The Continuum of Victim to Survivor: Trauma-Informed Principles and the Impact of Language

As knowledge regarding trauma has evolved, debates around language have also emerged among healthcare professionals. These debates include the meaning of terms such as victim and survivor. As a result, professionals across the medical and behavioral healthcare fields must attend to the language of trauma and the unique ways in which individuals express their traumatic experiences. In this article, we provide a perspective on how Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) trauma-informed care (TIC) principles (i.e., safety, trust, choices, collaboration, and empowerment) can be implemented as an approach to the language of trauma used by healthcare providers. We discuss the nuances of trauma-informed language and consider the influence of sociocultural factors, diversity, and neurodiversity.

Keywords:

Trauma Recovery , Trauma-Informed Care , Trauma-Informed Principles , Survivor Language , Victim Language