How to create a trauma-informed workplace
According to recent research, 90% of adults have experienced some form of trauma in life. Your efforts as a leader can help acknowledge the burden of carrying the weight of past trauma. Creating a trauma-informed workplace shows how committed you are to providing an empathetic, safe, healing environment for every employee who works for you.
Trauma can affect everything from personal well-being to job performance. To adequately address it, organizations must do more than offer one-off initiatives. Their ongoing organizational policies and practices need to prioritize a healthy, supportive culture. Trauma-informed practices in the workplace offer benefits like improved retention, productivity, and mental health outcomes. Research shows that offering trauma-informed care improved five of six satisfaction survey measures over a year.
Read on for a trauma-informed workplace checklist that’s effective and efficient, so you can implement practices that give employees everything they need to heal and become the best version of themselves, at work and in life.
Principles of a trauma-informed workplace
Building a trauma-informed workplace isn’t as difficult as you might think. The principles below can directly shape your company’s culture, leadership, and operations. If your workplace isn’t supportive or safe for employees, these can help you figure out where to focus first.
Cultural, historical, and gender awareness
Every organization should take steps to ensure employees don’t feel misunderstood or unseen. Different backgrounds, identities, and life experiences can make it difficult for some employees to find the help they need. Taking the time to recognize how cultural, historical, and gender factors shape trauma and healing will help you offer support at work that respects different experiences.
You can promote cultural, historical, and gender awareness are in your organization with:
- Gender neutral bathrooms
- Inclusive hiring panels
- Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)
- Celebrating diverse holidays
- Ongoing education about bias, microaggressions, and historical trauma (for both leadership and employees)
- Cross-cultural mentorship and training
- Regular DEI audits
- Asking for employee feedback to highlight areas for improvement
Safety
Ensuring a physically and psychologically safe workplace for employees is foundational to building a trauma-informed workplace culture. Employees should never be fearful or have to deal with harassment or discrimination at work. Expectations must be clear, and best practices must be consistently reinforced so employees are comfortable and confident in their work environment.
Physical safety measures
- Auditing safety measures like lighting and entry systems
- Providing adequate security personnel
- Creating and enforce anti-bullying policies
- Installing visible signage with clear graphics and easy-to-read fonts
- Offering personal protective equipment (PPE) as needed
- Providing ongoing safety training
- Ensuring equipment is inspected and properly maintained
Psychological safety measures
- Offer anonymous reporting channels
- Have a zero-tolerance policy for retaliation, discrimination, and harassment
- Provide mental health resources
- Promote Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
- Train leadership to identify emotional distress or at-risk employees
- Foster a culture that celebrates and honors diversity
Trustworthiness and transparency
Trauma-informed practices rely heavily on transparency, especially from leadership. Clearly defining roles and using honest, consistent communication is vital for creating a healthy environment. When employees know what to expect and they feel like they can trust leadership, they’ll feel more valued and secure in their roles.
Establish trust and promote transparency in your organization by:
- Sharing decision-making processes and rationale consistently and openly
- Clearly explaining policies and procedures in employee-friendly language
- Asking for input and feedback before making significant changes
- Communicating frequently with your teams
- Being transparent about updates
- Admitting when mistakes are made and be upfront with remediation steps
Peer support
Don’t underestimate the power of peer relationships in the workplace. These connections can help employees feel like they’re in a safe space that's respectful of their individual experiences. Peer support offers a community where employees can share challenges and find encouragement when struggling.
Employers can:
- Encourage cross-team mentoring
- Promote buddy systems
- Implement mentor programs
- Provide space and funding for support
- Normalize informal check-ins
Collaboration
Trauma-informed workplaces understand that collaboration empowers employees. Involving them in decisions that directly impact their work life and environment helps them feel seen and heard. Collaborative work environments promote mutual respect and strengthen engagement, create positive experiences, and improve productivity and innovation across organizations.
Collaboration in your workplace might look like:
- Asking employees to be involved in shaping policy
- Creating feedback loops, such as surveys, roundtables, and open forms
- Emphasizing the importance of cross-functional project teams
- Using collaborative review processes
- Recognizing and rewarding achievements
Empowerment, voice, and choice
Trauma robs people of their sense of control. Much of healing is restoring that power. Giving employees choices can rebuild confidence and improve engagement. From autonomy over work schedules to the job roles they hold, leaders can ensure every employee has a voice and is heard.
