Antonia Mee on why all professionals involved in family law should be trained to recognise trauma
- Trauma is the lasting impact that an event or experience has on someone’s nervous system, beliefs and sense of self.
- Those suffering trauma often can’t concentrate on what we need them to do or provide the detail required from them.
- Trauma-informed lawyers can recognise the classic trauma responses, and they understand strategies for self-regulation that clients can use before and during meetings or at court.
The solicitors at my family law firm are trauma-informed. They have been trained by a team of psychotherapists to recognise when clients are experiencing trauma, and they have been given tools to help those clients to cope with the legal process. In my view, given the nature of family law, every professional involved, from judges to lawyers to CAFCASS officers, should become trauma-informed.
Trauma
Trauma is the lasting impact that an event or experience has on someone’s nervous system, beliefs and sense of self. People can acquire
