Coaching With Trauma Awareness

After transitioning from my former career practicing emergency medicine, I quickly learned that in my role as a coach, I’d still be supporting people with trauma. However, it wouldn’t be the traumatic physical injuries that typically brought patients to the emergency room. I would not be diagnosing, treating, or providing medical advice. Instead, I would be supporting my clients in addressing the whole-person impact of these traumas, whether consciously or unconsciously known.  

The Need for Trauma Awareness in Coaching 

Trauma can potentially impact every aspect of a person’s health and personal or professional life. Yet, coaching with trauma awareness isn’t a standard part of most coach training programs, let alone health and wellness coach training programs. It wasn’t until I completed trauma-informed coach training that I understood how much I was missing. While I’m grateful to better serve my coaching clients now, I recognize that my trauma-informed coaching experience puts me in the minority among coaches. It shouldn’t be this way. All coaches can benefit from education on trauma-awareness coaching. 

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly half of all adults in the United States will experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, though most will not develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. However, that doesn’t mean these experiences do not create a lasting impact.  

Recognizing Trauma’s Manifestations  

Coaches must be aware trauma manifests itself in myriad ways. Just as our individuality shows up in all aspects of our lives, so does the impact of our past experiences and traumas. Regardless of your coaching niche, we serve people and they cannot compartmentalize themselves from their unhealed experiences. 

One of my favorite definitions of trauma comes from Resmaa Menakem, author of “My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies,” who describes it as, “Trauma can be anything that happens too much, too soon, too fast, or for too long coupled with not enough of what should have happened that was resourcing.” 

Trauma presents on a spectrum — healing requires inner work and may necessitate the support of a licensed healthcare professional. 

Supporting Clients Through Trauma-Informed Coaching

As coaches, how can we support this process? This is where trauma-informed training for coaches becomes essential. We must learn to help clients utilize their own resources within our scope of practice. 

In traditional medicine, my training dictated that I compartmentalize trauma; the protocol was to stabilize the patient and refer them to a specialist. Most of the time, I wouldn’t see those patients again. Coaches do not have that option, as we coach the whole person and form ongoing relationships with them. Furthermore, given the shortage of mental health providers, a coach — especially a health and wellness coach — may be the first point of access someone has to mental health care. Without trauma awareness, we may do our clients a disservice by not recognizing when they need to be referred to a licensed healthcare professional. We can also inadvertently cause harm by asking questions or probing without permission, which may trigger the client. 

Researchers explain, “Trauma-informed care integrates best practices to shape how care providers and organizations prepare for and respond to trauma responses in their clients so as to actively avoid inflicting any additional harm.” 

5 Ways to Incorporate Trauma Awareness into Coaching  

Here are five ways to incorporate trauma awareness into your coaching practice. Many of these are techniques coaches already use, but they may not recognize them as trauma-aware coaching practices: 

1) Create the Container  

Establish trust and rapport, have a clear coaching agreement outlining roles, responsibilities, and expectations, and establish clear parameters and boundaries for the coach-client relationship. 

2) Ask Permission  

Place the client in the driver’s seat. Nurture their empowerment and psychological safety through the power of choice to answer a question or explore a particular topic. 

3) Be Attentive 

Both verbal and nonverbal communication speak volumes. Hold space for your client to explore thoughts and emotions without judgment. 

4) Self-Management  

As a coach, practice self-awareness and be attentive to what is happening with you before, during, and after each coaching interaction. Know when to seek professional support and be aware of your own triggers and trauma. 

5) Know When to Refer  

Always practice within your scope of practice. 

However, this just skims the surface of what we need to know.  

Choosing the Right Trauma-Informed Coach Training 

Currently, no international coach credentialing body formally certifies trauma-informed coaching. If you decide to pursue such training, do your due diligence. Review the curriculum to ensure it supports you in the best way possible to enhance your coaching skills. Ensure that the curriculum covers ICF and/or NBHWC coach competencies and goes beyond the mere physiology of stress and trauma responses to address practical implications with evidence-based resources.  

Will the course provide you with skills to support clients in a trauma-informed manner while staying within your scope of practice without doing harm?  

Other factors to consider include whether the course is synchronous or asynchronous, the class size, and the availability of a practicum or real-time feedback and mentorship. Additionally, check if the educational program offers continuing coach education credits, indicating that the curriculum has been reviewed by a coach credentialing organization. 

When choosing a trauma-informed coach training program, it is also important to consider the faculty’s background and expertise. For instance, do they work in healthcare? Are they credentialed coaches? What education and professional experience do they have in trauma-informed coaching?  

By advocating for standards in coach education and educating ourselves, we can help bridge the gaps in coach training to better serve our clients. 

I hope that trauma awareness soon becomes integrated into our coach education, especially for health and wellness coaches. We owe our clients no less.