Promoting Collaboration & Co-Creation
In this episode of "A Trauma-Informed Future," our host Katie Kurtz delves into how we can promote collaboration and co-creation when we allow consent and choice to flow through everything we do. She emphasizes the importance of infusing consent and choice into all aspects of communication, relationship building, and decision-making, highlighting the need for active listening and validation. Katie shares tools for co-creation, such as shared input, check-ins, and co-development, as well as tools for collaboration, including space agreements, accessibility, and consensual inquiry. She underlines the importance of promoting shared power dynamics and creating spaces where individuals feel heard, considered, and empowered to participate.
Resources & References:
Reference on types of power: Making Change Happen (2006)
Show Transcript:
Katie Kurtz (she/her): Hi everyone. And welcome back to A Trauma Informed Future Podcast. I'm your host, Katie Kurtz. I've been on this role of talking about consent and choice. Some of my solo episodes this season, and it's because these are core tenants of trauma informed care. And if you Google trauma-informed care, you're going to get probably the SAMHSA model, which I've talked about, which is the really most known and formalized approach to trauma-informed care.
There are six principals safety, trustworthiness, mutuality collaboration. Cultural considerations, these, what you see in there is this ability to collaborate with other people. Well, how do we actually truly collaborate with others? It's by creating a flow of consent and choice to be accessed by people, whether it's two people or multiple people. And in this season, we've talked a lot about creating a culture of consent and we can create a culture of consent. That prioritizes collaboration. And that's founded on cultivating trust [00:01:00] by infusing and integrating a flow of consent and choice into everything we do by looking at it.
And again, it's bi-directional so it includes self consent. Making sure we are looking at our own self-awareness our own personal attunement to make sure it's doable and feasible for a manageable for us. That we're not overriding our needs over accommodating for the sake of others that it's really aligned for us so that we can show up and offer this for other people again, whether it's one-on-one in groups, et cetera. So today, I want to talk a little bit about how, when we infuse consent and choice throughout everything we do , not just our communications but our relationship building or decision-making how we lead, whether that's leadership of a program or service we lead or our business that we're creating this flow of consent and choice.
We're then promoting co-creation and collaboration. And what collaboration is really founded on [00:02:00] is this power dynamic of powering with or shared power. When we are powering with or sharing power, there is a foundation of respect, mutuality, and support. There is collective action rather than this very coercive or manipulative action. And there's solidarity and collaboration is possible when there is solidarity, there are shared power.
It's not powering over where there's domination force or control or believing that power is very finite. There is this belief that power is infinite. Everyone has it. And how can we share it in this space? The reality though, about power dynamics is there going to naturally arise no matter how much we want to share that power. When we go into a space as a coach or client, a consultant or client, a teacher, or a student, a doctor, and a patient. Whatever it may be.
There's an automatic power dynamic that arises what happens then though, is as , the power dynamic, it's typically if we're in that role of leadership with more [00:03:00] power than the other person, Because of the nature of the service or program or relationship we have a choice and we have to make a choice.
How are we going to utilize that power? Are we going to use it to domineer force or control or motivate through fear? Which is that power over dynamic. And again, I will cite in the show notes, these power dynamics and the words I'm using is not my own. This is something I learned through various social justice frameworks. And the most notable one will be in the show notes for you to utilize, but again, when we're looking at power dynamics from a trauma-informed care perspective, we need to be looking at the power we are yielding and the power we hold in certain relationships.
And then pause. And look at how are we going to show up in that power if I am showing up as a trainer and then I have trainees or a coach and a client or a therapist and a client. How am I going to utilize that power? How am I going to make sure I am [00:04:00] sharing it? And honoring the power inherit power of the other person. And we do that through practicing trauma informed care, and essentially creating a culture of consent where choice can be accessed.
So people have the power to choose what's best for them. And so power sharing is so crucial in a trauma-informed practice because even if a natural power dynamic arises, which is going to happen, We're then making sure we're choosing to use that power in a way that shared where it's opening up what's possible.
It's allowing for autonomous and regenerative practices. It's honoring the power within each person and within the group. It's creating opportunities for collaboration. We create opportunities for collaboration when we are able to offer consent and choice. So we're offering choice. We're offering consent, but it's more than just giving. We also need to be sure we're truly listening between the [00:05:00] lines. And today I want to talk about a few tools. For co-creating and collaborating with others co-creating is we're both there, we're sharing power and together we're creating something.
