De Regenboog Groep is an Amsterdam-based organisation working with people who use drugs, people experiencing homelessness, individuals with mental health challenges, and refugees. In 2025, the organisation launched a Trauma-Informed Care Project aimed at strengthening trauma sensitivity across its services. The initiative was designed to improve how the organisation understands and responds to trauma experienced by both service users and staff, recognising that past experiences of harm, instability, and exclusion continue to shape people’s behaviour and needs in the present.
Trauma-informed care shifts the focus from judging behaviour to understanding lived experiences. Rather than asking what is wrong with a person, this approach encourages staff to consider what someone may have been through and how that history influences their reactions. In practice, this means recognising trauma responses, preventing re-traumatisation, supporting coping strategies, and embedding trust, transparency, choice, and safety into everyday interactions and organisational culture.
For organisations working with vulnerable groups, a trauma-informed approach is particularly important because many service users have faced repeated losses, violence, displacement, discrimination, or systemic exclusion. Without this lens, services may unintentionally recreate feelings of control, fear, or being unheard. Trauma-informed care helps organisations slow down and respond more thoughtfully, strengthening relationships, improving engagement, and supporting more sustainable outcomes for people receiving support.
At De Regenboog Groep, trauma-informed care translates into careful attention to daily experiences within services. This includes clear and transparent communication, explaining the reasons behind rules, offering choices whenever possible, and creating predictable and respectful environments. It also involves recognising that behaviours perceived as disruptive may be expressions of stress or past harm. For staff, the approach emphasises reflection, emotional regulation, and organisational support rather than blame.
The Trauma-Informed Care Project emerged from the organisation’s work with displaced Ukrainians following the outbreak of war in 2022. Across several semi-permanent reception locations, residents were living under prolonged uncertainty and shared conditions that intensified stress and emotional reactivity. Staff observed rising tensions and incidents linked to unresolved trauma and ongoing pressure. The project aimed not to introduce therapy, but to strengthen the overall way care and support were delivered, helping staff respond more effectively while maintaining their own wellbeing.
The project was implemented in phases, beginning with a structured self-assessment across three locations to understand existing practices. This was followed by staff engagement, training, and concrete changes to environments and work processes. The assessment revealed that many trauma-informed practices were already present intuitively, but that these needed stronger organisational structures, shared agreements, and consistent support to be sustainable. It also highlighted that becoming trauma-informed is an ongoing learning process rather than a one-time intervention.
Trauma-informed care was identified as especially relevant for services working with displaced people, individuals experiencing homelessness, substance use, mental health challenges, and long-term social exclusion. However, the project underscored that trauma-informed principles are broadly applicable wherever people interact with systems of authority or support, and that staff wellbeing is as central to this approach as client outcomes.
One key insight from the project is that trauma-informed care must involve the entire organisation, including frontline workers, volunteers, administrative staff, and leadership. When confined only to frontline practice, it becomes difficult to sustain. Leadership decisions, policies, and organisational culture play a decisive role in enabling or constraining trauma-informed ways of working.
Implementing trauma-informed care also presents challenges, particularly in high-pressure sectors facing staff shortages, heavy workloads, and change fatigue. Translating principles into concrete policies and routines requires time, reflection, and strong leadership commitment. Additionally, engaging with trauma-informed care can be emotionally demanding for staff, many of whom may carry their own experiences of trauma.
Based on the project’s findings, the organisation emphasises the importance of listening, using self-assessment as a tool for reflection rather than judgment, involving staff early, and focusing on achievable, incremental changes. Trauma-informed care is best understood as a long-term cultural shift rather than a project with a fixed endpoint.
Looking ahead, trauma-informed care is expected to become increasingly embedded in organisational systems rather than relying on individual awareness or goodwill. Within De Regenboog Groep and the wider sector, it is likely to evolve into a continuous learning process supported by reflection, feedback, and data. As complexity and pressure grow across social services, trauma-informed care is increasingly recognised as essential infrastructure that supports both effectiveness and humanity in care delivery.
