From Values to Impact: Intro to Trauma-Informed Tango Spaces
/The vast majority of people have experienced trauma. And the effects of trauma don’t suddenly switch off when you’re at work, or school, or in a recreational space like a dance class. The default systems of oppression that exist are inherently traumatic, especially for historically excluded and exploited folks. These systems become the default in a space if there isn’t something constantly and consistently in place to resist that. Even when the intent of our events is to provide a fun, casual space to learn, it’s entirely possible–and even likely–that interactions and experiences in a tango space can cause folks to recall traumatic past experiences in intense, visceral, unexpected ways. Many of these recalled experiences may not have even happened at or in association with your dance space, but the unexpected recalling of them can still be distressing, whether those experiencing distress recognize the connection or not.As summarized in the previous entry by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA), when people don’t realize the widespread impacts of trauma, or are unable to recognize the symptoms of being retraumatized, we’re unable to respond with adequate and compassionate support. This inability to mobilize when harm does happen increases the chances that someone is traumatized or retraumatized during inevitable instances of harm.
Therefore, “trauma-informed” is not a destination, it’s an ongoing practice–much like our own tango practices.
So now, a big question is “how?” How do we discern trauma-informed practices from ones that aren’t? How do we tell if it’s having an impact? Which exact things do we need to do to turn these ideas into concrete structures?
And, fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you want to look at it, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. There can’t be, not with everyone’s trauma being different and manifesting in different ways and people having different levels of resourcedness to deal with trauma and experiencing systemic inequities in access to said resources and and and…you get the idea.
How do we create action with so few constants?? And how do we then understand whether our actions are helping or not? I’m not going to (nor can I) offer a blanket solution, but here’s a few simple starting questions/statements you use to check in with yourself (and your community) on a regular basis:
Is the impact of my action aligned with this value?
I will embody (value) via (action) for (impact).
In this situation/space, (value) looks like (impact) via (action).
Here’s an example applying this value-action-impact formula to a learning interaction:
VALUE: Let’s say we want to be more connected in our tango dancing (value = connection).
ACTION: One part of achieving that may be modulating the location and intensity of tension in an embrace (action = modulating tension). There may be many more things involved in achieving connection, and many different ways to achieve this. Not every action is necessarily an end-all-be-all, and this action may need to be continuous in order to maintain this value.
IMPACT?: Then you check and test with yourself and your partner whether that worked, and how that felt for them (impact = increased connection? Check with self and partner). This particular adjustment may look different with a different partner, for any number of reasons. Applying it in the exact same way for every person won’t necessarily achieve the value we’re looking for on a continuous basis. We may need to adjust our actions–or pick an entirely new action–in order to keep integrity to both the value and the impact.
For this example, here’s one possible way we can check in with our value of connection:
“I want to create more connection (value), so I’m increasing the tension/tone in my abs (action) to increase signal clarity (impact). Is it working?” The answer may vary widely
person-to-person, role-to-role, or may be entirely ineffective! Part of taking this statement all the
way through is checking in with those affected, as well as looking at all of the different impacts that happen from this action, not just the ones you were looking for.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) has outlined a list of specific trauma-informed values we can start from to construct the practices that make sense for our unique situations, spaces, responsibilities, access to resources, and relative level of privilege.
Each of these values ties into and supports the other values, and actions that support one often overlap into supporting the others. Alternatively, some may even be at odds with each other sometimes. It’s the responsibility of those organizing and facilitating in the space to choose what may be more important in any given situation, and to choose in a way that is directly informed by those you are serving. That’s where intimate knowledge of what you (and your space) are and aren’t equipped to handle comes in.
Take a moment to examine some of your own current values and how/whether they’re playing out via action and impact–or adopt some new values of your own!
Additionally, you can explore one of these variables by keeping one or two of the others constant–for example:
What would safety (value) look like in action? What impact would/could each of those actions have?
What are some possible impacts of requiring masks (action)? Are those impacts aligned with my values?
I want our spaces to be easier for folks with physical disabilities to access (impact). What values would it be helpful to adopt, and what actions can I take to help that happen?
I was privileged to be a remote facilitator at (r)EVOLUTION TANGO’s Growing & Evolving Tango Workshop at the 2022 Loca TangOh Festival in Boston earlier in May. One of my big takeaways was again, meeting myself where I was, starting with what I had, and compassion around the unavoidable messiness that comes with learning, imagining, and building new ways of being. Instead of trying to tackle the whole system in dramatic, urgent, sweeping gestures, in which ways can I support myself in taking incremental consistent action? Some may be resourced enough to make big moves, and it would be within their own integrity to know that this is what “doing what they can” looks like. For many of us, it’s easy to feel paralyzed into inaction by aiming for perfection on the first try. When we go back to centering impact in our values, it’s easy to understand why that isn’t viable for any kind of change.
In reflecting on the impact I’m looking to help create, I spent some time looking at the resources I have on hand–which can look like talents, access, mental/emotional/financial stability, physical and energetic availability, education, etc. My impact is not in being an expert–I am most definitely not an expert in social justice, nor am I saying anything brand new. My impact is in creating relationships with those around me to help make educating/equipping oneself be more accessible, to make taking action feel both simpler and undeniable. It’s in getting people started–emboldening people to get started–in their bodies, their thoughts, their emotions, and their actions. When I write, it’s to normalize acting without necessarily having all my ducks in a row, to allow my community to be part of my process and vice versa. It’s to show what “doing what you can with what you have” can look like without being an expert. It’s to affirm that there is more value in messy, unsure, imperfect action and engagement and reflection than there is in perfection, and that there is value further still in how that process necessitates that you check in with yourself and others about your impact in order to refine your continued actions and habits. My impact is (hopefully) in helping people feel empowered in knowing what questions to ask along the way so that we can keep moving with care and integrity in the face of unavoidable uncertainty.
I am less in the practice of helping people “find answers” and more in the practice of helping people understand which questions will lead them to meaningful, personalized answers–answers that meet you and your community where you are in ways that support continued action and impact.
And I truly would love to hear how well or terribly that’s going–let me know?
Citations:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Association, 2014. SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach. Pp.7-11.
Resources for further learning on trauma-informed practices
Lumos Transforms - https://lumostransforms.com/
The Resilience Toolkit - https://theresiliencetoolkit.co/
Trauma-Informed Los Angeles - https://traumainformedla.org/
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration - https://www.samhsa.gov/
SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach - https://traumainformedla.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/sma14-4884.pdf
