Saman Ghani Khan on what it takes to build a trauma-informed organisation.
A common piece of
professional advice for
handling workplace
conflict is: ‘Don’t take it
personally.’ If you often say this
to a colleague who is upset, I
encourage you to rethink your
approach. You may as well
ask them to stop their heart
from beating. When we are
upset, controlling our emotional
reaction is nearly impossible
because our biology is already in
motion, and trying to override the
brain’s natural threat response
is as difficult as controlling any
bodily function that works on
autopilot. In the short term,
especially when our awareness
of ourselves is compromised, it’s
nearly impossible.
Maintaining clear boundaries
in the workplace is essential for
a smooth workflow and a positive
environment. However, ignoring
the impact of neuroscience can
be counterproductive and may
harm employees’ wellbeing.
This is not a new concept in
management science. The Job
Demand Control Model was
developed by Robert Karasek
in 1979 and later expanded by
Töres Theorell and others; it
supports workplace boundaries
and the neuroscience of stress
responses as being vital to the
wellbeing of employees.
Employee wellbeing goes
beyond physical health and job
satisfaction. It is a holistic state
of psychological, emotional
and physiological safety that
allows employees to thrive. It
recognises that both past and
present stressors, including
trauma, influence a person’s
ability to engage, collaborate
and perform effectively at work.
This mindset is in stark contrast
to what many of us have been
told since our first job: leave your
personal issues at home. Stay
unemotional at work. Expressing
feelings is unprofessional.
Not only are these statements
dismissive, they are unrealistic.
In 1994, American psychologist
and researcher Stephen Porges
introduced the Polyvagal
Theory, highlighting the powerful
connection between our bodily
experiences and the voices and
faces of the people around us.
Given that most of us spend the
majority of our waking hours
at work, this dynamic plays a
crucial role in our interactions
with colleagues.
At its core, the Polyvagal
Theory explains that our brains
are hardwired to detect threats in
our environment based on past
experiences – without engaging
the thinking mind. Deb Dana, a
well-known clinician and author
who uses Porges’ Polyvagal
Theory to heal trauma, describes
the autonomic nervous system
as working like an internal alarm
system that is always checking:
‘Am I safe?’
When our brain’s radar
encounters something that
resembles a past threat, a
stressor or hurt, our emotional
brain takes over, triggering a
visceral response before we
can consciously process what is
happening. The emotional brain
signals the body to react and the
rational brain temporarily goes
offline. At this point, the brain shifts
into one of three fundamental
physiological states to ensure
survival: 1. Seeking connection
(asking for help); 2. Flight or fight
(responding with action, escape
or avoidance); 3. Freeze (shutting
down or dissociating).
The response the brain
chooses depends on the level of
perceived danger and how much
it trusts each survival state to
keep us safe in that moment.
Neuroscience is crucial to
employee wellbeing because it
explains how the body responds
to stress – and how failing to
manage this response can harm
both individuals and the business
as a whole. Put simply, stress is
the body’s reaction to something
the brain perceives as unsafe or
as beyond our coping ability.
What qualifies as ‘unsafe’ is
not just about physical danger. It
can be anything that triggers an
emotional or psychological threat
based on past experiences.
A dismissive comment might
remind someone of past
rejection, triggering a defensive
response. A tight deadline
around a meaningful assignment
could activate feelings of
pressure and failure, making
it hard to focus. Ever found
yourself procrastinating at work?
You are not a ‘procrastinator’
or a ‘lazy worker’. It is likely that
your brain is making you avoid
a task because of the stress
response it has triggered in your
body. A punitive boss may bring
back memories of strict authority
figures, leading to heightened
anxiety. An abusive client could
mirror past toxic relationships,
pushing an employee into
survival mode.
Since humans naturally try
to make sense of things, these
automatic signals shape the
stories we tell ourselves and
influence how we experience
daily life. This is how trauma
affects us.
Trauma is not the thing
that happened to you. It is
the impact left behind in your
nervous system from the thing
that happened to you. It is
the story of how you survived
something that was too difficult
or overwhelming to process. It
is our experiences with trauma
that shape how we react in the
present moment.
Trauma responses go deeper
than surface-level behaviour.
They trigger biological changes
that support the body’s safety
mechanisms. When we are
stressed, our body activates the
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal
(HPA) axis, leading to a surge of
stress hormones. This causes
changes in heart rate and blood
pressure, breathing, digestion
and muscle tension, and if not
brought back to balance, they
prevent the body from healing
naturally, eventually leading to
a long list of health issues
including heart disease, a weakened immune response and digestive issues. Prolonged stress and dysregulation of the nervous system (the inability to bring the body back to balance) can create biological conditions that may increase cancer risk.
This may be an uncomfortable reality to acknowledge. However, how your employees feel matters – not just for their wellbeing, but also for the quality of their work. If reducing sick days is not a strong enough reason to train managers on how to support employees in managing stress, consider the fact that employees who can regulate their emotions effectively are better decision-makers, more resilient under pressure and ultimately more productive.
Then, there is the ‘B’ word: burnout. Burnout is not just about working too much – it is a sign of nervous system dysregulation, and happens when employees face prolonged stress, a lack of a sense of safety, and don’t have opportunities for proper recovery. Ignoring the role of the nervous system in workplace wellbeing doesn’t just hurt individuals; it impacts the entire organisation.
If you lead a brand, team or organisation and want to integrate neuroscience-based approaches into your workplace, the key is to cultivate a culture of psychological safety and emotional regulation.
In the field of organisational wellness, this approach is known as being trauma-informed.
