Tag: Trauma Informed Practice

Why Trauma-Informed Leadership Is Important in Policing

Author Paul Williamson | Posted on

How can today’s police leaders support a workforce routinely exposed to trauma while maintaining professional standards and accountability? In this blog, Anne Eason, Associate Professor in Trauma Informed Learning and Practice and Associate Director of Policing at UWE Bristol, explores the importance of trauma-informed leadership in building trust, supporting wellbeing and creating psychologically safe workplaces. Anne also reflects on how UWE’s policing programmes help student officers recognise the impact of trauma and develop the understanding and confidence to support themselves and others. Over to Anne…

Policing is an inherently demanding profession. Police officers and staff are routinely exposed to incidents involving violence, death, abuse, crisis, and human suffering. Alongside operational pressures, organisational change, public scrutiny, resource constraints, and increasing complexity in demand can create significant psychological and emotional strain. Against this backdrop, trauma-informed leadership has emerged as a critical approach for supporting workforce wellbeing, enhancing organisational culture, and improving service delivery.

A trauma-informed leader recognises that trauma can affect not only members of the public but also the professionals who serve them. Rather than asking, “What is wrong with this person?” trauma-informed practice encourages leaders to consider, “What has happened to this person?” This shift in perspective can fundamentally change how leaders understand behaviour, performance, wellbeing, and resilience within policing environments.

The key principles of trauma informed practice

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (2023) defines a trauma-informed approach as one that realises the ripple effect of trauma impact, recognises its signs and symptoms, responds by integrating knowledge about trauma into policies and practices, and seeks to avoid re-traumatisation. SAMHSA suggests six key principles framework for workforce wellbeing including safety, trustworthiness, transparency, collaboration, empowerment, and peer support and which provide a valuable framework for police leadership.

Trauma is highly relevant within policing because officers frequently attend traumatic incidents during their careers with an average of approximately 400 – 600 incidents across a 30-year career (Eason, 2025, p227). They are also exposed to traumatic materials, imagery and investigative content that can lead to vicarious trauma. These alongside negative media coverage, and a political and public blame culture, it is of no surprise that officers and staff across all ranks, experience substantial exposure to stress and trauma, all of which contribute to psychological difficulties, burnout and compassion fatigue, reduced wellbeing, and increased risk of mental health challenges if left unaddressed.

A trauma-informed leadership approach acknowledges that repeated exposure to traumatic incidents can influence how officers think, feel, and behave. Typical trauma responses can be experienced in hypervigilance, emotional exhaustion, difficulties concentrating, irritability, withdrawal, or reduced engagement. Without understanding these potential impacts, leaders may mistakenly interpret trauma responses as poor attitude, resistance, lack of commitment, or incompetence. This inevitably causes further stress in professional relationships, and possible disciplinary action rather than recovery interventions.

Trauma-informed leaders seek first to understand context and provide support while maintaining professional standards and accountability.

One of the most important benefits of trauma-informed leadership is the creation of psychological safety (Eason, n.d). Psychological safety refers to an environment where individuals feel able to speak openly, admit mistakes, ask for help, and raise concerns without fear of humiliation or punishment. In high-risk professions such as policing, psychological safety is essential because it supports learning, decision making, innovation, and wellbeing. Trauma-informed leaders create conditions in which officers and staff feel respected, heard, and valued, promoting agency and personal growth. This not only benefits individual wellbeing but also strengthens organisational effectiveness.

Trauma-informed leadership is also important because of the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and other traumatic life events across society. These often form part of the lived experience of victims and offenders, but also officer’s themselves (Kyranides et al, 2025) resulting in maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (CERS) that can result in poor professional quality of life. Police leaders therefore supervise individuals with diverse experiences and vulnerabilities that may influence workplace interactions and wellbeing.

