Communicating with TACT –
In both casework, coaching or other settings, establishing a trauma-informed approach is essential to 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.
The TACT framework provides a practical framework that highlights four key elements: Trust Building, Awareness, Communication, and Trigger Avoidance. TACT outlines the key components that guide you in interacting with trauma survivors in ways that respect their autonomy, promote safety, and minimize re-traumatisation.
Some of the people I work with as a clinical and professional supervisor 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. This is an important role. Being experienced by clients as reliable, consistent and caring, is vital in helping them feel safe, and rebuilding or even beginning to trust someone else. When you’re feeling overwhelmed by the work, it can be easy to forget that the trusting professional relationship is as valuable than the tasks you do for a client, and will likely help with engagement in any future counselling. If a client can trust you then then may be more likely to trust someone else. I often recommend the book, Trauma and Recovery (1992) by Judith Hermann (an oldie but a goodie), which explain this in more detail.
1. Trust Building
Creating an atmosphere of safety and trust is the foundation of trauma-informed care, especially after a disclosure:
- Build rapport and comfort.
- Emphasise confidentiality, but clarify its limits (e.g., if mandatory reporting is required).
- Inform a survivor that attendance is voluntary, and the person can leave at any time.
- Empower the survivor by ensuring the locus of control remains with them.
2. Awareness
Being attuned to a person’s behaviour and trauma responses is important:
- Approach the trauma experience with non-judgmental acceptance.
- Understand that symptoms stem from the trauma event, not pre-existing pathology.
- Acknowledge that trauma impacts self-esteem, which can affect work and personal performance.
- Consider the cultural, religious, and political context of the individual’s trauma.
- Understand the potential for strong emotions such as anger, grief, sadness or guilt.
- Recognise that memory and concentration issues may arise, so be patient and avoid overloading the person with information.
- Be aware of your own emotional responses (countertransference) which may also be from your own lived experience of trauma, and seek support if needed.
- Try not to take the symptoms personally and seek your own support to discuss your reactions.
- The recovery process is inseparable from the socio-political context. Recognise the injustice of the trauma and a need for resolution to restore some sense of justice. We are not morally neutral.
3. Communication
Effective communication is vital to building a safe and supportive environment in individual or group sessions:
- Listen actively and acknowledge what the person is sharing.
- Explain the reason for asking questions and any procedures.
- Use open-ended questions.
- Don’t push the person to disclose the trauma story or share personal details.
- Ensure your body language is non-threatening and your tone is calm.
- Take the conversation slowly.
- If you are not a counsellor, approach any discussion about counselling referrals sensitively and consider how best to raise the possibility of trauma counselling.
4. Trigger Avoidance
Reducing the risk of re-traumatisation involves being mindful of potential triggers:
- Remove or avoid environmental triggers where possible (e.g., choose non-claustrophobic spaces with windows, choose private rooms away from other distractions).
- Avoid questions that sound like interrogations for people whose trauma history may have involved interrogation.
- Explain your actions and ask for permission before doing anything.
- Use a calm, non-threatening and person-centred approach.
- The best approach is to follow the survivor’s lead.
- Assure the person that they will not be touched without their consent.
Conclusion
Incorporating the TACT framework—Trust Building, Awareness, Communication, and Trigger Avoidance—into your practice is essential for creating a supportive environment for trauma survivors. 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. This approach not only helps immediate communication but also lays the groundwork for survivors to engage in targeted support through counselling. Remember, your role is pivotal in establishing a foundation of safety and trust, which is crucial for the recovery journey. If you would like to discuss your work with traumatised clients, feel free to contact me for clinical or professional supervision.
Note: 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 coach with over three decades of clinical experience working with refugees, asylum seekers, Defence veterans, Police and couples. She now helps the helpers. Melinda supports colleagues, including social workers, clinicians and other professionals such as lawyers and allied health who work with vulnerable clients. In her supervision and workplace coaching practice at person2person Consulting, she is driven by a desire to help people foster healthy, productive teams and thrive in their work. www.person2personconsulting.com