Today’s reality includes high rates of burnout in helping professions, a mental health crisis intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, and rampant systemic injustices and inequalities. It is a critical time for those working to address human trafficking, through direct or indirect services, to consider how our individual and collective traumas might affect the way we work and what we create. In this session, presenters will outline how adopting trauma-informed care principles within your team and context can 1) support the wellbeing of your team members, who can then 2) create trauma-informed products, programs, or services, which can then 3) better serve those who interact with the products, programs, or services your team creates. Specifically, this team will share a method developed for those creating education or training called the TRUST-ED model: Trauma Responsiveness Underpins Sustainable Teams in Education Development. The TRUST-ED model can be applied by many types of service providers (direct and indirect) who are involved in work to address human trafficking. This model was developed by lead team members of a healthcare-focused curriculum about human trafficking during 2020, which was a year the team members grappled with a difficult combination of external and internal factors. They decided to treat themselves with the same trauma-informed principles they were researching for the healthcare curriculum. The result was a healthier, manageable pathway for each of the team members, and a profoundly improved set of new courses and educational solutions, evidenced by learner responses and SME evaluations.
Brittany Thomas has worked in the fields of social justice and training development for 13+ years. She works at the intersections of family violence, substance use, human trafficking, mental health, criminal justice involvement, child welfare, and underserved populations. Her passion is practicing social change in the workplace.
Jessica Samuel has worked 12+ years in the field of online and blended education on a wide range of innovative projects. She has built and led development teams and initiatives across private and public sectors. She now leads Justice U, an initiative aimed at providing critical education about human trafficking.
Candace Buggs is an educational consultant with TiER1 Performance and a PhD Candidate in Instructional Design at Indiana University. She received her Master’s in Human-Computer Interaction and has designed varied learning solutions for businesses, nonprofits, and higher education. Candace’s focus and passion is to understand how life experience affects learning.