What Are the 5 Principles of Trauma-Informed Care?

Trauma can have a lasting and harmful effect on your mind and body. It can hurt your emotional development, neurological health, and social well-being. Past experiences can continue to influence the efficacy of treatment later in life. With trauma-informed care, you can walk into care with a different relationship to the sessions and the therapists. By following the five principles of trauma-informed care, your care team can help you find a path toward healing for a happier, healthier life. The Differents can help you with this. Our trusted drug rehab in Reno offers a range of levels of care that can help you work through your trauma in a safe and effective way. Contact us to learn more about our addiction treatment center in Nevada. How is Trauma-Informed Care Different? Trauma-informed care is an approach to treatment that aims to avoid re-traumatization. Re-traumatization is when the care you seek triggers you or causes additional trauma, hurting your progress instead of helping.  If you have trauma in your background, getting treatment can be a challenge when you are constantly worried about additional risks or triggers. That is why The Differents incorporates the five principles of trauma-informed care.  What are the 5 Principles of Trauma-Informed Care? The five principles of trauma-informed care help ensure that you can stay emotionally and physically safe during your treatment.  1st Principle: Safety First is safety. Trauma-informed care aims to keep you safe while receiving care. Recovery is best achieved when you are able to curate a healthy relationship with your therapist and treatment center.  2nd Principle: Trustworthiness Building relationships with your therapist is important. If you do not trust your therapist, it will be hard to take anything they suggest seriously or believe that their suggestions or help can be useful.  With trauma-informed care, your therapist will ensure you feel safe enough to truthfully discuss your past experiences, knowing that your vulnerability will be respected. But you get to ensure consistent boundaries are set with your therapist, too, letting them know what things you might not like or might like, such as: The more your therapist honors these requests, the stronger your trust can be.  3rd Principle: Choice  You have many choices and control over your care plan. Often in traumatic experiences, it can feel like your power, choice, or control was taken from you. Getting help if you have a history of trauma can be more difficult when you worry about lack of choice or control.  That is why the third principle of trauma-informed care is that you have control over choices related to your treatment plan. If you are able to provide information about your treatment or what you need to feel safe, you are more likely to be invested in the outcome and more likely to experience greater healing.  You can choose things like: 4th Principle: Collaboration You work with your therapy team as you work through your recovery.  Under normal circumstances, the therapist with whom you work is more of an authority figure, and they provide specific rules that you follow. With trauma-informed care, that is not the case. Instead, you work together with your care team toward your recovery. You collaborate, and you provide input and insight into how your recovery is going. This gives you greater control and improves the safety you experience during your healing. 5th Principle: Empowerment The fifth and final principle is empowerment. When your power is taken from you through trauma, it can have a lifelong impact. Trauma-informed care helps you regain that power and rediscover it within yourself through healthy coping skills, self-care, and a safe exploration of your personal experiences. By doing this, you can better understand your current thoughts and emotions and change them for the best. Getting Trauma-Informed Care with The Differents With The Differents, you can get access to trauma-informed care at several levels, including in our partial hospitalization program (PHP) and intensive outpatient program (IOP). You can learn how to understand the impact of trauma within a safe environment and navigate the behaviors and beliefs you have curated as a result. We can help you see how your trauma affects the way you see the world and how you respond to it.  We specialize in several therapies that support those who are overcoming trauma, including: Our facility has a 1:3 staff-to-client ratio, and all of our staff focus on a holistic viewpoint, unlike other treatment centers. We also ensure that our group and individual therapy is carried out with a trauma-focused approach. We focus on ensuring you feel safe, that you build trust with our team, and that you have control and collaboration in the care you receive. Reach out to our team today to learn more about our outpatient rehab in Reno.