✅ Reviewed for accuracy and relevance by Deanna Cooper Gillingham, RN, CCM, FCM on July 22, 2025.
Trauma-informed care (TIC) recognizes the impact of trauma on well-being and creates a safe, supportive, and empowering environment that promotes healing and recovery. This approach shifts the focus from diagnosing “What’s wrong with you?” to a more empathetic “What happened to you?” (Center to Advance Palliative Care, 2024). This shift fosters trust, respect, and client engagement, creating an environment where clients feel valued and actively participate in their recovery.
The six core principles of trauma-informed care are:
- Safety
- Trustworthiness and transparency
- Peer support
- Collaboration and mutuality
- Empowerment, voice, and choice
- Cultural, historical, and gender issues
This article shares a portion of the information covered on this topic in CCM Certification Made Easy, 4th Edition by Deanna Cooper Gillingham, RN, CCM, FCM (2025). For more details on the six core principles and the HEAR technique, purchase your copy at CCMCertificationMadeEasy.com
