Trauma-informed approaches in the UK

What is it about?

This paper introduces the concept of trauma-informed approaches in mental health and explores how and why they could become more prevalent in the UK. Specifically, we explore the relationship between trauma and mental health; the ways in which the mental health system can retraumatise staff and survivors/service users; the broad principles of trauma-informed approaches and their potential benefits; the ways in which trauma-informed approaches can be applied in mental health; the evidence on their effectiveness; the extent to which trauma-informed approaches have reached the UK; and the barriers and facilitators to their implementation here.

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Why is it important?

Introducing trauma-informed approaches can bring a myriad of benefits to service users including hope, empowerment and appropriate support. This is through a fundamental shift in the way in which service users and providers relate to one another. But there are also benefits to staff, and potential economic savings which this paper explores.

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