Collaboration is when there may be a power dynamic in play. And so we're honoring that reality. We're sharing power as much as possible. What were we're honoring the autonomy and agency of each per person or people. And then we're collaborating together. So one thing I really want to note today is something that I learned from one of my teachers, Andre Ranae Johnson, and I'll link them in the show notes is this practice of listening with resonance .
So resonance is when there is some sort of, vibrating object causing another object to vibrate at a higher amplitude.
When we're listening with resonance, we're trying to listen to the other person or people with active presence and being able not to fix judge or solve, or think about what we're going to say, able to [00:06:00] listen so that, that we can amplify what that person's saying.
And then also respond in a way that again, allows them to feel seen and heard, and we can hear people, but are we truly listening? And we talk a lot, in the leadership world about like active listening. It's not just about actively listening. It's about actively being present and noticing what's coming up for you.
So this level of personally attuning, so that we don't come from a place of reaction, but a place of responsiveness. Because when we're reacting, then the other person will react and then there's no room it constricts the space. There's no room for conversation or a reconciliation or repair when we're able to respond.
Then we're opening up pathways of communication and for trust and connection to be had. So we think about listening with resonance, we're talking about being actively present. When someone's sharing with us or talking to us, we're present to what they're saying. We're not thinking about what we're going to say next, or we're thinking about, all the things we have to do or trying [00:07:00] to fix, or judge yourself.
We're just pausing to listen. And before we do respond, we're practicing that pause or slowing down so that we can respond rather than react. We're noticing our body language and the body language of other, the other person or people. And we're really focused on what's going on. And if we don't have the ability to pay attention, that we're being honest and we're sharing like, Hey, I don't have the capacity right now.
Can I show up later? One thing that I think we forget oftentimes, and I see this a lot in like social media therapy jargon is that, this. This active validation and validation is so important. And I think often gets misunderstood that when we validate someone that we're over validating everyone that everyone's right.
We're over coddling. Again, this swinging to extreme. We can validate someone to let them know that we see and hear them, and we can still disagree with them. Validation is the act of being able to witness somebody and bear witness to them that we listened to them. [00:08:00] That we see them than we hear them. It doesn't mean that we're affirming and we're over, Coddling or any of that, we don't have to agree with people to validate them.
And I think that's a really important misunderstanding and we're practicing mirroring that may look like taking a moment to pause and say, thank you so much for sharing that with me. Maybe they share something really deep and just taking a breath like, oh, I just want to take a moment to really pause and let that sit in for a minute. It gives you when we slow down and we go at the pace of our nervous systems that we're able to discern how to engage with that person.
And especially because we need to pause before we respond. And sometimes it may say, I need to sit with this for a minute. Can I come back? Which is consent and choice. And then, again, we don't have to agree with everyone, but if we are in a space where we can really we can humanize their experience, validate their experience. And again, I talked about this in the episode on choice we want to learn to decenter [00:09:00] ourselves and center the person or people before us. And then if you do have questions, can you consensually inquire? Do you mind if I ask you a question or I was wondering if you could expand on this or do you feel. Comfortable elaborating, whatever that may be. These are all practices of listening because you're listening to create congruence and cohesion with the other person, you're looking to share power with them so that it can be equitable.
So, if we're looking at co-creating with other people and we're really looking at a shared power dynamic. Here's some tools that we can use for co-creation. Again, this is a non-exhaustive list, but just some things that I like to teach and talk about and trauma informed care. So one of them is shared input.
How can we offer clear opportunities for input and feedback and remain open to receiving them to ensure people are feeling heard and considered. This is something I really hone in on when I teach trauma informed facilitation and group work, because especially in groups, there's a lot of [00:10:00] different dynamics.
And if you're a facilitator or co-facilitator, but you still want to create co-creation and shared power, you want to be sure there's continuous open feedback loops and opportunities for people to be seen and heard. And there's equity there. One of my favorite things as a tool for co-creation and collaboration, are check-ins taking time to check in throughout the process.