Within policing specifically, trauma-informed leadership can contribute to improved workforce retention. Many police areas continue to struggle with sickness absence, stress-related illness, burnout, and attrition. When leaders demonstrate empathy, openness, and understanding of trauma, employees are more likely to feel supported and connected to their organisation. Staff who believe their wellbeing matters are often more engaged, productive, and committed to remaining in the professions.

Trauma informed learning

In our police programmes at UWE, trauma informed approaches form part of the learning for our student officers and form part of our teaching practices. Helping officers understand the symptoms of compassion fatigue and empowering them to have the confidence to speak up about their own experiences (and supporting others with theirs) is our contribution to the embedding of trauma informed practice values in the policing leaders of the future. Through the modelling of safe environments, non-judgemental discussion and dispelling of stigma across a wide range of behaviours through structured conceptual understanding, we hope our graduates are better prepared for the stressors of the policing profession and can begin to support cultural change in areas such as learning by mistakes and reflective practice.

Valuing staff does not mean lowering standards

Leaders who embed trauma-informed principles help create policing cultures that are more aligned to a compassionate, effective, and procedurally just organisation. This can enhance trust and legitimacy while reducing the likelihood of unintentional further harm to individuals who have already experienced adversity.

Most importantly, trauma-informed leadership does not mean lowering expectations or avoiding accountability. What is does mean is to lead with curiosity, compassion, and evidence-informed understanding. Leaders remain responsible for addressing misconduct, poor performance, and operational requirements however, they do so in ways that recognise human experiences and seek to balance organisational needs with employee wellbeing. This can be achieved by conducting supportive wellbeing conversations, providing access to psychological support, encouraging reflective supervision, promoting peer support networks, ensuring transparent communication during organisational change and recognising signs of cumulative stress and trauma exposure. Leaders can also model healthy behaviours by speaking openly about wellbeing and encouraging help-seeking without stigma (SAMHSA, 2023).

Final thought

As policing continues to evolve, the importance of trauma-informed leadership is likely to increase. Contemporary policing need leaders who can navigate complexity, support workforce wellbeing, and build cultures characterised by trust, compassion, resilience, and psychological safety. By recognising the impact of trauma on both staff and communities, trauma-informed leaders can help create healthier organisations and more effective policing outcomes.

References

Eason, A. (2025) “Keeping Practitioners Safe: Looking After the Health and Wellbeing of the Criminal Justice Professional and Compassion Fatigue,” in K. McCartan et al. (eds.) Developing and Implementing a Public Health and Criminological Approach to Tackling Sexual Abuse. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, pp. 217–236. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-93634-0_11.

Eason, A., & McCartan, k. (n.d.). The challenges and opportunities for trauma informed practice in a changing police culture. The International Handbook on Trauma-Informed Practice in the Justice System. Palgrave.. Available from https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/15813197

Miller, N. (2022). Do no harm: Five ways to become a trauma-informed leader who fosters a resilient workforce. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/do-harm-five-ways-become-trauma-informed-leader-who-nancy-miller-phd

SAMHSA. (2023). Practical Guide for Implementing a Trauma-Informed Approach. https://library.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/pep23-06-05-005.pdf

Kyranides, M. N., Antoniadou, M., Papageorgiou, K. A., & Kloess, J. A. (2025). Wellbeing and professional quality of life in police officers: Past adverse childhood experiences and current cognitive emotion regulation strategies. The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X251378945

Editorial Team

Paul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief); Claudia McCready (Senior Lecturer); Claire Bowers (Senior Lecturer); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer) and Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer).

From Silence to Voice: Reflecting on a Powerful Event at UWE Bristol

Author Paul Williamson | Posted on

In this powerful and reflective blog, Imogen Hirst, Senior Lecturer on the Policing Programme at UWE Bristol, reflects on the courage of domestic abuse survivors and considers the importance of placing lived experience at the heart of education, professional practice and wider conversations about domestic abuse.

