A live preview of the AcuityCare LMS. This is exactly what a new DSP sees on Day 1 of AR-CDSP I.
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SAMHSA's Six Principles of Trauma-Informed Care
Live preview
What you'll learn
In this lesson you'll meet the SAMHSA framework for trauma-informed care and learn how each of its six principles shows up in a DSP's day — from morning routines through evening de-escalation.
The six principles
Safety. Physical and psychological — environments where consumers feel calm enough to communicate.
Peer support. Recovery and resilience through shared experience — consumer to consumer, DSP to DSP.
Collaboration & mutuality. Power shared with consumers, not exercised over them.
Empowerment, voice & choice. Choice on the smallest things builds agency on the big ones.
Cultural, historical & gender issues. Recognize the legacy carried into the room.
Why this matters
People with IDD experience trauma at rates two to four times the general population — and the trauma is often layered with institutional history. A behavior the team labels "non-compliant" is frequently a trauma response. The DSP who can tell the difference de-escalates faster, reports more accurately, and changes the consumer's day.
Mastery requirement
To advance, complete the knowledge check with at least 80% on first attempt. Two retakes allowed. Skills sign-off is not required for this module — but trauma-informed communication appears in every in-person assessment from M1.10 onward.
Transcript — Lesson 3
Instructor: Renée Calloway, LMSW — Program Director.
00:12Welcome back. In Lessons 1 and 2 we defined what trauma is and looked at how common it is in the people we support. Today we're going to learn the framework you'll actually use on the floor.
00:48SAMHSA is the federal agency that sets the substance abuse and mental health framework most providers use. Their definition of trauma-informed care has six principles. Memorize them. They're going to show up in M1.10, M2.6, and M3.2 — and frankly they're going to show up tomorrow.
01:24Principle one is safety. Not just physical safety. Psychological safety. Does the consumer you support feel calm enough to communicate? Are the rooms predictable? Are the people predictable? When a DSP changes shifts mid-day without warning, that breaks safety for someone whose trauma is rooted in unpredictability.
02:51Principle two — trustworthiness and transparency. Tell the consumer what's about to happen, every time. "I'm going to bring you breakfast. Then we'll get dressed. Then we have community outing at ten." It sounds small. It is not small.
04:11Principle three is peer support. The research on this is strongest in the recovery community, but it applies to IDD too. Consumers who have peers who've been through what they're going through heal differently than consumers who only have professionals around them.
05:35Principle four — collaboration and mutuality. This is the one that takes the longest to internalize. You are not in charge of the consumer. You are in support of the consumer. That changes how you hold your body, how you speak, even where you stand in the room.
07:18Principle five — empowerment, voice and choice. Build agency on small things first. Coffee or tea. Red shirt or blue shirt. Park or the library. Every time a consumer makes a real choice, you're building the muscle they'll need to advocate for themselves later in clinical settings, IEP meetings, and PASSE plan reviews.
08:54Principle six — cultural, historical and gender issues. The disability community in Arkansas carries institutional history. The people we support, or their families, may have lived through eras where the state's idea of "care" was warehousing. Recognize what walks into the room with them.
10:42In the next lesson, we'll look at how to tell the difference between a trauma response and a behavioral challenge — because they look similar from the outside, and they require very different responses.
Knowledge check
Three questions. 80% to advance. You can retake twice. Answers are explained in line — read the feedback before you move on.
Question 1 of 3 Which of the following is not one of SAMHSA's six principles of trauma-informed care?
Correct. SAMHSA's six principles are safety; trustworthiness & transparency; peer support; collaboration & mutuality; empowerment, voice & choice; and cultural, historical & gender issues. "Behavioral compliance" is the opposite of a trauma-informed lens — compliance focuses on what the DSP wants from the consumer, not what the consumer needs from the DSP.
Not quite. Re-watch from 01:24. SAMHSA's framework focuses on the support relationship, not on compliance. The six principles are safety; trustworthiness & transparency; peer support; collaboration & mutuality; empowerment, voice & choice; and cultural, historical & gender issues.
Question 2 of 3 A DSP supports a consumer who flinches when staff approach her from behind. The team has labeled this "anxious behavior." What is the most trauma-informed first step?
Correct. A flinch when approached from behind is a textbook trauma response, not non-compliance. The trauma-informed move is to change the environment (DSP approach pattern) and report to the QDDP so the team can document and update the support plan — not to label, retrain, or restrict the consumer.
Not quite. Re-watch from 05:35. Trauma-informed care changes the support environment, not the consumer. Restriction and re-training both retraumatize. The right move is to adjust your approach and escalate to the QDDP.
Question 3 of 3 Secondary traumatic stress is:
Correct. Secondary traumatic stress is what happens to caregivers who carry their consumers' experiences home with them. It is common, recognizable, and addressable through supervision, peer support, and the self-care strategies covered in Lesson 7. It is not a diagnosis only clinicians can name, and it is not a sign you're in the wrong job.
Not quite. Re-watch Lesson 7. Secondary traumatic stress is an expected occupational reality in IDD support — and AcuityCare provides supervision, peer support, and time-off protocols to address it.
Knowledge check complete
Resources for this module
Everything cited in the lesson, plus the AcuityCare-specific tools you'll use on the floor.
Federal & professional frameworks
SAMHSA — SAMHSA's Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach (HHS Publication No. (SMA) 14-4884)
NADSP — Code of Ethics for Direct Support Professionals
CDC — Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study
Arkansas-specific
Arkansas DDS — CES Waiver Agency Standards §303 (linked in the LMS)
AcuityCare incident reporting decision tree (M1.3)
SBAR communication template — clinical escalation (M2.4)
About this demo
This is one lesson. The full module is six more like it.
The CHART curriculum publishes every module's objectives, hours, and instructor of record. Browse the full pathway, or talk to our enrollment team about onboarding your DSP roster.