Seeing the unseen: Why trauma-informed community engagement requires compassion, curiosity, and context

In community consultation and stakeholder engagement, behaviours like anger, withdrawal, silence and hostility are often read as opposition to a project or policy. What we frequently miss is the invisible context behind those behaviours. An image that sticks with me is an IV bag in an emergency ward: an unmistakable signal someone is struggling. If we could see the “IV drip” in consultation rooms, our first response would be care.

Why This Matters for Stakeholder Engagement

• Hidden stressors influence participation.
  Many people carry recent or cumulative stressors—health crises, financial strain, family breakdowns. These shape if and how they engage.

• Behaviour often signals need, not intent.
  What looks like resistance may be fatigue, trauma, or simply a lack of mental, emotional and/or physical capacity to engage.

• Evidence supports trauma-informed approaches.
  Designing for psychological safety improves participation equity, reduces drop-out and produces more candid feedback.

• Trauma-informed practice is gaining traction.
  Networks and research programs in Australia now point to the benefits of embedding trauma-aware approaches across services to improve safety, participation, and outcomes for people with complex needs.

Designing Engagement for Unpredictability and Compassion

In practice, it’s essential we work to reduce assumptions and increase curiosity. That means:

• Building flexible consultation formats that accommodate diverse needs

• Training teams in trauma-informed communication and facilitation

• Measuring not just attendance, but emotional accessibility and perceived safety

• Creating space for silence, emotion, and complexity in engagement settings

How Community Insights Consulting Can Help

At Community Insights Consulting, we specialise in designing and delivering trauma-informed, human-centred engagement strategies that build trust and strengthen social licence. Our services include:

• Bespoke stakeholder engagement planning for complex or sensitive projects

• Trauma-aware facilitation

• Inclusive consultation design across infrastructure, policy reform, and renewable energy

• Strategic communication that honours lived experience

• Evidence-based reporting that captures both quantitative and qualitative impact

Whether you're preparing for a major infrastructure rollout, navigating policy reform, or seeking to build genuine community trust, we can help you embed compassion, safety, and clarity into every stage of your engagement process.