In Imogen’s own words

On 16 June 2026, I had the privilege of hosting Surviving Domestic Abuse: From Silence to Voice at UWE Bristol. Delivered in partnership with the Hartcliffe and Withywood Community Partnership Domestic Abuse Survivors Group, ‘WithHart’. The event brought together staff, students, practitioners and members of the wider community to listen, learn and reflect on the realities and lasting impact of domestic abuse.

More importantly, it created a space where survivor voices were placed at the centre of the conversation.

Creating a Space for Survivor Voices

The morning began with a welcome from Professor Peter Clegg, Head of the School of Social Sciences at UWE Bristol, whose opening remarks highlighted the importance of partnership working, community engagement and creating opportunities for lived experience to inform understanding and learning. Attendees then heard from the group lead about the origins and development of WithHart. What followed was both moving and memorable.

Courage, Creativity and Lived Experience

Three survivors shared deeply personal poems and letters to their younger selves. Their words spoke of fear, resilience, loss, survival and hope. The courage required to share such personal experiences with a room full of people was extraordinary. As the audience listened, there was a palpable sense of respect, reflection and connection.

The event was further supported by Dr Anne Eason, Associate Professor of Trauma Informed Learning and Practice and Sarah Williams, both Associate Directors of Policing, who spoke powerfully about the importance of genuinely listening to lived experience and ensuring that survivor voices inform both education and professional practice. They also acknowledged the extraordinary courage shown by the survivors in sharing deeply personal experiences through poetry, letters and artwork. Their contributions reinforced the importance of creating spaces where lived experience is not only heard but valued as a source of insight, learning and understanding.

Learning Through Art and Storytelling

Alongside the spoken contributions, attendees were able to engage with a range of creative work produced by members of the group. Large scale artwork, written pieces and recorded spoken word installations provided different ways of understanding and responding to experiences of domestic abuse. The exhibition encouraged visitors to spend time with the stories being shared and to engage with them at their own pace.

One of the most striking aspects of the event was the way in which creativity enabled voices to be heard. Through poetry, letters, visual art and spoken word, survivors communicated experiences that are often difficult to express through conventional discussion. The result was an event that was both challenging and inspiring.

The Role of Universities in Listening

For those of us working in higher education, the event also served as an important reminder of the value of lived experience. Universities have a vital role to play in creating opportunities for voices that are too often unheard. Events such as this allow us to move beyond statistics and policy discussions and engage with the human realities that sit behind them.

The feedback received throughout the day reflected the impact of what had been shared. Many attendees spoke about how powerful they found the personal stories, the artwork and the opportunity to reflect on experiences that are frequently hidden from public view.

Feeling Heard and Empowered

Perhaps most importantly, several of the survivors spoke afterwards about feeling genuinely heard and empowered. For individuals whose experiences have often been overlooked, dismissed or silenced, having the opportunity to share their stories in a supportive environment and knowing that people had truly listened was significant. The sense of empowerment that emerged from the event was powerful in itself and demonstrated the importance of creating spaces where lived experience is valued, respected and given a platform.

The event was made possible through the commitment, courage and generosity of the members of WithHart. Through their willingness to share their stories, creativity and experiences, they created an opportunity for meaningful learning, reflection and dialogue. Their contributions challenged assumptions, increased understanding and reminded all of us of the importance of listening to those with lived experience.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Mim and all of the members of WithHart who contributed to the event. It was a privilege to work alongside them and to help create a platform where their voices could be heard.

The event was entitled “From Silence to Voice”. By the end of the day, it was clear that the survivors had not only found their voice but had also experienced the power of being truly listened to. Sharing their stories meant they felt valued, respected and empowered. In many ways, that may be one of the most important outcomes of all.

You can find out more about Hartcliffe & Withywood Community Partnership and the support on offer here

Editorial Team

Paul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief); Claudia McCready (Senior Lecturer); Claire Bowers (Senior Lecturer); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer) and Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer).

Back to top