Framing the Move from Trauma Informed Care to Healing Centered Practices

“Though trauma informed care is the base of what we should be doing, moving to healing centered practices will help improve their situations instead of just navigating it.” - Leader Washington State Juvenile Rehabilitation

Trauma-Informed Care continues to evolve. The research and educational efforts of Dr. Rob Anda, Laura Porter, the Community Resilience Initiative (CRI), and many, many others have had powerfully influence people’s lives and our understanding of being human.

A modern understanding of how our bodies and brains work and how we heal has advanced significantly. In 2014 Laura Porter coined the term “NEAR Science” and named it “The Science of Hope” (NEAR = Neuroscience, Epigenetics, ACEs, and Resilience). There was hope for how the breakthroughs in neuroscience and epigenetics would provide insights into healing our communities and organizations. The good news is that we have tremendous influence on our health and there are simple ways to skill up our capabilities and self-care practices.

Healing Centered Practices help the body and brain return to a regulated, restorative, learning, or high-performance state. Imagine all the systems in the body moving in sync and humming. Central to this process is caring for the brain, nervous system, and stress-and-ease-related patterns held in the muscle memory. Advances in neuroscience, anatomy, polyvagal theory, somatic (body) practices, and embodied awareness pave the way for people to grow powerful habits to relieve stress, activate calm, and improve well-being.

This body of work, growing on the TIC foundations already laid, has been created with a desire to share healing centered anatomy insights in a way that can become “common language.”

Our dynamic, adaptive, and responsive bodies are doing remarkable and ordinary things every day to take care of us. Understanding these wise bodies offers empowerment for individuals and communities to support health and wellbeing.

Join the healing centered wave!