Trauma-informed care encourages support and treatment to the whole person, rather than focusing on only treating individual symptoms or specific behaviors. Trauma-informed care has become an important approach in schools and agencies that serve young people who have been exposed to trauma. While trauma-informed care offers an important lens to support young people who have been harmed and emotionally injured, it also has its limitations. What is needed is a healing-centered approach, as opposed to trauma-informed. A healing-centered approach is holistic involving culture, spirituality, civic action, and collective healing. A healing-centered approach views trauma not simply as an individual isolated experience, but rather highlights how trauma and healing are experienced collectively. The term healing-centered engagement expands how we think about responses to trauma and offers a more holistic approach to fostering well-being.
