Communicating with TACT –
Establishing a trauma-informed approach in your work with clients is essential for fostering trust and safety. Whether you’re a caseworker or clinician working with trauma survivors, or a lawyer or first responder encountering clients who have experienced distressing life events, understanding the foundations of trauma-informed care helps you create a supportive environment and encourages good communication.
There are four key factors for communicating well with trauma survivors:
1.Trust Building
2. Awareness
3. Communication
4. Trigger Avoidance
Keeping these four factors in mind will help you to interact with trauma survivors in ways that respect their autonomy, promotes safety, and minimizes re-traumatisation.
A Safe Place
The first factor in trauma informed work is trust building. Your role is pivotal in establishing a foundation of safety and trust, which is crucial for your client’s recovery journey.
Some of the people I work with in clinical supervision are the first point of contact for trauma survivors. You might be an intake worker, caseworker, lawyer or attending a critical incident as a first responder. You might be hearing a trauma disclosure for the first time. Being the first person, a trauma survivor talks to about any aspect of their life story is an important role.
Being experienced by clients as reliable, consistent and caring, is vital in helping them feel safe, and rebuilding trust or even beginning to trust someone else. Sometimes it takes nothing more than actively listening. When you’re feeling overwhelmed by the work, it can be easy to forget that the trusting professional relationship is as valuable as the tasks you do for a client and will likely help with engagement in any future counselling. g. If a client can trust you then then may be more likely to trust someone else and accept a referral.
I often recommend the book, Trauma and Recovery (1992) by Judith Hermann (an oldie but a goodie), which explains the importance of safety in more detail.
By fostering trust, remaining attuned to individual responses, communicating effectively, and being mindful of potential triggers, you can significantly enhance the well-being of the clients you work with.
Moving Forward
Incorporating the TACT framework*—Trust Building, Awareness, Communication, and Trigger Avoidance—into your practice is essential for creating a supportive environment for trauma survivors.
If you would like to learn more about the TACT framework in detail and develop your communication confidence with trauma survivors, feel free to contact me for clinical or professional supervision.
* I initially developed the TACT framework for an external training I provided at the NSW Centre for Community Welfare Training on working with trauma survivors.
About Melinda Austen
Melinda Austen is a clinical supervisor, and workplace and leadership consultant with over three decades of clinical experience specialising in mental health, trauma and relationships. She now focuses on helping the helpers, working with mental health professionals and managers in the human services sector. Melinda is driven by a desire to help people foster healthy, productive teams and thrive in their work. Get in touch at melinda@melindaausten.com.au or www.melindaausten.com.au