Unfortunately, there has not been any research or writing about trauma-informed ministry in the Catholic Church. However, there has been research and writing on how to be trauma-informed in other settings.
In this article, we’ll discuss three principles for trauma-informed ministry, drawn from articles on trauma-informed practice in different settings. You can refer here to learn more about what it means to be trauma-informed.
The three principles of trauma-informed ministry are:
- Knowledge
- Reversal of trauma
- Resilience-building
We’ll explore them further below.
Trauma-Informed Ministry Principle 1: Knowledge
The first step to becoming trauma-informed is to grow knowledge in several areas.
Knowledge of Trauma and Its Effects
The first area is to know about trauma and its effects. It is essential to understand what trauma is, how widespread its impact is (1), and the potential negative effects of trauma. To acquire this knowledge, you can go to this page.
This knowledge is helpful because in our various areas of ministry as a Church, we might encounter things that may have resulted from exposure to trauma, such as addiction, violence, difficulties with mental and physical health, difficulties in relationships, and difficulties in one’s vocation.
Knowing these effects is essential so you can respond with compassion and refer someone to a healing resource if appropriate (see here for a list).
Knowledge of Resources
A second important piece of knowledge for being trauma-informed is knowledge of healing resources. If someone you encounter in your ministry might benefit from these resources, you can find a list of good Catholic healing resources here.
These resources can be helpful to provide to someone whom you suspect might have been exposed to trauma or who has disclosed trauma exposure to you.
It is important during these referrals not to force people to talk to you about their trauma exposure. Instead, you can mention to the person that the issue in question could be related to trauma exposure, then offer them resources if they think that might apply to them, and they would like to seek help.
Knowledge of Retraumatization
Finally, a third important area of knowledge to acquire is retraumatization (2). Retraumatization happens when a person is exposed to people, places, events, situations, or environments that cause them to re-experience past trauma as if it were happening again for the first time.
Things that can be retraumatizing include environments that are not physically or emotionally safe, betrayal, or boundary violations (3). Applying the following two trauma-informed principles can help you create an environment that avoids these potentially retraumatizing things.
Trauma-Informed Ministry Principle 2: Reversal of Trauma
By creating trauma-informed environments, we seek to create environments that are the opposite of trauma, so a person can feel safe and welcome and find healing in relationships. You can create these types of environments in several ways.
Creating a Safe Environment
First, the goal is to create a safe environment, as this helps a person to move from a place of fear to safety, and trauma exposure often involves fear. There are several characteristics of safe environments:
- Physically safe environments:
- Are well-lit
- Avoid congregating outside of entrances.
- Have security and monitoring.
- Have low noise levels
- Have clear access to doors (4)
- Socially and emotionally safe environments make sure that:
- People feel welcome,
- People’s boundaries are respected,
- Schedules and procedures are consistent, and if changes are made, people are told ahead of time as much as possible, and
- Engage in consistent, open, respectful, and compassionate communication (4)
Helping People Be Regulated
A second aspect of creating an environment that is the opposite of trauma is to help people feel physically and emotionally regulated, especially when something in the environment triggers a fight or flight response by triggering memories of trauma. It is important to stay aware of those you are working with so you can recognize if a person is showing signs of emotional dysregulation.
When someone becomes dysregulated, those in trauma-informed environments help a person feel regulated through active listening, reflecting emotions (for example, “I see that you feel anxious”), and rhythmic activities, such as deep breathing or music (5, 6). In this co-regulation, it is important to keep yourself calm (7)
Give People Control
A third aspect of this type of environment is working to give people as much control as possible. This can involve collaboration in developing programs and ministries (3) and trustworthy and transparent communication (1). This is important because many forms of trauma can happen in a power imbalance, so a lack of control could cause a trauma response.
Provide Positive Relationships
Finally, fostering positive, stable relationships is essential to trauma-informed practices, as relationships can be healing (6).
Trauma-Informed Ministry Principle 3: Resilience-Building
Building resilience can help a person recover from trauma and protect them from any negative impacts. Trauma-informed environments can build resilience in several ways.
- First, they can recognize others’ strengths (1).
- Positive relationships, respect, compassion, and acceptance can also build a person’s self-worth, an important part of resilience (7).
- Finally, these environments can emphasize good coping skills for stress, including prayer, exercise, journaling, deep breathing, and good relationships (8)
The Current State
Many of these principles are things we, as a Church, already do or strive to do, such as teaching positive coping skills, keeping people safe, and building good relationships.
But, we still have a lot of work to do, especially in getting knowledge of trauma out there, involving trauma survivors in creating trauma-informed policies, and de-stigmatizing negative coping behaviors, recognizing that they may evolve as ways to adapt to trauma exposure and its effects.
Here at Tria Corda Ministry, we aim to bring trauma-informed practices into the Church. We will continue to develop ways to get these principles into the Church, and this is a foundation we’ll build on over time.