Our staff encounter many different situations at FamilyWorks, some of which can have lasting impacts on mental health and wellbeing. We also work with folks who have experienced trauma in their lives, and want to have the tools to be able to serve them positively and effectively.
To address these challenges, we have been working with Martin Reinsel (he/him), a WA State Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) and state-approved Clinical Supervisor, to provide our staff with the support they need. Marty has led Trauma-Informed Care workshops for our team, and has returned on a quarterly basis to discuss de-escalation techniques and debrief situations our team experiences in our work.
We asked Marty to share some of his wisdom about trauma-informed care, the importance of continued learning to make progress, and the value of building Psychological Safety as a community and team.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Certainly. My name is Martin “Marty” Reinsel (he/him). I have led a rather full and abundant life that prioritizes human relationships and understanding the complex emotions, thoughts, behaviors, as well as the creative and imaginative processes that we have as individuals and as groups.
The easiest description of what most people see / recognize in me is this: I am a Clinician and a Musician.
I’ve worked over three decades in an array of unique and often challenging situations in our community, doing a mix of work consistent with me being a WA State Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) and state-approved Clinical Supervisor.
I am also a musician who has had amazing opportunities to play, tour, and record with incredibly talented people all over the world. I am very interested in the human condition and all that goes with it … including some of the most difficult and “dark” parts of our existence(s). I am very comfortable addressing the uncomfortable. I like to help individuals and groups find strength to overcome extremely challenging conditions and circumstances.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
Seeing people’s strengths … especially amidst adversities. I am consistently enamored with people’s abilities to overcome difficult circumstances. I am inspired and energized when I am able to support people with planning and initiating efforts to make our world a better place, especially considering the multiple and ongoing injustices and burdens that exist currently – and have existed throughout all of humanity.
I think of it this way: If I am able to offer care and support to those working at FamilyWorks, then they can go out and positively affect even more people. There’s a multiplicity here. If I help you, and then you can apply that support and knowledge to help out numerous people that you serve at FamilyWorks, then we are quantifiably increasing our positive impacts.
Why do you think it’s important for organizations like ours to use a trauma-informed lens when learning about de-escalation techniques?
There’s so much to say here, yet I’ll strive to be concise. I think that everyone should learn trauma-informed principles and actions / care. It is especially important for Family Works for the following reasons: a) FamilyWorks supports so many people that have had or currently have an abundance of complex trauma in their lives and b) so many of us that do this work are also coming from places of trauma and still-unresolved “wounds” that have not fully healed. It is imperative that we be able to understand and support people’s journey in overcoming these individual and collective traumas. If we do not fully embrace our understanding of these issues, we are at risk of ignoring root causes of suffering and potentially harming / re-harming people due to a lack of insight into trauma-based harms.
Can you speak to the importance of continuous workshops and debriefs in helping our staff apply what they’ve learned in your trainings?
Yes, and please know that other people may more effectively state this, and I am pulling from so much of the collaborative work and mentoring I’ve received from others over the years, so I will offer what I can here…
“Scaffolding” of this work is very important. Again, this is not my concept, but I will try to summarize. Think of a Scaffold and how it works. Bit by bit it helps us build and grow. Most of us think about the use of a scaffold around “material design” but it has applications here for learning and growing into this knowledge of Trauma-informed and Person-centered approaches.
When we “scaffold” our efforts – having multiple & various efforts to incrementally increase learning and reiterate key themes around trauma-informed approaches and person-centered actions – we are more likely to be able to retain and apply this knowledge, more so than having One Big Training (or, even One Big Training Week) per year. How many of us have attended a Big training and walked away feeling great … only to have the feeling a few weeks later of “what was that we discussed in detail in that Big Training?” We benefit from multiple iterations that reinforce the most relevant and important aspects of this work over and over again, while also incorporating new ideas and concepts as we Scaffold up!
I like this quote: “Practice Makes Progress.” Many of us – me included – learned a different quote growing up. I let go of the idea that Practice Makes Perfect (it doesn’t!), yet we can apply Practice Makes Progress to individual and team learning most effectively by Scaffolding the trainings, consultations, debriefings and the other formal and informal elements of Trauma-informed Care and Person-centered healing approaches.
What have you seen as the most valuable or impactful part of FamilyWorks’ de-escalation trainings and debrief sessions since you’ve started working with us?
Thank you for this question and my answer is really related to what I noted above about the Scaffolding effects of training.
However, there is one more thing that has become clear for me through my last couple of years of work with FamilyWorks: we are witnessing the growth of our collaborative “Psychological Safety” together.
Now, for those that do not know about Psychological Safety (because, let’s be honest, our society has focused / taught us more about Physical Safety than other types of Safety), I invite you to do some research on this. Let me offer the following about Psychological Safety …
When we feel Psychologically Safe with others, we are invited to let go of our deepest fears and anxieties … specifically those fears and anxieties about “not being (good) enough.” We all have some concerns and reservations with speaking up in social situations – especially at work – as we risk being embarrassed, shamed, humiliated, or even punished. No one wants that, yet many of us have experienced that in this world and at our jobs previously. And many of us are still carrying around those previous negative experiences in some way(s). When we get to let go of that fear, worry, and anxiety, we have more time and energy – more “room,” so to speak – to learn and grow and use our creativity and our skills for the benefit of ourselves and others.
I’ve witnessed the increasing Psychological Safety (& Social Safety too, if we wish to use language consistent with that of Dr. Sandra Bloom, the originator of the “Sanctuary Model of Care”) at FamilyWorks. I’ve witnessed it among colleagues, and I’ve experienced it with the way that people talk to me, especially about difficult subject matters. When we feel psychologically safe with each other, we can be less constrained by those negative thoughts and emotions and more able to put that valuable energy into the efforts and actions that we most want to use it for.
I’m seeing this at FamilyWorks. When I do my “Debriefings” with teams – currently on Tuesday afternoons on a Quarterly schedule – we are able to more easily address difficult subject matters and the “elephants in the room” that are affecting people because we feel safe. Again, that safety is the type where we have established & modelled certain social norms of care and support wherein we are then less likely to judge each other negatively and/or react in a manner that really does not serve anyone (employees, volunteers, or the communities that we serve at FamilyWorks).
Consequently, the ability to safely get to the heart of what concerns people allows us to more effectively use our time and energies to come up with care-based solutions and practices that do no harm.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our community?
Yes. I love working with FamilyWorks. You inspire me. You uplift me.
I know that there is so much need in our communities and, while suffering has always been there, it seems like now suffering, needs, and inequities are increasing. I see the people at FamilyWorks doing the best they can with what they have. Sure, if we had more (more time, more money, more resources, etc.) we could do more. Yet I am so impressed with the abilities and creativity of our FamilyWorks community to find strengths when resources are limited.
Do you notice that when I come to FamilyWorks I try to get there as early as possible, well before we start … and then I am not rushing to leave when we conclude? It’s because I really, really like being there with all of you! You are wonderful people! I am honored to know you and I am humbled that you ask me for support, training, and mentorship. I want you all to know how much you uplift & inspire me. I find strength from all of you: knowing that you are part of my/our world and making it a better place, one person at a time, one meal at a time, one diaper at a time, and one compassionate interaction at a time.
