Trauma-informed Editing Practice

Trauma-informed Editing Practice

Trauma-informed practice is a strengths-based framework that guides the service provisions of the Australian healthcare and education sectors. Based on Mental Health Australia’s definition of trauma-informed care, the principles that underpin this framework include safety, trustworthiness, opportunity for choice, collaboration, empowerment, and respect for diversity.
While there is significant research on trauma-informed care and trauma-informed pedagogy, there is a dearth of literature on trauma-informed editing practice. Given that writing itself is often a vehicle for processing and sharing personal trauma, the lack of trauma-supported editing service provisions for trauma survivors is concerning, with risks of harm to both the author and the editor if an adequate support framework is not in place.

This qualitative study reviews existing trauma literature and conducts a field survey of Australian and New Zealand editors who self-identify as working, or having worked, with traumatic material or survivors of trauma. This study acknowledges that the implementation of trauma-informed services in a creative industry that is so heavily populated by freelance or self-employed individuals will necessitate a cultural and philosophical shift and, as such, the findings from this research informs the creation of a framework for trauma-informed editing practice. It is hoped that this framework will inform and direct future editing and publishing curricula, as well as provide opportunities for professional development in qualified editors.

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