When working in human services, we often respond to and support people during their most trying times. While this can be a wonderful and purposeful part of work, it’s essential that we take a Healing Focused Care approach.
So, how do we build organizations that understand and support people who have experienced trauma? Becoming a trauma-responsive organization requires more than using the right language or completing a training course. It’s about creating and nurturing a culture that honors the lived experiences of clients and staff with every interaction.
Trauma-Informed vs. Healing-Focused: What’s the Difference?
Trauma-Informed Care and Healing Focused Care are often used interchangeably. But it’s important to understand that Healing Focused Care (HFC) takes those trauma-informed principles a step further.
HFC ensures that the response is behavioralized—that we show up with action as well as intention. When we integrate an HFC approach with Motivational Interviewing (MI) and similar approaches to care, HFC creates a shared language and mindset across the organization.
Any organization working with people requires empathy and compassion to form those critical connections (number one indicator of a positive outcome in any service relationship), hold space for each other, and support people to move forward in a positive and healthy way. When an organization embraces HFC, it’s evident in the way staff speak, listen, and engage with the community and the people served within as well as with their fellow team members
Creating a Culture of Service
So what does it mean to create a trauma-responsive organization? Or, better yet, to create a Healing-Focused Care organization?
At the core of HFC organizations is a culture of service. This approach refers to the way that people interact with those they serve, their coworkers, and themselves. Motivational Interviewing-trained teams are excellent at not only sourcing but demonstrating their empathy and compassion, creating a positive and healthy ripple effect throughout the organization’s daily operations.
How do you know if your team is operating with the right approach? Do a quick gut-check to see if your team is operating in a space of debate or one of dialogue. What’s the difference?
- In debate, I’m trying to convince you to agree with me or come over to my side.
- In dialogue, we’re co-creating an understanding. We’re agreeing where we can and holding space for the areas where we may not see eye-to-eye.
Noticing a few areas where your team’s approach could be improved or expanded? Focus on making simple shifts to move from a culture of debate to one grounded in dialogue and mutual growth.
- Model Reflective Listening
Rather than rushing in to fix or correct another person, reflect on what you’re hearing with a spirit of curiosity. Responding to your guess as to what the person is meaning by their words helps you invite trust and open communication amongst all people in your organization.
- Prioritize Psychological Safety
One major component of providing an HFC environment is safety. It’s not just about the safety of served persons in your care (although that’s extremely important); it’s also about the safety of your team. Leadership that prizes psychological safety recognizes mistakes are learning opportunities, celebrates questions, and encourages transparency. One key to making the shift is responding with empathy rather than reactivity.
- Ask More Open-Ended Questions
Simply changing language makes a significant difference in communication. Focus on asking MI-style open-ended questions with phrases like “how” or “tell me more about that.” These types of questions encourage a spirit of collaboration and honor autonomy. Open-ended questions also help reduce defensive reactions.
- Take Time to Debrief and Reflect
Healing doesn’t happen on autopilot. In difficult moments, conflicts, and high-stress times, it’s crucial to take time to process, discuss, and reflect. Even a short, 5-minute debrief helps reduce feelings of team burnout and can help build and strengthen connections.
- Reinforce Shared Values
Rather than focusing on “the what”, focus on “the how”. Your mission serves as a lodestar, guiding you and your team through daily interactions. Revisit the mission regularly to reflect on how you’re aligning with your values.
Even minor shifts in your language and presence can fuel significant changes in how your team shows up, both for clients and for each other. HFC isn’t about perfecting a process or response; it’s about holding the right intention.
When organizations are committed to reflection over reaction, dialogue over debate, and empathy over reactivity, they manifest a trauma-informed, trauma-responsive culture with a genuine focus on healing and growth.
Reflective Supervision: A Core Practice
Empathy begins with wellness. If your team carries unresolved stress, burnout, or secondary trauma, it can significantly impact their ability to show up in an empathetic and compassionate way for clients and team members.
Reflective Supervision is an essential approach to team health. It’s not just a performance or status check; this approach allows staff to have a safe place to process professional and even personal challenges. In this space, team members can recalibrate and reconnect with their own sense of purpose and increase their own wellness as well as the health of the team.
Reflective Supervision is a way to model a HFC approach. By modeling doing so, leadership shares the message that trauma responsiveness isn’t limited to client-facing roles. Trauma-responsive is 360. It helps to set and integrate a healing-focused standard for the entire organization.
When we empathize with clients, we may find that vicarious trauma shows up for us, too, leading to burnout. The tension between the expectations and standards of the job versus what the client needs can be challenging to face. The challenges can spill over if we don’t make space for processing and reflection. This, in fact, is how Reflective Supervision came to be.
Small wellness steps and practices can make a significant difference for most teams. One of the most effective and accessible methods for supporting staff wellness is with regular check-in circles. These mini debriefs can be daily, weekly, or monthly, but the team must have time to pause, reflect, and regularly be heard. This is especially critical after a difficult day, a tough interaction, or even a tragic circumstance.
When I ran a youth program, the environment was high-stress. There were many youth at the beginning of their journey of healing from profound traumatic experiences, limited space, and constant moments of re-activation (aka triggering). In this environment, team check-ins were a necessity. We held end-of-day check-in circles to help keep the team grounded and healthy especially when the day felt particularly rough.
The consistency of the check-ins and availability of a safe place built trust, cohesion, and resilience amongst the team. Everyone felt like they were part of something bigger. They knew they didn’t have to carry their feelings and stressors alone.
We can even see this idea reflected in pop culture. The APPLE TV drama, “Severance” gives us a striking metaphor of how people can’t leave their home-life nor work-life at the door. Whether the stress comes from caring for loved ones, financial strain, or community trauma, we bring it to work with us. A Healing-Focused Care approach doesn’t ignore those outside experiences. Instead, it makes space to hold the experiences with care.
Leaders Set the Tone
Team leadership has a unique opportunity and responsibility to embed HFC values into their organization’s DNA. It’s incumbent on building a cohesive and supportive culture in your organization.
So here’s a checklist for you to consider adopting:
- Model empathy
- Model active listening
- Normalize reflective supervision
- Prioritize wellness practices
- Hold space for accountability and for compassion
When leadership walks the talk, every person from the front desk to the executive team is empowered to do the same. Trauma-responsive and HFC organizations are built from the inside out.
If you’re looking for resources to support your team, here are a few from Share:
- Healing-Focused Culture of Service Slide Deck
- Check-in Circle Guide: Starting a Monthly Practice
- Wellness Check-in Prep Sheet
- How to Run a Wellness Check-in Circle
At Share, we’re here to help you support your team and build effective, responsive organizations. Please reach out if you would like to learn more about any of our training or practices.