There is increasingly a greater understanding that one’s work life impacts their personal life and vice versa. The two do not exist in separate bubbles.
Adverse childhood experiences — potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood — can impact how people cope with stress, how their brains develop and how much risk they have toward certain health issues, according to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. ACEs include violence, abuse and growing up in a family with mental health or substance use problems. While 61 percent of adults in the U.S. have at least one ACE, 16 percent have at least four.
Even though ACEs occur long before people enter the workforce, they’re still relevant to a person in adulthood. And employers can take certain steps to create a “trauma-informed workplace,” said Kate Daugherty, community impact director at Hopeworks. Education management company Hopeworks has been trauma-informed since 2012, and Daugherty leads the Youth Healing Team, which trains other organizations in how to have this culture.
The Youth Healing Team has led training for schools, health care organizations and nonprofits, but this type of knowledge is useful for people in any industry, Daugherty said.
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