When it comes to trauma-informed ethics,where do human rights fit in? The trauma experience is a human experience, not a medical or clinical or psychiatric one. In the field of mental health, approaches are founded in the concepts of "clinical" best practice or "medical" guidelines. It is easy to lose the "human" (whether the "patient," "client," "consumer/survivor," "therapist," "professional," "clinician," etc.) or a "humanistic" understanding of person-hood and relationship within those paradigms. At the same time, healing and recovery from trauma happens in the context of relationship, where we move the dialogue from "what is wrong with you?" to "what happened to you?" And, this yearning for, drive for relationship is part of the very essence of what it means to be human.

When looking at the mechanisms for "protecting" human rights in the mental health context, often the drivers are policies/processes (ie, grievance procedure, advance directives, legal remedies, and so forth) and designated protectors (ie, Protection and Advocacy Programs, guardians, guardians ad lidem, durable powers of attorney, etc.). So, where do trauma-informed ethics fit in the context of assuring the protection of human rights of consumers/survivors? These are some of my initial thoughts:

First, the processes/policies/designated protectors should be fully educated and understanding on trauma/prevalence/impact/healing. They should be integrated within the trauma-informed systems change work, so that all services (including those that ostensibly would protect human rights) are trauma-informed.

I also see a great potential for the role of these trauma-informed processes/policies/designated "protectors" to promote the necessary paradigm shift required for trauma-informed systems change. Imagine that a consumer/survivor is seeking assistance for a rights violation, and the person assisting can advocate and promote trauma-informed ethics as a core element in protecting those rights. Where the person assisting understands how trauma disrupts the sense of safety, connection, as well as power differentials and relationships. Where the supporter, rather than taking a "best interest" approach to "helping" the survivor address their grievance, understands the importance of not just validation, but also of promoting and giving rise to voice, choice, and empowerment of the survivor.

Imagine developing grievance procedures that are firmly rooted in the concepts of human rights and trauma-informed ethics...where the dynamics of relationship are understood in the context of traumatic experiences. Where responses are understood as human responses (whether of staff, peer supporters, consumers/survivors, etc.) that are adaptive coping mechanisms rather than symptoms, behaviors to be controlled or "managed."

I would love to hear what others think integrating a human rights approach in developing trauma-informed ethics. How could trauma-informed ethics shape the role of the advocate or the Advance Directive? What other ways could a human rights perspective frame ethics as well as trauma-informed systems change? I'll check back periodically for responses to this post.

Each of the resource materials has an element of human rights that is integrated in the content. From guiding the development of cultural and linguistic practices across systems to the promotion of a recovery oriented system that is consumer driven, the documents include key elements of the human experience as it pertains to the person, voice and choice. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is perhaps the most salient message of them all on human rights. One of the intentions of developing trauma informed ethics is to not only promote the survivor voice and empowerment but to shift the way institutions, systems and the existing paradigms think about they way they engage trauma survivors and the critical elements in designing service systems that are holistically responsive to the survivor. From my perspective, the inclusion of human rights is an ethical practice that should never be comprised. What are some other comments from the field on this subject?

Wanda