Further Learning and Resources

Poole, N. (2012). Becoming trauma informed. L. Greaves (Ed.). Toronto, Canada: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

• A book by CAMH for addiction and mental health workers, and program and system planners. Discusses trauma-informed practice at the individual, organizational, and systemic levels, emphasizing mental health, addiction, and social services. Emphasizes that the priority of trauma-informed services needs to be the survivors’ safety, choice and control, and that services must take an understanding of trauma into account.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2014). Trauma-informed care in behavioral health services. Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series 57. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 13-4801. Rockville, MD: SAMHSA. 

• Abstract: “This TIP provides evidence-based and best practice information for behavioral health service providers and administrators who want to work more effectively with people who have been exposed to acute and chronic traumas and/or are at risk of developing traumatic stress reactions. Using key trauma-informed principles, this TIP addresses trauma-related prevention, intervention, and treatment issues and strategies in behavioral health services… This TIP is for behavioral health service providers, prevention specialists, and program administrators—the professionals directly responsible for providing care to trauma survivors across behavioral health settings, including substance abuse and mental health services.”

Ko, S. J., Ford, J. D., Kassam-Adams, N., Berkowitz, S. J., Wilson, C., Wong, M., … & Layne, C. M. (2008). Creating trauma-informed systems: Child welfare, education, first responders, health care, juvenile justice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 39(4), 396.

• Abstract: “Children and adolescents who are exposed to traumatic events are helped by numerous child-serving agencies, including health, mental health, education, child welfare, first responder, and criminal justice systems to assist them in their recovery. Service providers need to incorporate a trauma-informed perspective in their practices to enhance the quality of care for these children. This includes making sure that children and adolescents are screened for trauma exposure; that service providers use evidence- informed practices; that resources on trauma are available to providers, survivors, and their families; and that there is a continuity of care across service systems. This article reviews how traumatic stress impacts children and adolescents’ daily functioning and how various service systems approach trauma services differently. It also provides recommendations for how to make each of these service systems more trauma informed and an appendix detailing resources in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network that have been produced to meet this objective.”

Quadara, A. (2015). Implementing trauma-informed systems of care in health settings: The WITH study (State of knowledge paper). Australia’s National Research Organization for Women’s Safety (ANROWS). 

• This paper reviews ways trauma-informed care has been put into practice, comments on available literature about trauma-informed care, and discusses how to implement systematic change to improve services for survivors of sexual violence.

Baker, L. L., & Jaffe, P. G. (2006). A teacher’s handbook: Understanding woman abuse and its effects on children. Strategies for responding to students. London, ON: Centre for Children & Families in the Justice System.

• A reference resource for teachers supporting students who may be witnessing interpersonal violence at home. Discusses how witnessing abuse at home impacts a child, and how that may manifest in a school setting. Provides guidelines for when to contact Children’s Aid Society and discusses school policies for when a child is witnessing interpersonal violence at home.