Episode 2 - The Trauma of the Care System – Healing Within Traumatised Institutions
Care-Experienced People Mini-Series
About the Series
The Care-Experienced People Mini-Series is part of Trauma-Informed Conversations - a podcast created by Trauma-Informed Consultancy Services (TICS) to explore what it really means to build systems and relationships grounded in care, connection, and humanity.
Hosted by Carrie Wilson, this special series invites care-experienced people, researchers, and practitioners from around the world to lead open, relational conversations about trauma, healing, and change - asking what it looks like when we do it together.
Each episode brings lived experience and professional insight into dialogue, offering space for reflection, courage, and system learning.
Series Theme
Exploring trauma and healing both within the care system and the spaces that surround it - led by care-experienced voices, grounded in reflection, connection, and change.
Why It Matters
Care-experienced people have lived at the heart of the systems professionals are trying to make trauma-informed. Their insights, research, and leadership are not just valuable - they are essential to understanding what trauma-informed practice truly looks like.
These conversations highlight the power of language, relationship, and collective healing — showing that change begins not with policy, but with how we connect, listen, and build together
Episode 1: The Trauma of the Care System – Healing Within Traumatised Institutions
In this opening episode, Carrie Wilson is joined by Dr Lisa Cherry and Ian Thomas to explore what it really means to do trauma-informed work when the system itself is traumatised.
Together they unpack how institutional harm becomes embedded in culture - through silence, language, and power - and the human cost of working and living inside systems that were never designed for healing.
This honest, hopeful conversation invites listeners to reflect on what happens when trauma in the system goes unnamed, how professionals can care for themselves and others without becoming numb, and what it might look like to build care rooted in belonging, authenticity, and compassion.
Guests
Dr Lisa Cherry
Founder of Trauma-Informed Consultancy Services (TICS), author, researcher, and international speaker specialising in trauma, resilience, and recovery. Having stepped down as Director in July 2025, Lisa continues to influence practice and system-level change through writing, research, and training focused on relational leadership and cultures of safety.
Ian Thomas
A social-work leader and practitioner-scholar completing a PhD on healing and trauma. Ian brings decades of frontline and leadership experience across children’s services and the justice system, exploring how authentic, relational approaches can transform traumatised systems from within.
Host
Carrie Wilson - Collaboration & Innovation Lead at TICS, and well as a care-experienced researcher and practitioner whose work focuses on building trauma-informed systems rooted in care, connection, and humanity. Carrie’s work sits where practice, research, and lived experience meet, creating spaces for honest reflection on how we understand trauma and build systems that can truly heal.
Key Themes
- What “trauma-informed” means when the system itself is traumatised
- Institutional trauma: silence, control, and the erosion of safety
- The impact on professionals and those receiving care
- Authenticity, vulnerability, and the power of relational leadership
- Re-imagining care systems built on belonging rather than compliance
Key Quotes
“The systems were created to respond to the person as the problem. So it’s inevitable that the people working in them are also seen through that same lens.” – Dr Lisa Cherry
“If we received children into care as having experienced trauma, we would have a completely different system. We’d respond to them in a very different way.” – Dr Lisa Cherry
“Our institutions are traumatised — and in some respects, trauma-inducing.” – Ian Thomas
“It’s the biggest responsibility I’ve ever had and will ever have. My life’s journey is to heal my own trauma and support others to heal.” – Ian Thomas
“The fast track to connection is vulnerability. When somebody sends their representative, you can’t find a way in.” – Ian Thomas
“We’d stop dividing people up into different systems for different things. We’d understand that the child becomes an adult and the adult was once a child.” – Dr Lisa Cherry
Reflection Prompts
- Where do you see institutional trauma showing up in your own work or community?
- What helps you stay compassionate without becoming overwhelmed?
- What would a trauma-informed system look and feel like if it were designed for healing?
The Road Less Traveled - M. Scott Peck (1978)
Mentioned by Lisa Cherry as one of the first “healing books” she read in her early twenties. The opening line, “Life is difficult,” became a grounding truth in her journey toward self-understanding.
Discovering the Inner Mother – Bethany Webster (2021)
Referenced by Carrie Wilson when reflecting on the concept of the “mother wound.” Carrie describes the emotional impact of recognising her own experiences within its opening pages.
The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child – Nancy Verrier (1993)
Cited by Lisa Cherry as a “monumental” text that illuminated her early experiences of separation and belonging, offering language for parts of her story that had previously been unnamed.
Real: The Power of Authentic Relationships – Dwayne O’Kane and Catherine O’Kane (2016)
Discussed by Ian Thomas while exploring vulnerability and authenticity. Ian describes how a teaching from the book’s authors reshaped his understanding of connection and healing.
Conversations That Make a Difference for Children and Young People – Dr Lisa Cherry (2023)
Highlighted as Lisa’s most recent publication, this book draws together her decades of practice and research to guide practitioners in creating trauma-informed, relational spaces where children and young people can be truly heard.
Conversations That Make a Difference for Practitioners: Caring for the People Who Care – Dr Lisa Cherry (forthcoming, 2025)
A forthcoming companion volume focusing on the wellbeing of practitioners themselves — exploring how those who care for others can sustain compassion, reflection, and connection in their own professional lives.
Learn More with TICS
This podcast is part of the wider work of Trauma-Informed Consultancy Services (TICS) — supporting organisations, teams, and communities to build cultures grounded in safety, reflection, and humanity.
Through training, consultancy, and research partnerships, we help people move from trauma-aware to trauma-responsive practice.
Our sessions create space to pause, reflect, and learn how trauma shows up in systems — and what it takes to build environments that heal rather than harm.
Recommend Training Programs include:
- Trauma-Informed Record Keeping – understanding the impact of language and creating written records that heal, not harm
Supporting Staff Wellbeing in Trauma-Exposed Work: Sustaining Compassion, Connection, and Resilience - equipping professionals in trauma-exposed fields with reflective tools, neuroscience insights, and trauma-informed strategies to sustain wellbeing, prevent burnout, and foster compassionate, resilient workplaces.
- Trauma-Informed Safeguarding – embedding safety, connection, and relational accountability across service.
To collaborate, commission training, or discuss how TICS can support your project or team, reach out to us — we’d love to continue the conversation.