See how people are doing, allow for people to provide input here. And adapt as needed. I love a good check-in. I love when people check in with me, it's such a simple practice that you can do at any time. This is also applying to our personal lives. As a caregiver. I have a lot going on in my life. And I tell my friends, they're like, what can I do?
How can I help you? I tell people the most is check in on me. I can get really busy and a week can feel like a month, just shoot me a text and say, Hey, like, how are you doing? Just checking in. No need to respond was just thinking of you. I love that. It feels so. So [00:11:00] supportive, it feels like I'm not alone.
And when we feel like we're not alone, there's that a relationship right. Which is collaborative. And then when you're looking at, especially a group that works together over time, you want to look at co-development. So when you work together to. Co-develop co-create the plan, the pace, the structure of what you're sharing.
What you're doing this again, promotes co-ownership. It promotes co-creation. And it's going to be specific to the context, but these are just some elements to consider. , it's trauma informed because you're considering why that's important. When we think of any type of group dynamics of any kind if one person always had the power or the authority, it constricts the space where choice and consent are available, where people's autonomy and expression are available when we're promoting these kinds of things, like tools for co-creation. Through a trauma-informed lens we're honoring that people have their lived experiences. And so group work might be challenging [00:12:00] or being a part of a team. They may step back. And so when we utilize these things, we're facilitating spaces in which people feel more. More likely to participate.
And then on the flip side, let's look at tools for collaboration. Again, this is a little gray co-creation collaboration. They kind of go hand in hand. But oftentimes with collaboration, we want to, there might be an existing power dynamic where you're a facilitator or consultant or coach or whatever role you have.
And you just may. Innately there creates a power dynamic. So, how do you promote sharing power and being cognizant of sharing power? One of my most favorite things is especially with groups and what I teach a lot of space agreements or group agreements. I call them space agreements because it is applicable to any space, whether it's one-on-one or group, but these are a collaborative and consensual tool to offer really clear expectations of the space and those in the space.
And I'll do a podcast episode, probably all on space agreements, because it's my number one most favorite [00:13:00] trauma informed tool. And use it all the time. I love it. It takes all the guesswork out of holding space for people, whether it's a training , whatever it may be. There's so many different ways to use space agreements. I teach them in a certain way.
But that's of course. Just how I do it. I hear people say is what if this happens? Or what if someone does this? Or what if that happens, space agreements, take out all the worry of what ifs, because you're creating really clear expectations of you really clear expectations of the other person or people. Of the space of whatever it may be. And the other important tool of collaboration is accessibility. Creating clear open pathways with others to ensure there's manageable access points within. The relationship within the space, within the partnership, whatever it may be.
There's some sort of accessibility there's movement. If I have an issue can I come to you? Are you approachable? Is there a trust established where I can feel like I can share something and you can receive it? And [00:14:00] then lastly, although again, none of this is exhaustive. Inquiry are you using compassionate and consensual inquiry? Inquiring being questions to better understand and truly meet people where they're at. I love using this when I start to work with people, whether it's a new consulting client or, people who sign up to train with me. I love being able to ask some questions, get to know them a little bit. And then also provide a lot of clear information so that they also know can get to know me.
So there is this informed consent both ways. You can see here, there's a lot of choice and consent flowing through all these different things. And when we do that, we're able to promote co-creation and collaboration. We're using language and communications and listening as a part of that as our most powerful tools or vehicles for co-creation and collaboration.
But it also includes us. We need to ensure we're looking at self consent and a tuning and being self-aware so that [00:15:00] we can be included in this process.
All right. Obviously there's so much we can talk about with using consent and choice. Promoting collaboration and co-creation especially, group work is where my heart is. I love working with groups and teams, and there's so many layers to explore , but I didn't want to get too into the weeds here.
I wanted just to talk about how everything kind of flows together. And love to hear from you. What does that look like in your trauma informed practice or in everyday life? Always feel free to connect with me on social media, LinkedIn. Or Instagram is usually where I'm hanging.or feel free to email me too.
I'd love to hear from you. always excited to continue to talk about these core tenants of trauma-informed care. And also be curious to see how you start to notice them more in your everyday life, but also in some of the guests conversations we have on this podcast, because you'll notice. How everything kind of works together. All right, everyone.
That's it for today. I will talk to you soon in the meantime. Take good care.
