When challenging incidents happen, our organizations often have tools to help us manage risks and prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. These tools might include incident report forms, safety meetings, and crisis communication plans. Depending on the type of incident, organizations may even decide to implement new policies and procedures. While these tools and steps are important technical responses, we often overlook the emotional component of challenging incidents. Sometimes, we may even try to “policy away” intense emotional experiences as a way to feel safe and in control.
Dr. Sandra Bloom, a leading expert in trauma-responsive organizational systems, has written extensively about the ways in which organizations function like living systems, making them vulnerable to the effects of stress and crises. Bloom cites the ways in which unaddressed stress and anxiety within an organization can contribute to the development of a parallel process. Stressors that can drive parallel processes include: funding cuts, chronic understaffing/under-resourced challenges, leadership changes, and traumatic events within our organization or in the community.
When a parallel process develops, organizations lack the capacity to metabolize the emotional components of stressful events and return to a healthy level of functioning. Bloom asserts that when a parallel process develops, individuals within our organizations and our organizations as whole may exhibit the following signs and symptoms:
| Clients | Staff | Organization |
| Feel unsafe | Feel unsafe | Is unsafe |
| Angry/Aggressive | Angry/Aggressive | Punitive |
| Helpless | Helpless | Stuck |
| Hopeless | Hopeless | Missionless |
| Hyperaroused | Hyperaroused | Crisis Driven |
| Fragmented | Fragmented | Fragmented |
| Overwhelmed | Overwhelmed | Overwhelmed |
| Confused | Confused | Valueless |
| Depressed | Demoralized | Directionless |
To help prevent parallel processes, it is helpful for organizations to be aware of these signs and symptoms and have tools in place to help restore a healthy level of functioning. Bloom developed a framework for organizations to address chronic stress and traumatic events called SELF, which stands for Safety, Emotions, Loss, and Future. In this framework, organizations develop emotional intelligence and processes for coping with stress and anxiety as it emerges. Space is given to acknowledge emotions without defaulting to solutioning or policy-making. When loss occurs, whether it is change of leadership, staff changes, or funding cuts, the organization takes the time to acknowledge the loss with opportunities for stakeholders to discuss what the loss means for them. Finally, organizational leaders are equipped with the skills and qualities to help keep the organization grounded in the present and hopeful about the future.
Bloom’s research indicates that when organizations successfully integrate these practices, employees feel empowered and effective, conflicts decrease throughout the organization, and innovation and optimism increase. With the right tools in place, organizations, like individuals, can develop resilience and the ability to weather stressors without developing negative, and often harmful, symptoms.
Additional Resources
- Trauma-Organised Systems and Parallel Process by Dr. Sandra L. Bloom
- What Is the Sanctuary Model? by Zepf Center
- Restoring Sanctuary: A New Operating System for Trauma-Informed Systems of Care by Dr. Sandra Bloom
Funding and support for this project has been provided by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Safety and Health Investment Projects.
