Program Goals:

Trauma is a public health issue with individual and systemic impact. The proposed trauma-informed ethical decision-making model provides helping professionals with a two-part framework for addressing ethical dilemmas with client survivors of trauma. The 10 Principles of Trauma-informed Practice (authors, 2021) and decision-making framework enable the clinician to utilize their knowledge of individuals’ response to trauma to inform how they interpret and understand the client’s behavior, thought process, and emotional experience. This understanding informs every step of the ethical decision-making process. The principles outlined below build upon the SAMHSA (2014) three E’s, four R’s, and eight key principles of trauma-informed care. Key concepts, to include Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and their long-term impact (Anda, 2007; Edwards et al., 2015; Felitti et al., 1998; Felitti, 2009; Wade et al., 2016) further inform the principles of trauma-informed ethical practice. The 9 Principles of Trauma-informed Practice (authors, 2021) include:

1. Attachment and Developmental Considerations

2. Physiological and Neurobiological Changes

3. Intergenerational and Historical Trauma

4. Minority Stress

5. Cognitive Schema

7. Self-Concept

8. Family and Community

9. Clinician Health and Wellbeing

10. Military, Veteran, and Law Enforcement Status and History

Learning objectives:

Cultivate understanding of behavioral ethics (Biasucci, 2021), and the role of ethical principles and professional values in ethical decision-making and practice.

Explore foundational knowledge regarding the impact of exposure to trauma on an individual’s neurobiological processes, cognitive processes, emotional regulation, and decision-making (Ousdal et al., 2018; Yao & Hsieh, 2019).

Demonstration understanding of the 9 Principles of Trauma-informed Ethical Practice (authors, 2021), through the application of core concepts and the trauma-informed ethical decision-making framework to the case of “Adam”.

Cortny Stark PhD LPCC LADAC CRC (she, her, hers) is an Assistant Professor with the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Department of Counseling and Human Services, and telehealth therapist for the Trauma Treatment Center and Research Facility in Rio Rancho, NM. Dr. Stark’s research focuses on LGBTQQIA+ issues in counseling, using qualitative methods to explore the experiences of counselor-advocates and community-based advocates for transgender and gender-expansive individuals. As a counselor educator, she encourages her students to critically evaluate taken-for-granted beliefs about gender and sex, and advocate for social change for historically oppressed communities.