In 2002, I started out my working life at the homelessness support charity The Simon Community as a researcher. The brief? Conduct qualitative tracking research with people experiencing homelessness to better understand the routes into, through and, in some cases, out of homelessness that they experience. 

This began with in-depth narrative life histories with 30 people experiencing homelessness and repeated in-person interviews over 18 months to trace how their circumstances changed and what they attributed to that change, to help develop more effective support services in the future.

What was clear from the start was that their stories were imbued with trauma. Childhoods and adulthoods where the concept of ‘home’ was intangible, of interpersonal abuse, physical and sexual violence, substance use, extreme mental health episodes and breakdowns, cycling in an out of institutions such as care, prison, shelters and rehabs – lives where refuge could understandably be sought back with the very mechanism of trauma, be that via substances or the only social networks and relationships they had. 

While vulnerability and victimhood were undoubtedly part of the story, what shone through their narratives was resilience and survival as people striving for agency, such as the young person who was so desperate to follow fashion they stole from washing lines to have the latest styles. 

Over 20 years has passed since, and I have been privileged to work on hundreds of research projects spanning challenges as diverse as campaign and product development, brand, policy and innovation. The concept of trauma-informed practice has become much more widespread, drawing on key concepts from healthcare which we can and should apply in developing our own inclusive insight practices. 

We need to engage in research with a keen reflection on ourselves and our practice, making sure we don’t fall into a space of ‘othering’ those who are experiencing difficulty (we all can be there someday; we may have been there already). We should also push to ensure research is actionable – I would say it is unethical to tell stories that won’t make a difference, and we need to ensure we are not fetishising trauma, but rather ensuring the research process can help drive real meaningful change. 

With this in mind, these are a few thought starters what to bring to this type of research (with all usual ethical standards and procedures in place of course): 

• Drop all assumptions: Do not assume you know what someone needs, but empower them to let you know and take part in a way that works for them, and meet them where they are – and do the same in the analysis. Don’t ascribe meaning to their experience – ask them. What is a trauma to one person may be less so to another.
• Create a safe bounded space: Ensure that the limits of the research are clear to those taking part – and only collect and share stories that are necessary – giving them permission to go into as much or as little detail as they feel comfortable. It can be retraumatising for people to reconsider details – and just because someone can tell you something doesn’t mean you should share it further, if it doesn’t ladder up to insights and information that will lead to real change for them or your client. 
• Look after ‘the team’: Each respondent is part of your team. Think about what they need to feel empowered when collaborating. Look after those who are conducting the research – including yourself. You need to be resilient to sit with other peoples’ trauma, and you never know what will be triggering for an individual, so apply the same trauma-informed principles of choice, empowerment and collaboration to those who conduct the research, giving them a choice to opt out with no explanation too.  

There can be great power in understanding the fullness of people’s lives – be that for designing more effective healthcare, better financial services or suitable personal care products, government services or behaviour change campaigns. And to do so we, as researchers, need to create the right space for this fullness to flourish.

Thinks Insight & Strategy will be talking about principles for trauma informed practice in a panel session at the MRS Annual Conference on 11^thMarch.

Dr Carol McNaughton Nicholls is managing partner at Thinks Insight & Strategy.