Trust That TRUST Will Benefit Your New Jersey Organization

The Trauma Responsive Understanding Self-Assessment Tool (TRUST) is now available, for free, to any organization that has five or more employees in the State of New Jersey. This strengths-based tool provides organizations with a point in time “snapshot” of where they are in their journey towards becoming trauma informed, using the 10 implementation domains from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Participating  organizations receive an aggregated result report for both leadership and staff, along with recommendations and resources to support next steps. TRUST is useful for baseline and progressive assessments.  Here are the top 10 reasons why you should be interested:

1. Trauma is common. 70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced trauma – either a single or ongoing event(s) that are experienced as physically or psychologically life-threatening and impact one or more aspects of well-being – physical, mental, emotional, social, or spiritual. If you have 50 employees, 35 of them are trauma-impacted.¹
2. The effects of trauma show up at work. Trauma-driven behaviors can include aggression, impulsivity, inactivity, and difficulty regulating; cognitive effects can include difficulty with memory, organizing thoughts, skill development, and competencies; in mental health as anxiety, depression, and attention deficits; and in physical health as increased risk for chronic disease and high-risk behaviors like substance use disorders (licit and illicit).
3. Trauma alters the way we manage stress. Stress induces a sense of overwhelm and lack of control for a person who has endured trauma. Stress hinders the ability to effectively cope with that which is perceived stressful.²
4. 83% of US workers report experiencing work-related stress, with 25% saying their job is the number one stressor in their lives. About one million workers miss work each day because of stress, and depression-induced absenteeism costs U.S. businesses $51 million annually, as well as $26 million in treatment costs.³
5. More than 50% of workers are not engaged at work because of stress, leading to a lack of productivity. Reflect on what you’ve seen since the pandemic…and now in the divisive culture and climate of our country as a source of sustained stress.
6. Trauma-informed organizations increase trust in leadership. Organizations in which team members reported trusting their management enjoyed:

• 74% less stress
• 106% more energy at work
• 50% higher productivity
• 13% fewer sick days
• 76% more engagement
• 29% more life satisfaction
• 40% less burnout ⁴

1. Safety is the foundational principle of being trauma-informed: physical safety, psychological safety, and moral safety. 76% of workers who feel valued by leadership report feeling emotionally and mentally safe at work. In contrast, 81% of workers who feel psychologically safe report that workplace stress does not affect their mental health.⁵
2. Trauma-informed approaches need to be universal in reach –regardless of sector – and because they are of benefit whether someone is trauma-impacted or not. They utilize the best scientific evidence to help prevent avoidable harm, build resilience, and promote healing, engagement, and empowerment.
3. Trauma-informed approaches shift the focus from individual to collective by engaging community and employee voices to facilitate systems change.
4. Trauma-informed organizations have the potential to enable genuine empowerment, resiliency, safety and belonging throughout the organization, leading to sustainable engagement, productivity, and enriched employee well-being.⁶

TRUST is available for free in New Jersey thanks to the partnership between the New Jersey Department of Children and Families’ Office of Resilience and Coordinated Care Services, Inc. Rebecca Bryan, DNP, is the executive director of the NJ Office of Resilience and can be reached at rebecca.bryan@dcf.nj.gov.

References

1. National Child Traumatic Stress Network
2. The National Council of Mental Wellbeing, 2022
3. ComPsych StressPulse Report, 2023
4. Campaign for Trauma Informed Policies and Practices
5. Mental Health America, 2023
6. Ungar, M. (Ed.). (2021). Multisystemic resilience: Adaptation and transformation in contexts of change. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190095888.001.0001