Trauma informed co-creation: principles and guidelines

As regular partners to charities, non-profits and healthcare organisations, Faltrego is a touchpoint for communities with trauma histories and lived experience of inequality.

Trauma informed co-creation puts the needs and lived experiences of your communities at the centre. It is a practice that promotes environments of psychological safety and respect for lived experience and expertise.

A trauma informed practice understands and considers the pervasive nature of trauma and provides environments that intentionally reduce the likelihood of further harm and re-traumatisation. We approach from a place of sensitivity to trauma and prioritise safety (physical and emotional), trustworthiness, choice, collaboration and empowerment.

This article details our principles and guidelines for trauma informed co-creation.

Overarching principles and guidelines

The followings details practices of trauma informed co-creation at all touchpoints:

• We make ourselves aware of how trauma can present itself physically.
  We do not ignore physical signs of mental distress or anxious behaviour.
• We empower survivors of trauma and encourage autonomy.
  We do not talk down or treat someone differently because of their experiences.
• We inform ourselves on the effects of intersectionality and marginalisation.
  We do not ignore the impact of cultural and social influences on a participant
• We provide a consistent point of contact for participants and build relationships over time. We understand that it takes time to cultivate trust.We do not require participants to work with numerous different members of staff.
• We acknowledge that trauma presents itself differently in each person and events or experiences affect different people in varying degrees.
  We do not assume that each person’s experience of re-traumatisation is the same as another person’s.
• We offer an informed decision-making process for informed consent.
  We do not force compliance.
• When working on a project, we will engage with participants before, during and after its completion, and signpost to further professional aftercare.
  We do not engage with participants once and never speak to them again and we do not leave participants without aftercare.
• We ask participants for informed consent when saving their data and align our procedures with GDPR protocol.
  We do not needlessly or insecurely capture participants’ data.
• We ask individual participants how they would like us to refer to them and the language we should use. We are empathetic and open to understanding how language and labels may impact a participant psychologically.
  We do not assume that all participants have the same preferences regarding

Principles for research, recording and co-design

The following details specific practices of trauma informed co-creation across community participation in research, recordings and co-design:

Community participation in research

• We co-create a research process with participants before engaging.
  We do not tell participants how they must work with us.
• We offer different methods of engagement to suit different needs, such as 1-1 interviews, focus groups, workshops and surveys.
• When working online, we check whether participants have access to internet and suitable equipment. We ask them whether they would prefer to have their camera on/off.
  We do not force people to use their real names or use their cameras when on calls.
• We check participants are happy with how we have reflected their insights in the agreed deliverables.
  We do not use insights for any outputs of deliverables that have not been agreed.

Community participation in filming / photography / audio

• We are aware of the power imbalance between cast and crew members on set.
  We do not ignore what being a cast or crew member, or in the presence of cast or crew, may represent to someone who is vulnerable.
• We provide options to share experiences with anonymity, such as anonymous filming techniques or recording audio-only. We offer pseudonyms.
• We ask participants ahead of time about what they don’t feel comfortable talking about in recorded interviews and respect their wishes.
  We do not bring up the most difficult experiences of participant’s lives in recorded interviews. We also do not bring up topics that have not been pre-agreed.
• We provide comfortable, quiet spaces where participants feel safe to engage openly in recordings.
  We do not require participants to record in unfamiliar or potentially re-traumatising environments.
• We conduct risk assessments before any recording, published on our Call Sheets/RAMS.
  We do not proceed with a recording without having conducted a risk assessment.
• We build in extra time and flexibility in our schedules to allow for participant rest and wellbeing considerations, and for participants to respond at their own pace.
  We do not schedule a packed day that risks participants feeling rushed, unheard or unsafe in their recordings.

Community participation in design and illustration

• We credit participants fairly for their ideas and input.
  We do not take participants’ ideas and present them as our own.
• We are mindful of how the use of colour can influence moods and mental states.
  We avoid using colours in inappropriate ways. We do not use colour to elicit moods and mental states that may cause distress and re-traumatisation.
• We exercise caution and sensitivity when showing participants illustrated characters and scenes which reflect their group, physical characteristics or lived experience.
  We do not co-design characters based on real participants without their explicit consent. We do not draft characters or scenes based on reductive stereotypes.
• We ensure all participants are given the option and opportunity to voice their preferences when presented with design options and variations.
  We do not pressure participants to make decisions between designs or voice their preferences if they appear stressed or in distress from decision-making.

Amendments and acknowledgements

Importantly, we actively seek feedback from participants and ask what we can do better. We accept that meaningfully embedding a trauma informed practice of co-creation is ongoing and requires regular review and adjustment.

Faltrego and our collaborators are trained on these principles and guidelines. Everyone understands the importance of trauma informed practice across all touch points, and how to recognise signs of re-traumatisation, and vicarious or secondary trauma.

We thank and acknowledge the charity Agenda Alliance for their existing co-production guidelines from which this document has taken inspiration and learnings.

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Please email mary@faltrego.com if you have any feedback or to learn more.