Recently, Rebecca Tolley from the Charles C. Sherrod Library gave a talk titled “How Libraries Should Adopt Trauma-Informed Principles.” In the talk, Tolley went over the basics of Trauma-Informed Care. TIC is a human services approach in which professionals assume that people are more likely to have traumatic history than to not. With this approach, professionals strive to provide approachable services for anyone with trauma and try to avoid re-traumatization of the individual at all costs.
According to the University of Buffalo, re-traumatization is defined as “any situation or environment that resembles an individual’s trauma literally or symbolically, which then triggers difficult feelings and reactions associated with the original trauma.” The university also states that institutions that do not take the TIC approach have a higher rate of re-traumatization.
It is easy to only think of this approach in a medical, social work or in the case of Tolley’s talk, a scholarly context, but it can also be applied more generally in society. It can be applied to how we treat one another, our friends, loved ones or even strangers. It is important to keep in mind that one cannot always know what someone, even someone one is close to, is going through or has gone through.
Being more considerate with words and actions is important. Actively listening and making sure one is keeping an open mind and accepting attitude can go a long way in making someone feel comfortable and accepted. If everyone strived to be a friendlier, more open-minded person, this world could be infinitely better.
This, of course, is much easier said than done. If the pandemic has shown us anything, it is that a lot of people truly do not care about anyone but themselves and refuse to alter or inconvenience their lives even a little to make someone else’s life a little better. However, if those of us who do care about others’ well being strive to do better for everyone, maybe TIC will become more of a part of our everyday relationships.
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