By James Campbell, Megan Kirouac, Joseph (Jose) McBride, Maura McDonald-Brown, Samson Teklemariam, and Ashley White
Over the past 30 years, the medical and behavioral health fields have deepened their understanding of the impact of adverse childhood experiences in significant ways (Felitti, 2019). Following this understanding, we have seen a crucial movement towards trauma-informed care (TIC) throughout our organizations. One of the key ideas of TIC is moving from “what is wrong with you” to “what happened to you” (Kimberg & Wheeler, 2019). If we stop there, however, we miss an opportunity to help the individuals served move from a wound-focused approach that acknowledges the trauma to a healing-centered approach (HCA) that focuses on holistic restoration in the lives of those served. Additionally, a healing-centered approach deeply roots us in our shared humanity, decreasing the stigmatizing and “othering” of those who use drugs, and minimizing the distance that often occurs between patient and provider, client and clinician (Ginwright, 2018).
TIC expertly considers the past, posing the core question of “what happened to you?” A healing-centered approach, however, sits in the present, noting the strengths and resources inherent in each individual, and looks with hope toward the future, wondering along the individuals served – “where do we go from here?” (Ginwright, 2018). Trauma-informed care helps practitioners enact non-malfeasance and fulfill the ethical obligation to “do no harm.” A healing-centered approach goes further, allowing us to move toward the person served with beneficence, providing both environmental considerations as well as clinical approaches to support our most critical work: walking alongside our clients in their self-directed healing.
