TRAUMA CARE

The importance to the whole of society of understanding trauma, its effects and strategies to care for survivors cannot be underestimated. According to national statistics, in Canada, three-quarters of adults report some form of trauma exposure in their lifetime. Amongst youth, two-thirds of males and nine out of ten females report experiencing traumatic distress and for children more than half of those aged 2-14 and nearly two-thirds of those aged 15-17 experienced violence in the past year. While much of this trauma occurs in familiar relational contexts, so the opportunity for healing exists in relationships built on trust and felt-safety, where competence leads to an appropriate balance of nurture and structure. When we allow our compassion to inspire a pursuit of competence in our care, the resulting competent compassion is transformational both for us and for those we come alongside.