Trauma-Informed Practice and Employment Participation: Transforming Organisational Responses to Workplace Trauma

This PhD project examines how trauma-informed organisational practices can enhance employment participation and transform workplace experiences for trauma-affected professionals. Trauma resulting from experiences such as abuse, violence, or prolonged adversity often has enduring psychological and relational effects that shape individuals’ working lives. These impacts may influence disclosure decisions, career progression, job stability, and engagement, contributing to underemployment, workforce withdrawal, and persistent inequality. Despite increasing attention to mental health at work, organisational responses frequently rely on generic wellbeing initiatives that overlook the distinct and systemic challenges associated with trauma. As a result, responsibility is often placed on individuals to adapt, rather than on organisations to address structural and cultural barriers.

This research responds to that gap by investigating how workplace cultures, leadership behaviours, policies, and institutional systems shape the employment participation of trauma-affected individuals. It moves beyond deficit-based narratives to examine how organisations can create environments that enable sustainable contribution, psychological safety, and professional growth. The project adopts a qualitative, phenomenological methodology to explore lived experiences within a defined UK sector. In-depth interviews with trauma-affected professionals will examine employment trajectories, workplace relationships, disclosure processes, and strategies used to sustain participation. Organisational case studies will engage line managers, HR professionals, and senior leaders to analyse existing policies, leadership approaches, and organisational cultures, identifying both enabling practices and systemic constraints.

Using participatory and action-oriented research principles, the study will facilitate collaborative workshops with organisational stakeholders to co-develop trauma-informed frameworks and practical interventions. These may include leadership development guidance, inclusive policy recommendations, and organisational learning strategies designed to strengthen resilience and equity. Engagement with relevant institutional actors at national and local levels will further explore how regulatory, professional, and policy contexts shape organisational capacity to support trauma-affected employees.

The project will generate theoretical contributions to scholarship on trauma-informed practice, organisational inclusion, and employment participation, while producing applied insights for employers seeking to foster fairer and more resilient workplaces. By shifting the analytical focus from individual coping to organisational and systemic responsibility, the research aims to address structural inequalities in employment and promote environments in which trauma-affected individuals can participate fully, safely, and sustainably in the workforce.