Trauma-Informed Care

Living with trauma, particularly for long periods of time, can cause us to feel unsafe, to lack trust, feel hopeless and without control. We find ourselves dysregulated emotionally, often afraid to be vulnerable and with sense of worthlessness.

Negative behaviors, eating disorders, substance abuse, and mental health issues are often the result of living under the stress of these adverse situations.

Science has also shown that the more an individual is exposed to adverse experiences, the greater the risk for serious health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity and stroke.

Trauma-Informed Care, means just that – caring for our self and others in a manner that considers the pervasive nature of trauma or adverse experiences while promoting relationships, policies, and environments that encourage healing, social/emotional well-being, and the resilience needed for self-sufficiency.

The Core Principles of Trauma-Informed Care are:

Safety

Trustworthiness and Transparency

Collaboration and Mutuality

Empowerment, Voice and Choice

Peer Support

Cultural, Historical, and Gender Issues

The goal of the trauma-informed approach is to thread these principles into the way we engage those we serve, the manner in which our teams interacts internally, and within the organizational policies and practices that guide the mission.

The barrier of this approach, unfortunately, can involve the human component. We can make all the best plans, but it is us humans that implement them and it is us who can make or break the impact. In other words, engaging others in a trauma-informed manner involves us doing our own self-reflection, putting aside attitudes and perspectives that can be harmful to those with trauma symptoms, and being willing to collaborate with our consumers free of judgement.

Trauma-Informed Consulting is here to not only disseminate knowledge and create trauma-informed policies, but to help each individual in your agency become a person that is safe for those you serve, able to engage in a manner that promotes wellbeing. That isn’t easy.. but it truly is the component that makes trauma-informed care change lives.

Our goal is to break down the barriers and build the bridges necessary to be a healthy community that is safe for us all.

MEET THE EXPERTS

SHAD MESHAD

LCSW, CTS

President and Founder of the National Veterans Foundation, is a leading expert in the area of Veteran reintegration and the trauma associated with military experience. He was a critical collaborator in the original diagnosis of PTSD. In 1979, he founded and co-authored the Vet Center Program, with over 300 currently spread nationwide. In 1985, he founded the National Veterans Foundation to fill the unmet need of a national helpline for Veterans and their families.

Shad has served as President and Board Member of the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists, as President and Board member of the Green Cross Project, and currently serves on the faculty of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation.

Shad Meshad is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFT’s, LCSW’s, LPCC’s and LEP’s.

MELINDA MESHAD

LCSW

Has over twenty years working with individuals and families. She has focused her career serving populations with high rates of trauma. Her experience includes working with incarcerated youth, teaching special needs, ten years in child welfare and over five years with the National Veterans Foundation.

She currently is training and consulting in the field of trauma-informed care. She also continues to see clients in her private practice in Los Angeles and specializes in the area of trauma. Her consulting and training practice is focused on agencies that serve a wide range of populations- those in residential treatment programs, those working with adolescents, those serving veterans, agencies working with gang reduction, re-entry after incarceration, and those serving the homeless. She is the author of the extensive training, 4 Points Builds a STAR, and continues to expand her training to meet the unique needs to various agencies.

Melinda Meshad is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFT’s, LCSW’s, LPCC’s and LEP’s.

START TRAINING YOUR ORGANIZATION!