Trauma-mindfulness in research practices: Grounding reflection and care in research

Introduction

Over the years, I have been proactive about improving research practices with accessibility, inclusive design, and trauma-informed principles. As a second-generation South Asian woman in Canada with medical trauma, I bring a unique perspective to research.

Organizational leaders play an important role in creating spaces where folks with lived experience can fully participate and feel safe sharing their perspectives. Trauma-informed care principles — safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural consideration — help people feel fully present, whether online or in-person. Below, I share strategies to be mindful of trauma, grounded in reflection, care, and relationality.

Taking care of our participants

Accessibility checks

Accessibility checks involve asking folks about their access needs, without requiring them to disclose lived experience. Avoid placing people in situations where they feel pressured to explain or share experiences that may be uncomfortable or triggering.

How to provide access with autonomy

• Offer private and quiet spaces for breaks to support people managing sensory overload or seizures.
• Encourage participants to turn on video to support lip reading and body language, while respecting those who turn it off for anxiety or privacy.

Consent checks

Building rapport during consent checks helps make consent feel genuine, rather than a procedure. People should know that their participation is voluntary and confidential, and that they can skip questions or stop the session at any time.

How to promote comfort and assurance

• Explain how you protect confidentiality, such as by removing personal details from session notes.
• Allow time for questions.
• Make space for  someone to withdraw if they can’t continue.

Ground rules

Setting ground rules makes people feel comfortable to share their experiences honestly. The space should encourage conversation, rather than debates, to respect psychological, emotional, and physical safety.

How to protect boundaries

• Allow people to opt out of discussions or activities that trigger them.
• Start meetings with a review of a conduct or community agreement.
• Remove people who show disrespectful behaviour from sessions.

Language acknowledgement

Language acknowledgements recognize that people identify in many ways based on their intersectional experiences. Respecting how people choose to describe themselves and when they choose to share information are ways to promote a welcoming and inclusive environment.

Be aware of respectful language needed in a variety of contexts

• Mirror individual choices for person-first and identity-first language.
• Give participants space to decide what they will share about their cultural or racialized identity.
• Be open to folks disclosing or not disclosing their medical experiences or health conditions.

Professionals on-site

Reflect on what kind of participation is needed by people and when it makes sense to include professionals in sessions. As leaders, it is important to understand the limits of our expertise and know when to seek help from others to co-create a safe environment.

• Include co-facilitators with lived experience in project teams.
• Consider offering mental health support such as counsellors, social workers, and therapists.

Taking care of ourselves and our colleagues

Debrief sessions

Debrief sessions offer a supportive space to reflect on our thoughts and feelings after research sessions. Sharing successes and challenges allows us to attentively listen with presence, humility, and care; without judgement. Collaborating to explore new approaches and learning from experiences foster trust, respect, and connection among colleagues.

Content warning for teams

Providing content warnings allows colleagues to engage, prepare, or step away when materials — such as transcripts, summary notes, reports, slides, or blogs — include sensitive or triggering topics. Content warnings should be provided from the start and throughout stages, as colleagues may review materials both now and in the future.

Our own experiences

Taking care of ourselves at work matters as much as supporting others. Being compassionate towards ourselves and acknowledging our trauma creates space to navigate work in a sustainable and safe way.

For instance, I carefully prepared myself for research sessions on a cancer data analysis tool. I chose not to disclose my medical experience, practiced breathing techniques, and reminded myself that I could step away if I became overwhelmed. Reflecting on safety helped me to work effectively while protecting my well-being.

Conclusion

Small, mindful steps can make research more compassionate. When trauma-informed practices are in place, trust creates space for people to share comfortably and safely. Without these practices, environments may foster risk, judgement, and dismissal. Active listening is a powerful tool that puts trauma-informed care into action.

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Thaksha Krishnagumar (she/her/hers/elle) is a user experience (UX) researcher/consultant, passionate about empowering people through accessible and inclusive design research. She focuses on using cognitive diversity and understanding the variability of experiences across different contexts to shape strategic and equitable research practices. She applies her interdisciplinary expertise across accessibility, UX design and research, linguistics, mathematics, service design and consulting.