Working together towards a resilient Erie County, Pennsylvania.
What is Trauma
TRAUMA DEFINED
Trauma is when a person experiences an event or situation that upsets or overwhelms their ability to cope.
Formal definition: An event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual's functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being (SAMHSA)
TRAUMA is
Trauma is a set of normal human responses to stressful and threatening experiences.
-National Center for PTSD
Trauma is a nearly universal experience.
84% of people have experienced at least one traumatic event. The impact of trauma reaches beyond the individual and impacts friends, family members, neighbors, co-worker, etc.
TRAUMA IS A COMMUNITY ISSUE & NEEDS A COMMUNITY RESPONSE.
TRAUMA UNTREATED CAN IMPACT
Psychological, emotional, physical and behavioral health as well as the ability to learn, make and sustain meaningful relationships and even life potential.
Erie County is rich in resources to help children and adults receive the support and services they may need to heal.
TRAUMA is not
Trauma is not the same for everyone. What's traumatic to one person may not be traumatic to another.
&
Not all who experience adversity will become traumatized.
Trauma is not a life-sentence. Like many injuries, people can and do heal from their trauma(s). Often, building resilience is developed through meaningful connection with others and intentional self-care.
TRAUMA
in our REGION
Trauma cuts across all racial, economic, gender, age and educational lines and reaches all zip codes.
Trauma in Erie County looks like:
Drug addiction, community violence, bullying, suicide, abuse, neglect, household dysfunction, domestic violence, physical accidents, experiencing the death of a loved one and even the chronic struggle to secure basic needs resulting in poverty or homelessness.
What is Trauma-informed?
Healing & Growth
are best accomplished through a deliberate trauma-informed approach
that emphasizes safety, trustworthiness, voice & choice, collaboration, and empowerment of all people.
Trauma-Informed means we
SEE MORE
for the people who live in Erie and for our community's future
Trauma Informed People & Systems
REALIZE
the widespread impact of trauma and understand the potential paths for recovery
RECOGNIZE
the signs and symptoms of trauma in others
RESPOND
with empathy by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into practices and interactions
RESIST RE-TRAUMATIZATION
by personally pursuing resilience through skill-building and systematically by removing practices that may compound trauma unintentionally.
YOUR
PERSPECTIVE
MATTERS
See Others Through a
Trauma-Informed Lens
START ASKING
What happened to a person?
STOP ASKING
What is wrong with a person?