE, Wilmington University
References
Berke, D. L., DaCunha, K. V., Killian, N., & Wilson, K. (2022). A framework for trauma-informed higher education. https://traumamattersdelaware....Education.pdf?x49582
MO Department of Mental Health and Partners. (2014). Missouri model: A developmental framework for trauma informed approaches. https://dmh.mo.gov/media/pdf/m...-informed-approaches
Comments (0)