Trauma-Informed Care: A Model for OT Practice

John Boharic, OTS Madison Haswell, OTS Nicole Haynes, OTS Stephanie Weir, OTS
Amy Mattila, PhD, OTR/L Sharon Novalis, PhD, OTR/L

Quick Facts:
A traumatic event can be classified as one or more of the following: Emotional, physical or sexual
abuse, emotional or physical neglect, household substance abuse, household mental illness, parental
separation or divorce, and/or an incarcerated household member (Felitti et al., 1998).

Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) can be defined as a model to help practitioners understand the effects of
physical, psychological, and emotional trauma and appropriately respond to such trauma by addressing
the emotional needs of the client in order to prevent re-traumatization during care (Hopper, Bassuk, & Olivet,
2010; Kassam-Adams, 2015).

Approximately 66% of the general population has experienced at least one traumatic event in their
lifetime (Felitti et al., 1998).

A TIC model can help to increase clients well-being and quality of life during and after treatment
(American Occupational Therapy Association, 2014; American Occupational Therapy Association, 2016).

Contact Information:
John Boharic, OTS
jbohar47@gmail.com

Madison Haswell, OTS

haswell13@gmail.com

Nicole Haynes, OTS

nr.haynes@hotmail.com

Stephanie Weir, OTS

steph.a.weir@gmail.com

Sharon Novalis, OTD, OTR/L

snovalis@chatham.edu
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