Developing Culturally 
Responsive, Trauma Informed 
Services & Responses 

Olga Trujillo, JD 
Director, Education & Social Change 
Caminar Latino 
Latinos United for Peace and Equity Initiative 


Exploring the Impact of Trauma and 
How its Important to Your Services 

• Examine my experience of violence and trauma 
• Show pictures 
• Describe experience 
• No graphic descriptions of violence 




• Explore the bias, privilege & cultural implications 
• Explore how trauma can impact your work with 
survivors 
• Examine what you can do to create culturally responsive & trauma informed 



the sum of my parts: a survivor’s 
story of dissociative identity disorder 

the sum of my parts: a survivor’s story of dissociative identity disorder by Olga Trujillo.

Olga as a baby on a bed with her two older brothers
Image 1: Olga as a baby on a bed with her two older brothers 


Olga when she was 3 years old, smiling, sitting in a chair in the living room.
Image 2: Olga when she was 3 years old, smiling, sitting in a chair in the living room 


Olga when she was 7, smiling, siting in her living room
Image 3: Olga when she was 7, smiling, siting in her living room 


Olga when she was 8, smiling
Image 4: Olga when she was 8, smiling 


Olga when she was 12 – has a bit of a blank stare
Image 5: Olga when she was 12 – has a bit of a blank stare 


Olga sitting with a blank stare –She is 16 wearing a prom dress with her date in his white tuxedo
Image 6: Olga sitting with a blank stare –She is 16 wearing a prom dress with her 
date in his white tuxedo 


Question 1 

• What do you think my experience and the impactof trauma, means for me as a witness? 

• Will I show any emotion? 
• Will I show too much emotion? 
• Will people believe me? 
• Will I remember what we talked about? 



Question 2 

• What do you think my experience as a Latina, 
Lesbian, gender non-conforming with trauma and dissociation means for me in your 
community? 
• Will I feel welcome in your program or agency 
response? 
• Why or Why not? 



Trauma and Dissociation 

• Incorporate survivors in your learning – don’t just rely 
on clinicians… 


What We See & Experience 

• Flat demeanor or spacey look 
• Not paying attention 
• Overreacting to seemingly benign situations 
• Minimizing the abuse 
• Talking all over the place 
• Scattered (non-linear) thinking 
• Unable to remember key facts 
• “Uncooperative” 
• Not following-through 



Diagnoses Arising from Trauma 

• Post Traumatic Stress • Numb 
Disorder (PTSD) • Spacey 

• Nightmares • Anxiety and Panic 
• Night sweats Disorders 
• Startle Response 
• Phobias – such as 


• Hypervigilance 


Agoraphobia & 

• Flashbacks 

Claustrophobia 
• Dissociative Disorders 

• Losing time 


Dissociative Identity Disorder 
(DID) 

• Have you heard of it? 
• Have you ever worked with someone that has 
it? 



• A person with DID feels as if she has within her two or more entities, each with its own way of thinking and remembering about herself and her life. 
• These entities previously were often called“personalities,” even though the term did not accurately reflect the common definition of the word. 


What is DID? 


DID (continued) 

• Other terms often used by therapists and survivors to describe these entities are: “alternate personalities,” 
“alters,” “parts,” “states of consciousness,” “ego 
states,” and “identities.” 
• It is important to keep in mind that although these alternate states may feel or appear to be very different, they are all manifestations of a single, 
whole person. 



What this means for your work 


Impact of Privilege & Bias 

• Be aware of privilege and bias 
• Understand the realities of survivors’ lives 
• Will be an issue for the survivor and her family – 
whether you see it or not 
• Partner with survivors to address strategies to help: 
• How will the system see the survivor 
• What is the survivor’s experience with the police, 
immigration, child welfare 
• Develop plans for how to address these with the survivor 







Impact of Trauma on Your Work 

• It is important to be able to identify when trauma may be an issue so that we can partner with survivors to craft strategies to help them: 

• Stay safe 
• Keep moving forward with what they want and need 
• Avoid triggers 
• Develop plans for when triggers arise 



Got Emotional Support Animals? 

Happy big dog with floppy ears sitting up tall in the kitchen.
21 

Dog rolling on their back with their legs in the air on a bed, looking playful
No Really – Got Emotional Support Animals? 


Partner with Survivors 


Strategize with Survivors to 
Ensure Emotional Safety 

• Build Trust 
• Help Survivors Understand What to Expect 
• Learn about “triggers” 
• She may not know all (or any) of them 
• Make a list that she can keep 







Strategize with Survivors to Ensure 
Emotional Safety (continued) 

• Anticipate “triggers” 

• What helps? 
• What can you do? 
• What does she do when this happens? 
• Plan for them. 



Law Enforcement 

• Look for Signs 
• Trauma Informed Interviewing 
• Adapt Credibility Assessment 



Prosecutors 

Incorporate a Trauma Informed Legal Advocacy Approach 

• Look for Trauma 
• Adapt Credibility Assessment 
• Plan for Trauma in Court 
• Prepare survivors and witnesses for court 
• Make sure they know what to expect 


• Normalize trauma for court – so judges know what they 
are seeing 



Judges 

• Require trauma informed legal advocacy 
• Learn about trauma 
• Develop a trauma informed credibility assessment 
• Allow Experts 
• Allow accommodations for participation 
• Bring in trauma trainings for attorneys, advocates and all 
who work in courts 



• Make meaningful connections 
• Adapt and accept 
• Accommodate 
• Hope 
• Remember – Kindness really does matter 


All of You 


Resources 

• Representing Domestic Violence Survivors who are 
Experiencing Trauma and Other Mental HealthChallenges: A Handbook for Attorneys, Co-authored by 
Mary Malefyt Seighman, Erika Sussman, and Olga Trujillo(National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & MentalHealth, January 2012). 
• Preparing Survivors for Court (National Center on Domestic 
Violence, Trauma & Mental Health (May 2013) 



Questions? Comments? 


Olga Trujillo, J.D. 
Director of Education & Social Change 
Caminar Latino 
Latinos United for Peace & Equity Initiative 
otrujillo@caminarlatino.org 

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