Promising practices for engagement

A safe environment can be created by:

• Having trained staff that practice a trauma-informed, non-judgmental approach.
• Promoting safety and calm, reducing threats of harm and distress (including instability). This can take place through:
  • Creating a safe space for talking – always speak to the person you are working with privately.
  • Offering medical treatment if needed – look for/be aware of any overt injuries or medical needs.
  • Offering a change of clothes, choice of food and drink.
  • Using a professional interpreter service when a language barrier exists – DO NOT rely on a friend, associate or family member of the person you’re working with for interpretation services.

An important first step is to let go of any expectations. Your role as a service provider is to be there for the individual you are supporting.

Some communication aspects to consider in your work with survivors include:

• Communicating first and foremost to the survivor that you do not have any expectations around what or whether they share. This will help relieve the survivor of any pressure.
• Sharing an experience of trauma can be an important step in recovery, but there are different levels of disclosure and a full, detailed understanding of experiences may not be necessary for a service provider to offer support.
  • For example, advocates may never have heard the details of an experience until they are revealed in court, but this may not impede advocates from doing their work. It is important to reinforce this with the person you are working with and enable them to make an informed decision about how much they share, when they share and why. It is good practice to self reflect and ask yourself “do I need to know this to be helpful?”
• Provide choice and control when appropriate: safety, choice and control are paramount when working with survivors as their trauma is tied to experiences where their personal safety, choice and control were absent.
  • For example, routinely request consent when conducting your work before asking probing questions, and particularly when acting on their behalf or when sharing information about them to other professionals. This will lend itself to establishing trust and respect in your relationship with the individual.
• Asking simple, direct questions and refraining from using questions with “why.” For a guide to questions you can ask, click here.
• Using the same words they use and do not correct them. For example, when a survivor refers to their trafficker as their “boyfriend,” use the term "boyfriend" as well.
• Avoiding words like "hero," "brave" or other heightened forms of praise – this may not be how they self-identify and could lead to a sense of divergence in thought and connection with you, and potentially give a sense of you being inauthentic. This can harm the relationship.
• Re-assuring them that what they are saying is being taken seriously.
• Communicating messages of hope, including:
  • You have rights.
  • You are not alone and not to blame, help is available – I'm here.
  • You are entitled to services and help (establish connections with resources and enhance positive networks in the community).
• Refraining from making promises you can’t keep.
• Considering applying a motivational interviewing approach. This is a survivor-centred counselling technique where you offer compassionate guidance to support self-actualization in their change process. For more information about motivational interviewing, please click here.
  • Motivational interviewing needs to be paired with reflective practice to ensure you are not overstepping. For more information about reflective practice and our model of care, click here.

• Trust your professionally developed intuition but be open to unfamiliar and/or inconsistent narratives and stories – do not dismiss stories or statements because they seem unreal or inconsistent to you.
  • Keep in mind that memory can be faulty due to traumatic experiences and the focus on survival.
  • The relationship you have with the person you are supporting may not be developed enough where they feel safe and comfortable to share details of their story.
• Do not show you are upset by someone’s story – compassion is important but it must be balanced with professionalism in order to demonstrate that you can offer strength and stability in their time of need.
• Do not focus on the drama/trauma – the individual may have had to share their story on numerous occasions as a result of engaging with multiple service providers and other professionals. This can lead to an experience of cycling back to the same point over and over. The focus of a service provider should be to empower and help survivors in a way that they define.

Here are some additional actions you can take to ensure a safe and supportive continuum of care:

• Know when to make referrals – understand where your role begins and ends and make connections with appropriate service providers when needed.
• Be as transparent as possible and keep the person you are supporting informed of the processes when appropriate. Be aware that the timing of when you share information can potentially be a trigger, so ensure you share this information when you know they can receive it.
• Do not contact authorities without the permission of the person you are working with unless legally mandated to do so. We recommend documenting the survivor's permission through the use of a consent form such as a Release/Exchange of Confidential Information before sharing their information with any other agency/party.