At its core, being trauma-informed means that you bring the body into the conversation. A trauma-informed organisation recognises that the nervous system plays a crucial role in how employees interact, communicate and perform. This means considering nervous system dynamics when designing workplace policies, including communication strategies, conflict resolution, office environments and team-building efforts. By acknowledging how stress and past experiences shape behaviour, companies can create a work culture where employees feel safe, supported and able to thrive.
1. Consent
This is perhaps the most crucial step. Creating a trauma-informed culture cannot be imposed from the top down, nor can it be achieved through a single workshop. Every team member – leaders included – comes to work with their own survival instincts in place, prepared to defend themselves against perceived challenges. You cannot simply force the brain to override its programming, as change is inherently uncomfortable.
However, even if employees agree to this approach as part of their jobs, it does not guarantee they will fully engage in the deep work required to cultivate safety within their own nervous systems. They must sincerely ask themselves if they want to learn how to bring about this kind of change and are willing to connect with difficult emotions as part of this process. True transformation requires willingness, consistency and trust, not just compliance. This kind of change has its challenges. Resistance may show up in mood swings, sick days, silent treatment and zoning out. But it’s not impossible.
The Trauma Release and Wellness Centre in Karachi offers comprehensive training programmes for organisations that want to move towards being trauma-informed. Their founder, Aun Ali, and his team have worked with several organisations, including NGOs and a school. They are affiliated with the Arizona Trauma Institute and offer smaller, educational trainings for individuals interested in mental health-related experiences like burnout, food addiction and overwhelming anxiety.
One of the main trauma responses in any organisation is compliance, says Ali. A crucial question for a leader then becomes: how do we help team members hone the practice of seeing the difference between compliance as a trauma response and actually connecting with this work? Late last year, Ali invited my co-founder, my team and myself to begin the intentional and ongoing journey of becoming trauma-informed. As a co-lead of a wellness space, this approach quickly became essential – not just for our work, but for me personally as both an individual and an entrepreneur.
2. Education
The heart of this approach is intentionality. Here is how Ali explained the process unfolding. Once employees opt in, the next step is education – helping them understand how their nervous system reacts to stress and equipping them with tools to self-regulate. This includes recognising their particular versions of the fight, freeze or fawn responses; learning techniques like movement and breath work to reset the nervous system and understanding how workplace triggers (such as tight deadlines and conflicts) activate stress responses. For example, managers can be trained to recognise signs of stress (withdrawal or irritability) so they can support team members effectively, rather than misinterpreting their behaviour as disengagement or poor performance. This is not a recommendation for managers to pose as therapists. It is about demanding excellence safely.
3. Normalising Emotional Expression
A trauma-informed workplace encourages openness about emotions rather than suppressing them. Employees should feel safe to name their stressors without fear of judgment or retaliation. This requires shifting workplace norms away from outdated beliefs like ‘leave your emotions at the door’. Instead of expecting employees to suppress their frustrations, a trauma-informed team might use structured check-ins where employees can briefly share how they are feeling before diving into work.
Once employees feel safe to express themselves, an effective way to help deactivate the reaction is to learn how to separate memory from the emotion, as many workplace conflicts stem from unresolved past experiences rather than the present situation. Trauma-informed organisations help employees recognise when they are reacting to old wounds rather than current realities. If an employee reacts strongly to feedback, it may not be about the feedback itself but rather an old experience of feeling unheard or undervalued. Recognising this helps them process the body’s response in a way that supports balance.
4. Patience and Financial Commitment
This must come from the head of the organisation, along with a sincere belief in the value of incremental change. Building a trauma-informed culture is not a quick fix and requires long-term investment. Organisations must be willing to invest in ongoing training rather than a one-time workshop. They must prioritise wellbeing initiatives in the budget, such as coaching, mental health resources and flexible work policies. Most importantly, the leadership must accept that change happens gradually and celebrate small wins along the way.
5. Everything Starts With the Leader
As leaders, we must model emotional regulation and psychological safety in our own interactions. This means allowing oneself to be vulnerable and transparent about stress and wellbeing, as this will normalise the conversation for your team. In short, we have to do the work. Are we ready to change the ways we have protected ourselves for so long? And are we willing to experience the discomfort that comes with change?
Many leaders will resist this approach and from my own experience, I can understand their reluctance. Shifting toward a trauma-informed workplace requires a fundamental change in how we handle conflict, stress and interpersonal dynamics. It challenges long-held beliefs about professionalism and emotional regulation. For our team, embracing this approach has been transformative. Every weekly meeting starts with a co-regulation exercise we do together as a team like breath work, stretching, tapping, humming, shaking or other self-regulation tools we have practised. It was tough at first. Some members felt overwhelmed after focusing on their breath and body. Eventually, a few months in, we began witnessing small changes in each individual and their team lead.
Once an organisation commits to being trauma-informed, the workplace no longer has space for backbiting, suppressed frustration or toxicity. Rather than allow unspoken tensions to fester, clear protocols are in place to address conflicts safely, openly and without judgment. Employees don’t have to suppress their emotions or pretend that stress doesn’t exist; rather, they learn how to navigate challenges with awareness, regulation and mutual respect.
This shift does not mean eliminating difficult conversations or lowering standards – it means creating an environment where challenges are addressed in a way that promotes psychological safety, accountability and growth. Instead of brushing off emotional reactions as unprofessional, a trauma-informed workplace acknowledges them as natural responses and provides tools to manage them constructively. Organisations have the choice to make neuroscience-backed approaches part of company values, showing that wellbeing and performance are interconnected, not separate.
Saman Ghani Khan is a trauma-informed life coach and co-Founder, The Physical Wellness Centre. samanghanikhan@gmail.com
