Trauma-informed design at a women’s refuge

The healing power of interior design

What comes to mind when you think about interior design?

Perfectly styled sideboards?

Beautifully balanced furniture?

Carefully curated décor?

The visual appeal of a room is the focus of design magazines and online platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. We’re drawn to these beautiful images because humans are hardwired to seek out beauty. Yet making beauty the sole focus of a space, belies the real power of design in our life – the power to uplift, nurture, inspire and heal.

Scientific studies have shown that our surroundings have a profound effect on our physical health, our emotional wellbeing, the way we process information, how we behave in certain settings and respond to other people. This science is the basis for Interior Design Psychology and, more specifically, an emerging branch of Interior Design Psychology called Trauma-Informed Design.

Trauma Informed Design is an approach to designing spaces specifically for people experiencing homelessness, domestic family violence, grief, addiction and other forms of trauma. Trauma-Informed Design goes beyond the traditional aesthetics of interior design and responds directly to the physical, psychological and emotional needs of people in crisis.

The need for trauma-informed interiors is increasingly being recognised by organisations responsible for creating spaces for healing and recovery. And the need is great. Statistics on homelessness, domestic violence and addiction suggest that trauma is ubiquitous. Without intervention, trauma will have lasting adverse impacts on wellbeing, functioning and quality of life for millions of people globally.

For victims of domestic violence, refuges play an important role in helping women and their children recover from trauma and rebuild their lives. Typically run by not-for-profit organisations, their limited resources are invested in skilled case workers who guide women through the legal, financial and emotional minefield of escaping a violent, abusive partner.

While safety is paramount in designing refuges, they are otherwise often bland, institutional feeling spaces furnished with a mish mash of seen-better-days donated goods. Understandably, interior design is lower on the list of priorities for resource poor community services, yet we know that well-designed spaces can rebuild dignity and wellbeing and accelerate healing. Trauma-informed design is the foundation for trauma-informed care.

Design for Hope supports victims of domestic violence by creating spaces that accelerate recovery from trauma. Our design choices are grounded in the science of how our surroundings affect our mental and physical health. We draw on our proprietary design framework called the Trauma-Informed Hierarchy of Needs (TIHN) to identify and prioritise the design strategies that will have the most positive impact on the people who use the space.

For example, Erin’s Place, a refuge for women and children escaping domestic violence, was a functional but clinical and unwelcoming environment when we were invited to create a more trauma-informed home. Our goal for Erin’s Place was to create a warm, inviting and beautiful space that would uplift both mums and kids, and promote a sense of safety, calm, dignity, confidence and healing.

Here are some examples of trauma-informed design in practice at Erin’s Place:

1.       A goal of TID is to help people feel safe. And one way to do this is by arranging furniture in a particular way.

Humans have evolved to feel safe when they are protected from behind and can see what’s coming ahead of them. This has helped us not get eaten by predators or speared in the back by rival tribes for hundreds of thousands of years and so this preference is embedded in our DNA for good reason.

At Erin’s Place we applied this by switching the sofa and TV around in the living room. Now when residents are sitting on the sofa they have a good view of what’s happening around them, including people coming through the doorway. This little tweak to the floor plan will help residents feel safer and more at ease.

 2.       Another goal of trauma informed design is to help people rebuild their sense of identity and confidence which is significantly impacted by trauma. We’re able to accelerate this process by making design choices that encourage self-expression, personal control and organisation. 

To reinforce individual identity, the impersonal numbering system for bedrooms was replaced with unique, welcoming names and each bedroom was given it’s own look and feel. Shelves and peg boards were installed to encourage residents to express themselves by displaying meaningful items and to provide a place for organising important paperwork to help residents feel more in control their future.  

 3.       Creating spaces that soothe and calm is also important in TID and one way we achieved this was to add pot plants, flowers and the colours and organic shapes you find in natural settings.

This is called biophilic design and there are many direct (e.g. house plants, images of nature) and indirect (e.g. colours, shapes) references to nature throughout the house.

Studies show that bringing nature into our living areas reduces blood pressure, decreases stress and negative thoughts and improves our overall sense of wellbeing. Nature has also been shown to be a potent healer - even a view of a tree from a hospital bed can significantly speed up healing and reduce pain after surgery. 

It has been a great honour to have been entrusted with the design and renovation of Erin’s Place. We hope that the women and children who come to stay find peace, inspiration, worthiness and a sense of new possibilities for their life.

If you would like to contact us for more information, please book a call or email us.