Episode 72: Why trauma-informed coaching?

Hello there and welcome to today’s episode of the Beyond the Shadow of Doubt podcast. I hope you are doing well and life finds you enjoying the change in fall temperatures. I know I am in Texas. Today’s topic is a little, uh, tougher in that it’s more personal. It’s tender. It’s, I guess, hard to talk about because of the pain and the hurt associated with it.

And that is the topic of trauma. And I wanted to share a little bit with you about what it means to be a trauma informed coach. To start off with, in the same way you might discover a physical malady or a wound that may not be obvious at first, it’s also possible to discover a spiritual An emotional or a mental wound that may not be apparent or obvious at first.

It’s important to be aware of spiritual wounds and how to not add to the already heavy burden and pain some are carrying. As such, I encourage you to listen to my three part series on spiritual wounds in episodes 51, 55 and 59. Spiritual wounding is a form of trauma. Spiritual wounds are found in trauma and traumatic experiences such as physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and or sexual abuse.

The pain is especially deep if the wounds are from the hand of a trusted individual, like a neighbor. A family member or an ecclesiastical leader of some sort, according to the American Psychological Association, trauma is defined as an emotional response to a terrible event, like an accident, a rape or a natural disaster.

Immediately after the event, shock and denial are typical. Longer term reactions can include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships, and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea. There are three main types of trauma, acute, chronic, or complex. Acute trauma results from a single incident.

Chronic trauma is repeated and prolonged. Such as domestic violence or abuse. Complex trauma is exposure to varied and multiple traumatic events, often of an invasive interpersonal nature. I’ll leave links to the sources cited in the show notes. Everyone has experienced some form of trauma to one degree or another.

The difference is those who are aware and those who are not. And without this awareness piece, The effects of trauma can be exacerbated. I am part of a movement to raise our collective consciousness surrounding trauma and its effect on our day to day lives. To have trauma isn’t necessarily the problem.

However, the lack of awareness and subsequent non acknowledgement or non addressing That exists is where it can get problematic. It affects one’s day to day living, quality of life, ability to reason, to exercise sound judgment, and even allow and feel our emotions, among other things. And ultimately, it affects our relationships with others.

Now here, it’s important to consider that a relationship can exist with not just another human, but also with a group, a community, or an organization, and so on. So, as I stated, not only am I strongly in favor of trauma informed coaching, I believe it needs to be the standard in the coaching industry so much so that this year, 2023, I took the time to enroll and participate in and complete advanced relationship trauma certification with coach Lindsey Pullman.

I cannot recommend enough the importance of the certification, especially among those in helping professions. This program teaches you as the coach to understand what trauma is. How it quote shows up that relationships in their clients lives may have contributed to trauma and then to better recognize the ways that the effects of this trauma exist in their clients lives.

It also. Clues you in as a coach to be aware of the possibility of unresolved trauma. Here are three reasons why it’s important to consider trauma. Trauma informed coaching acknowledges that as a client and a human being, you have experienced trauma inducing events at some point. As a trauma informed coach, I do not treat trauma.

I am aware of the nuances that come with working with humans or a client that has experienced trauma. Second, trauma informed coaching is a way of understanding the presence of past trauma, its current effects on a client, and how to use the client’s resiliency to guide them along their path towards solution focused growth.

And finally, the experience of trauma creates elevated risk for substance use disorders, including abuse and dependence. Mental disorders such as depression, anxiety disorders, impairment in relational, social, and other major life areas, and other distressing symptoms, and physical disorders and conditions such as sleep disorders.

And that was taken from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration pamphlet, which is part of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. Being a trauma informed life coach is not treatment for the trauma. I am not making that claim. What I am doing is promoting an industry wide standard for all life coaches to engage in trauma informed coaching, to be aware of the nuances that come with working with clients who have experienced trauma, which pretty much includes everyone because on some level or another, every human being has experienced some trauma.

It is a matter of awareness, as I mentioned earlier, awareness on the part of the individual. Again, I do not treat trauma as a life transitions coach, but I am trauma informed and trauma aware, so as to best serve my clients where they’re at in their process of healing, in their journey. The following points are taken from the Advanced Relationship Trauma Certification Workbook as part of the program that I participated in with Lindsey.

It says the trauma informed coach definition. I’m not including all of them, but I am including some key points. He She, or they understand the potential presence of trauma in humans to how it presents on and off coaching calls and three, how to use his, her, or their knowledge as a guide to support clients and active coach client relationships.

He, she, or they also understands the value and impact of how understanding trauma supports his, her, or their personal and professional relationships as well. The trauma informed coach knows their bounds. The trauma informed coach sees the world of healing and growth as something non linear. The trauma informed coach sees how trauma can be perceived as heavy, but also light in the sense that we do feel lighter as we process emotions and live more in alignment with our true self.

The trauma informed coach recognizes the sacred space that exists during coaching calls. If you would like more information about this certification or trauma informed coaching in general, check my show notes or shoot me an email. Thank you so much for joining me today.