Trauma-Informed Approaches
Trauma is widespread, harmful and costly public health problem. There are no boundaries with regard to age, gender, socioeconomics, race, ethnicity, geography or sexual orientation. The need to address trauma is increasingly viewed as a vital component of effective health service delivery
Crestwood introduced trauma-informed care practices in 2008 as a core element of elimination of coercive treatment. In 2011, Crestwood adopted the Trauma-Informed Care Approach Initiative in which all of our operations, treatment, employment, and community relationships are viewed through the trauma lens.
In 2012 Crestwood was awarded a SAMHSA training grant bringing the national trauma trainer, Raul Almazar, to Crestwood for consultation, facility visits and a two-day intensive training.
Crestwood was selected for a SAMHSA-sponsored training in 2013 on the Integration of Trauma-Informed Care in our programs, with goals of coercive. This is incorporated in all our programs from orientation throughout employment.
In 2014, Crestwood’s Patty Blum, Vice President, and Mertice “Gitane” Williams, Vocational Wellness Educator, presented a webinar forSAMHSA to a national audience on Trauma-Informed Approaches and Practices: Mutuality and Collaboration. (nasmhpd.adobeconnect.com/p9pwugz2gxl/) Patty and Gitane focused on Crestwood’s journey to become a Trauma-Informed organization, through education and training of staff and incorporating it into all levels of service company-wide.
Trauma-Informed Care Approaches have been the basis of the resiliency skills building. At Crestwood we utilize these Trauma-Informed Care Approaches along with culturally-sensitive multidisciplinary approaches and integrating spiritual practices by utilizing evidence-based practices including Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Peer Providers to provide a rich source for mitigating and healing the impact of trauma for our clients. In our Crestwood programs we will continue to work with, and support our clients with, developing resiliency skills to create a strong foundation from which they can build from and use in their recovery.
At Crestwood, we take a Trauma-Informed Approach to care that includes being aware that the majority of our clients experience trauma and that the trauma then becomes the lens through which they view and experience the world. This has impacted the design of our programs in the environmental planning with comfort rooms, a library area and a Serenity Room. We are continuing to work with trauma consultants, such as Raul Almazar (see Crestwood’s Journey in the Fall 2015 Touch), to sustain and continue the growth of Trauma-Informed Approaches at Crestwood.