GENDER-RESPONSIVE AND TRAUMA-INFORMED WORK WITH INCARCERATED WOMEN: AN IACFP INTERVIEW WITH DR. STEPHANIE COVINGTON: PART IV

GENDER-RESPONSIVE AND TRAUMA-INFORMED WORK WITH INCARCERATED WOMEN: AN IACFP INTERVIEW WITH DR. STEPHANIE COVINGTON: PART IV


IACFP: Do you think that staff who provide “trauma-informed services” to women ought to be women?

SC: There is a sense (among female inmates) that there is more safety with female officers. Often women will say “I’d rather have a female counselor. It’s a sense of safety and just the comfortability of talking about what happened.”

IACFP: Is it important that the person who provides trauma-informed treatment ought to have resolved their own traumas? For example, should people have an understanding of addiction based in their own lives in order to better treat addicts?

SC: I think you have to have some understanding of the process of addiction, even if it’s to cigarettes, coffee, or chocolate. It is important that you understand your relationship with whatever you use as a coping strategy and realize how you would feel if you had to give it up.This will help you have a sense of how addiction works.

If people who are trauma survivors haven’t done any work on their own life experience, then it is going to be difficult for them to work with trauma issues in another person’s life. They’re at risk of often being triggered. We always want to be a step or two ahead of our clients.

IACFP: What kind of materials have you developed and implemented in your work in the criminal justice system?

SC: I have several programs. There is a program for treating addiction called “Helping Women Recover.” We’ve used that in over 1,000 different programs across the county. “Beyond Trauma” is a trauma specific treatment program and I’ve made this new shorter version one called “Healing Trauma.” I also have a Twelve Step program for women entitled “A Woman’s Way through The Twelve Steps.” This is designed to help women understand the 12 steps from a female point of view. The girl’s program is entitled “Voices.” For the Michigan Department of Corrections, I developed “Beyond Violence” a prevention program for women who have committed violent/ aggressive crimes. Many places have used these program materials, many people have been trained to use them, and we’ve done research on them to demonstrate their effectiveness.

Check back tomorrow for the final posting of the interview.

----------------

For members who would like to follow up on any of the points in our interview, feel free to go to Dr. Covington’s website for additional information. It is www.stephaniecovington.com. I urge members to visit both her website and learn more about trauma-informed services. For publication information regarding publications by Dr. Covington, members can also visit the Hazelden website at www.hazelden.org