Consider the following:
- Offer flex scheduling
- Allow for remote options when possible
- Give employees autonomy to set their own work routines
- Ensure feedback channels are both accessible and confidential
- Regularly recognize and celebrate strengths and achievements
Implementing trauma-informed practices in the workplace
Turning these organizational principles into reality is possible, but it takes intentional steps. Remember that trauma-informed care in the workplace is more than what you say. It’s about policy, training, and daily interaction.
Leadership training and education
Leadership must understand the impact trauma can have across your organization. The first step is ongoing training for all leaders. Education and training should cover subjects like:
- How to recognize trauma symptoms
- How to respond in sensitive ways
- How to create psychological safety
- How to privately support employees
- Resources to refer an employee in need to
Policies and procedures
Clear and consistent organizational policies around safety, equity, and respect are necessary for creating a trauma-informed workplace. Ongoing practices should include clear feedback opportunities, transparent pathways to promotion and advancement, and evaluations that are centered as much on emotional well-being as they are on productivity and output.
Recruitment and onboarding materials should describe job duties using trauma-sensitive language. Interviews should be safe spaces, and onboarding must clearly explain support options and work-life balance resources you provide employees.
Communication strategies
Prioritizing communication ensures that employees know how and when information is shared, providing them with an understanding of how to address concerns. To be effective, a communication strategy should use welcoming language and offer multiple avenues for confidential feedback. Leadership should cultivate opportunities for effective communication and have the tools they need to respond quickly and inclusively.
EXPERT INSIGHTS
Utilizing the basics of psychological safety, that one won’t be punished or humiliated for speaking their opinions, questions, concerns can help to reduce triggering or retraumatization because belittling can often make someone feel like the victim.
- Laura Magnuson, MA, MS, LAMFT, VP of Clinical Engagement
Flexible work environment
Trauma is nonlinear. It doesn’t follow a set schedule, and rigid policies can make it difficult for organizations to align with employees’ needs. Studies show that flexible work environments do more than increase productivity. They also reduce stress and improve performance, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work-family harmony.
Support resources
Support resources are vital for employees recovering from trauma. Ensure your organization offers employees access to mental health screenings, confidential employee assistance programs (EAPs), therapy, and peer support groups, outside of regular managerial support.
Online mental health platforms like Talkspace partner with organizations to provide convenient, confidential online therapy for employees. This gives your team access to licensed mental health professionals when, where, and how they need it. Prioritizing these types of mental health resources also helps avoid the stigma that often surrounds trauma.
Investing in mental health for a trauma-informed workplace
Trauma-informed care in the workplace offers benefits to employees and strengthens your bottom line. Trauma can affect performance, productivity, workplace engagement, and overall job satisfaction. Studies show that dedicating resources to trauma-informed mental health initiatives enhances employee well-being and operations. Your employees will miss fewer hours of work, be more productive, and find ways to achieve a better work-life balance. Request a demo from Talkspace today to learn more about transforming your organization into a trauma-informed workplace.
Sources:
- Elisseou, Sadie, Andrea Shamaskin-Garroway, Avi Joshua Kopstick, Jennifer Potter, Amy Weil, Constance Gundacker, and Alisha Moreland-Capuia. 2024. “Leading Organizations From Burnout to Trauma-Informed Resilience: A Vital Paradigm Shift.” The Permanente Journal 28 (1): 198–205. https://doi.org/10.7812/tpp/23.110. Accessed September 8, 2025.
- Çivilidağ, Aydın, and Şerife Durmaz. 2024. “Examining the Relationship Between Flexible Working Arrangements and Employee Performance: A Mini Review.” Frontiers in Psychology 15 (July). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1398309. Accessed September 8, 2025.
- Hales, Travis W., Thomas H. Nochajski, Susan A. Green, Howard K. Hitzel, and Elizabeth Woike-Ganga. 2017. “An Association Between Implementing Trauma-Informed Care and Staff Satisfaction.” Advances in Social Work 18 (1): 300–312. https://doi.org/10.18060/21299. Accessed September 8, 2025.
