Trauma-Informed Approach to Sports and Working Athletes Part 2
This week we continue with our discussion about the importance of a trauma-informed approach in sport psychology. Our focus switches to 6 Guiding Principles of a Trauma-Informed Approach introduced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018). As a gentle reminder, the 6 Guiding Principles are the daily behavioral values used to achieve the R’s discussed last week.
Deepening the Field: The 6 Pillars of Trauma-Informed Athletic Excellence
To move beyond the standard baseline of training and unlock true peak performance, sports organizations must weave these six essential principles directly into the fabric of their coaching and culture.
1. Somatic and Psychological Safety
Establishing unshakeable safety requires actively protecting both the physical environment and the emotional climate of the athlete’s training. Coaches and sports professionals supporting athletes must consciously prioritize verbal and somatic consent. This means explicitly asking for permission before conducting any mental health screenings, executing medical treatments, or utilizing hands-on spotting and tactile adjustments during strength training or any type of work for that matter. For many athletes with a history of trauma, personal boundaries and physical autonomy were previously violated. By embedding choice into every physical and mental interaction, we prevent the environment from unintentionally triggering a survival-driven defense response.
2. Transparent Trustworthiness
Building meaningful relationships with athletes requires radical transparency and clear communication. Every physical drill, fitness screening, or mental performance assessment must be accompanied by an accessible, logical rationale. And this also means taking the time to ensure that the athlete understands after the explanation. Any professional who works with athletes should enthusiastically welcome questions, even the questions seem basic or repetitive. For a traumatized athlete, questioning an assignment isn't a sign of defiance; it is a subconscious nervous system strategy designed to verify safety and ensure the authority figure can be trusted. And this verification must be honored and respected without judgement.
3. Cultivated Peer Support
True institutional well-being is built horizontally through collective community, not just top-down from administration. Athletic organizations must actively destigmatize mental health discussions and construct natural, low-friction spaces where performers can connect over shared lived experiences. The previous sentence cannot be said enough, so saying it again. Take the time to break down the stigma surrounding athlete mental health and to build the safe spaces for connection and community. Because competitive athletes operate under grueling schedules, these peer connections need to be built directly into existing training schedules. Think about integrating facilitated group sessions with a sports and performance consultant into weekly team meetings. As the consultant working with the athletes it becomes essential to advocate for athletes and bring up any concerns to management so help build a different culture.
4. Collaboration and Systemic Mutuality
A trauma-informed ecosystem deliberately flattens rigid hierarchies by balancing power and sharing the decision-making process. Athletes perform best when they are treated as active collaborators in their own careers and futures rather than passive instruments of a coach's or other staff’s wills. This involves inviting athletes to have a meaningful voice in shaping their recovery protocols, rehabilitation schedules, and specific training components. Additionally, organizations should identify and empower natural, trusted peer leaders within the squad to bridge the gap between coaching and professional staff and the athletes.
5. Empowerment, Voice, and Choice
The role of a modern coach and even the professional staff is to facilitate growth rather than enforce micro-managed control. Trauma frequently strips individuals of agency over their own voices, environments, and physical bodies. We can actively heal this fracture by setting mutually agreed-upon performance goals and offering meaningful choices within training routines and mental performance exercises. Emphasizing a strength-based framework—which highlights an athlete's inherent capabilities rather than obsessing over deficits—restores their internal locus of control and allows athletes and teams to truly maximize their athletic potential.
6. Integration of Cultural, Historical, and Gender Dynamics
We must explicitly recognize that systemic marginalization, cultural bias, and historical identity-based trauma heavily compound an individual’s stress baseline and recovery timeline. There is tons of research out there supporting the previous statement. This blog has covered topics such as racism, genderism, and fat phobia. These sociological forces are actively at play in every locker room, stadium, sport and performance consulting room, and training space. Organizations must intentionally provide dedicated, safe environments for athletes to explore how these intersecting identity dynamics impact their mental health and athletic output. This looks like funding diverse mentorship pipelines and creating identity-based affinity spaces where athletes feel fully understood without having to code-switch.
The Body Keeps the Score on the Field (Yes, it is a play on The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.)
Ultimately, trauma is an embodied experience; it leaves a physical footprint in the tissue, muscles, and nervous system, and its pain demands to be processed. Athletes cannot simply leave their histories, structural anxieties, or past adversities when they step onto the field or the track.
Even the most elite, visibly resilient competitors carry invisible psychological weights. Therefore, our primary mandate as coaches, sports and performance consultants, and athletic directors is twofold: we must relentlessly design systems that prevent institutional re-traumatization even if there is push back from management, and we must establish rapid, trauma-informed intervention protocols for the moments when the high-pressure world of sports inevitably triggers a survival response. These are big responsibilities, and we must step into them whole heartedly so that everyone has a chance to thrive.
Pink tennis balls on a blue floor. The tennis player is in the back of the image wearing gray shoes, pink and black socks, and pink shorts. They are holding a pink and black racket.
take action today moment:
If you are a professional who works with athletes, take some time to reflect and ask yourself: are you using the 6 Guiding Principles of a Trauma-Informed Approach in your work with your athletes? If you are, how can you strengthen your practices? If you are not, how can you begin to integrate the 6 Guiding Principles of a Trauma-Informed Approach into your practice?
Same thing as last week if you are an athlete, you also need to reflect. Are the people supporting you taking a trauma-informed approach? Maybe the 6 Guiding Principles of a Trauma-Informed Approach? If they are, let those people know how much you appreciate their awareness. If not, what can you do to, safely, bring it up with these people? If that is not an option, do you need to consider finding other professionals who do understand and utilize a trauma-centered approach?
Learn More About the Trauma-Informed Work:
6 Guiding Principles to a Trauma-Informed Approach [2018]
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). 6 guiding principles to a trauma-informed approach [2018]. https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/56843