Creative Behavior Systems Restorative. Mindful. Trauma Aware.

Much of what is currently labeled trauma-aware or trauma-informed has become narrowly focused on identifying trauma in children, often rooted primarily in the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study.

While the ACE study played a vital role in bringing public awareness to the long-term impacts of adversity, trauma-aware spaces were never meant to become systems of labeling, blaming or “othering”.

True trauma-aware work invites awareness of how lived experience, stress, environment and nervous systems shape behavior, across the lifespan.

It calls for self-reflection, relational responsibility and systems that support regulation first, not compliance.

This deeper understanding was championed by journalist and public health advocate, the late Jane Stevens, whose work was instrumental in bringing trauma-informed awareness into public consciousness. Jane consistently emphasized that trauma-aware spaces must move beyond identifying adversity and toward building relational, regulatory and systemic capacity.

In one of our many conversations, Jane once said:

“Susan, your work is years ahead of its time.”

I carry this reflection not as a measure of achievement, but as a responsibility, to continue shaping work that centers nervous systems, lived experience, relational accountability with human dignity.