8 Things to Consider When Seeking a Trauma-Informed Therapist

I am often asked how people can make sure the therapist they want to work with is actually trauma-informed.

To be clear, “trauma-informed” is defined as: recognizing “the presence of trauma symptoms and acknowledges the role trauma may play in an individual's life- including service staff.” - Buffalo Center for Social Research

Here are 8 areas of competence I recommend folks focus on when seeking a trauma-informed therapist or other service provider:

1. Ask what training they have in trauma. There are specific trauma therapies which require extensive training and cover the nervous system well. Some trauma therapy modalities have decades worth of research and anecdotal evidence from both therapists and clients explaining how they are effective and appropriate for complex trauma.

   Note: Trauma is a complex rewiring of the brain and nervous system that occurs when we experience something bad/scary/life threatening and any “trauma-informed” therapist is going to seek ongoing training, read books on, seek out consultation with other therapists on how to continue to provide the best more up to date therapy for clients who have experienced trauma.

2. Ask about their approach to trauma: a truly modern trauma-informed therapist is going to focus on building a trusting relationship with you while helping you learn to work toward regulating your central nervous system (the system responsible for our stress responses/survival mode - such as fight, flight, freeze, fawn, flood, fatigue).

3. Ask about their experience working with trauma: if you have specific trauma (religious trauma, childhood trauma, bullying, etc.)and you want to make sure the therapist you want to see has experience in this area - it’s best to ask so you know for sure.

4. If it’s important to you to have a therapist with “lived-experience” (meaning they have experienced trauma, or have the same or similar diagnosis to you - such as being Neurodivergent) you can ask this, as well! Some therapists will put this in their directly listing or website or directory listing as this is being sought out. We now have enough evidence that therapists being humans with real life experience and not just being an “expert” with education, training and professional experience is important for trust and rapport.

5. Ask the therapist if they provide psychoeducation on how trauma works in the brain/body, offers somatic techniques (an effective way of calming the central nervous system), etc. You can also ask how they modify any of these for interoception differences, Alexithymia, sensory needs, etc.

   It is imperative whatever therapist you go with ensures you, the person living with the effects of the trauma, have a good understanding of how it has impacted you and what you’re doing in therapy to change this impact for the better.

6. If a therapist focuses on promising you will be healed, that their program works the best and here is why, etc. it’s smart to be leery - trauma therapy is a completely individual experience and there is no “one size fits all” approach to trauma.

7. We now know outcomes of therapy are more dependent on the strong relationship between the therapist and client (aka the therapeutic alliance/therapeutic relationship) than on type of treatment, where the therapist went to school, what they studied and what specialized training they have.

   While there is a lot of value in making sure you have a licensed therapist who is beholden to ethical codes included a required amount of training every renewal period

8. What support do they offer between sessions? When it comes to working through complex trauma, it helps to know if your therapist provides crisis intervention (not a necessary thing, just important to know) if they have resources you can access outside of session, etc.

Additional questions you may be curious to have answered by a trauma-informed therapist you’re considering working with:

What resources will they be sharing?

Do they have a directive approach or non-direct approach?

Are they aggressive in their approach or more laid back?

Are they Neurodivergent Affirming?

Are they LGBTQIAP+ Affirming?

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Please check back for more on how to ensure your therapist is trauma-sensitive to be published soon!