In the field of family safety and support services, “trauma-informed” has become a ubiquitous term. Yet, for many organisations, it remains a concept that is easier to discuss than it is to embody. True trauma-informed care is not a static checklist or a set of administrative procedures, but rather a profound cultural shift that redefines how we interact with one another as human beings.
At its core, this approach requires us to look beyond symptoms and behaviours to understand the “felt sense” of safety—or lack thereof—that a survivor carries. It asks us to move from asking “What is wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” and, more importantly, “How can we support your healing journey?”
Opening the 3rd National Family Safety Summit, Dr Cathy Kezelman AM will deliver a cornerstone keynote: “Building a trauma-informed culture of compassion and understanding.” As a pre-eminent voice in the field, Dr Kezelman has led the Blue Knot Foundation since its inception, championing the rights and recovery of the five million Australian adults living with the impacts of complex trauma. Her session is designed to move the needle from theory to lived reality.
Tell us more about the Blue Knot Foundation. How would you describe the work you’re doing?
We’re a national organisation and we’ve been around since 1995 and we work to empower people with the experiences of complex trauma that’s repeated, often extreme abuse, violence, neglect, experience as a child, or at different times in the life course and often multiple times during the life course.
And we do this by delivering helpline services, telehealth services, trauma counselling, educational workshops for survivors as well as those who support them, and also resources that support people and those who support them to understand more about complex trauma, its impacts and pathways to recovery.
We also provide professional development training, supervision and other services to practitioners and agencies who work with people who have experienced complex trauma in various capacities, and that training is largely trauma-informed ways of safeguarding your own wellbeing when you do this work and also support around clinical approaches to supporting people with complex trauma.
So it’s a big advocacy piece as well as service delivery as well as workforce capacity building.
How can we embed core trauma-informed principles in organisations and services?
It’s about looking at the meaning beyond the words and thinking about how each of us as human beings wants to be responded to and what our human needs are around respect, safety, maintaining difficulty, having a choice in what happens to us, not having hierarchies of power, but being collaborative, truly collaborative and inclusive and about how we build trust and mutual respect by the way we go about everything we do.
Being trauma-informed is not just what you do; it’s how you do it. And it’s much easier to talk about it than live it every day.
What is the importance of emotional, psychological, physical and cultural safety?
Well, safety is cool to who we are. And unless we’re safe and secure in all those domains, it’s very hard to engage with ourselves, others and the world because it’s a very fundamental requirement.
And what’s important to understand is that we may think that we’re creating a safe environment, but it’s about that person’s own felt sense of safety at their core.
And for people who’ve experienced the trauma we’re talking about, many of them have never felt safe. And they may not be safe now because what they’ve known are experiences of threat and danger.
And so people who have these experiences often have nervous systems that are on high alert, waiting for the next danger or trauma. Or sometimes nervous systems are so overloaded that they’re shut down so people can either be agitated, anxious or withdrawn and shut off.
And so being trauma-informed is about being aware of those possibilities and thinking about how to reduce the likelihood of figures that may make a person feel less safe.
What is the role of a trauma-sensitive frontline worker in empowering healing for those impacted by trauma?
We often hear this on our helpline, that the power of being heard, listened to, believed, respected, many people who have experienced trauma have never felt as if they matter and don’t feel that their voice has been heard. They’ve often struggled to have control and say no because they have no opportunity to say no.
So it’s about how to engage with someone in a relationship that’s mutually supportive, compassionate, empathic, accepting, not judgmental, and inclusive of not just people’s backgrounds, but their whole experience, where they’ve come from, what’s happened to them along life’s journey.
You may not need to know all the details, but just accepting people. We all just want to be accepted for who we are.
And, that may sound quite simple and trite?, but that can be so cool to someone’s healing process, particularly for someone who’s never experienced that.
And we certainly hear that on a helpline, but it’s just quite unique that they’ve experienced that someone took the time to listen and hear and find out what it is they need. Find out what can support them on their journey.
You know, it’s the first step. But it’s critical when you’ve been betrayed and haven’t felt safe.
Is there anything you want to add or highlight? What should people look forward to in your session?
It’s about being open, and it’s about not coming with, we all come with biases and preconceived ideas and a sense that we
And we’re all defended in different ways.
So how can we, I don’t have all the answers. Mine are just part of a picture.
But how can we learn from one another and listen, truly listen, and take it on board, rather than coming along, touching on the surface and then continuing to do things the way we’ve always done them. So what can we learn from one another so that we can turn up in a way that’s more real and authentic and enhances connection and engagement with others?
Dr Cathy Kezelman’s opening keynote is a call to action for all leaders and practitioners in the family safety sector to move beyond the surface and foster genuine connection.
Secure your place at the 3rd National Family Safety Summit to learn how your organisation can become a true sanctuary for healing and compassion.
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