Is Your Space Trauma Informed?
OliviaLeBus
LeBus restaurant, East Falls, Pennsylvania
When your brain goes through extreme trauma, it changes. Your nervous system may become hyper-vigilant, responding to small triggers in the surroundings as though they are life-threatening. When this becomes chronic, it’s known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD).
Trauma-informed care is therapeutic counseling which acknowledges these nervous system changes. Its main purpose is to re-establish a sense of safety in the subconscious regions of the brain. We create safety through trustworthiness, collaboration, empowerment, and mutuality.
Trauma-informed interior design uses our understanding of PTSD to create places establish safety through physical cues that an environment is safe. A trauma-informed design may include acoustic mitigation, to eliminate sudden loud noises. It may establish cozy, protected areas with long sight lines. Since our bodies evolved in tandem with the rest of nature, biophilic elements such as plants, organic forms, and filtered lighting help us to feel at home.
The brain can only heal when it is no longer under assault.
Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!
The Eccentric Genius Habitat Intervention
Your space, your nervous system.
Most of us were never taught how our bodies actually experience a room–the light, the sound, the layout, the smell–and what happens when those things work against us instead of for us.
This free seven-day course is a gentle introduction to sensory design. Each day brings one exercise–noticing what you feel, photographing what you’ve been editing out, dreaming about what you actually want. The exercises are all optional, and you can go as deep as you like.
By the end, you’ll understand more about why certain rooms drain you, what your body knows about your home, and how to start shifting without stressing out.
Sign up below. Your first email arrives within the hour.
Practical Sanctuary, sensory interior design, specializes in interior design for highly sensitive people.
We help you create spaces which are:
