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The Practice Is the Work: Reflecting on Trauma-Informed Training and Embodiment

From Ingrid Anderson, Ed.D., Associate Professor of Practice, Trauma Informed Oregon

Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to sit with trainers, educators, early childhood providers, healthcare workers, and community leaders committed to building trauma-informed systems. We’ve gathered in Zoom rooms and community halls, in circles and at training tables. We’ve talked about safety and regulation, grief and resilience. We’ve explored how we lead learning spaces—and what it feels like when our facilitation aligns with our values, and when it doesn’t.

Two practices I’ve returned to often—and that I believe help us stay grounded in this work—are:

1. Facilitating in ways that apply trauma-informed principles in real time, and
2. Creating environments that support regulation and relationship.

These are not abstract ideas. They are daily choices—often quiet, often unseen—that shape how people feel in our presence. They invite us to move beyond explanation and toward embodiment of trauma-informed care.

Applying Trauma-Informed Principles in Real Time

This is one of the hardest things to teach—and one of the most powerful to practice. It often begins with a pause. A breath. A check-in with ourselves:

• Am I regulated?
• Am I attuned to the dynamics in the room—both verbal and nonverbal?
• Are we co-creating safety—emotional, physical, and cultural—not just delivering content?

In facilitation, these questions shape our presence. Sometimes applying trauma-informed principles means slowing down when urgency enters the space. It might mean adjusting the agenda, letting silence stretch, or giving voice to what others may be holding:

“I’m noticing a shift in the room. Can we pause for a moment and check in?”

At times, it means setting aside the plan and letting the moment lead. Other times, it means noticing when we didn’t make the shift—and returning with care to name what was missed.

As Dr. Sandra Bloom writes, “The experience of trauma is not simply an event that happened in the past; it is an imprint on mind, brain, and body that is expressed in the present” (2013). That means our responses—in meetings, trainings, and communities—must be equally present and intentional.

As trainers, our presence often matters more than our materials. Being trauma-informed is less about the perfect slide deck and more about how we show up—responsive, relational, and human.

Reflection for Trainers

• When have you adjusted your facilitation in response to what a group needed in the moment—especially during tension or uncertainty?
• When have you looked back and thought, “I wish I had paused, asked a question, or slowed down”?
• What helped you stay aligned with trauma-informed principles in the moment?
• What will you carry forward into your next facilitation space to support regulation, connection, or clarity?

Creating Environments That Support Regulation

At Trauma Informed Oregon, we continue working towards the integration of these practices into our training checklists, session plans, and co-facilitator conversations. But more important than the checklist is the why—the purpose and presence behind each choice.

We’re not offering tea, fidgets, or coloring pages because it’s trendy—we’re doing it because sensory support, nourishment, and moments of joy help people stay grounded and connected. They help us stay in the room—with ourselves, each other, and the content. Especially when the work is hard.

In the field, I’ve seen how small shifts—soft lighting, permission to take breaks, grounding objects—can change the energy in a room. In spaces where grief or fatigue is present, the environment doesn’t just hold people—it offers potential for safety and engagement.

As Dr. Bessel van der Kolk reminds us, “Being able to feel safe with other people is probably the single most important aspect of mental health” (2014). That kind of safety doesn’t happen by accident—it’s something we design for, moment by moment.

As trainers, we are not only curating content—we are shaping the emotional, cultural, and relational conditions in which learning can take root. These choices—how we light a room, how we pause, how we invite participation—are not peripheral. They are central to trauma-informed practice.

Reflection for You

• What supports your own regulation during the workday?
• What small environmental shifts could you make in your learning space to support others’ regulation?

The Invitation

Trauma-informed training isn’t just about information—it’s about modeling. It’s about ongoing practice. And most of all, it’s about relationships.

So I invite you to reflect with your team or on your own:

• Are we embodying the principles we teach?
• Do our environments support the people we’re asking to do hard things?
• What are the patterns—not just the policies—that shape our daily interactions?

Let’s keep building spaces—trainings, classrooms, meetings, and systems—that reflect the care we believe in. And let’s stay in community, learning together and holding each other accountable to the practices that help us all thrive.

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