A recent article documents the numerous myths that are being promoted by trauma informed advocates. Nurse Colleen Farmer, who has attended such trainings, highlights how trauma-informed theory is not based on science. For example:

• "In trauma-informed training, tonic immobility is not only applied in life threatening situations but also expanded to include low-level, non- contact incidents or stressful incidents."
• "Current trauma-informed training teaches that a patient who remembers every detail of an incident or a patient who remembers little to nothing of an incident both indicate a trauma has occurred."

But scientific fact has not deterred the zealots from spreading their trauma-informed gospel. "Trauma-informed training, care, approach, or theory, has become so broadly used and poorly defined it has the unfortunate effect of turning almost anyone into a “victim” or “survivor," Farmer reveals.

Eventually, trauma-informed ideology compromises the accuracy of clinical assessments: 

• "When we make the assumption that trauma is the only possible cause, this can lead to misdiagnoses, because providers are discouraged from looking at other possible causes of memory loss such as mental illness, drug/alcohol problems or other factors."

An important read, especially if you work in the healthcare field.

Sincerely,

Edward Bartlett