Trauma-Informed in Unexpected Places: An Overview for 29 Blooms

Exploring Practical Tools, Principles, and Training Opportunities

Trauma-informed care is not just a theory—it’s a framework that changes how we design systems, lead teams, and care for ourselves and others. At its core, it’s about making people feel safe, seen, and respected in the everyday environments where they live and work.

At 29 Blooms, we’re taking that concept one step further.

This space is dedicated to transforming trauma-informed principles into practical, ready-to-use tools. Whether you work in a high-contact job, run a small business, or support clients through care or service roles, you’ll find resources here aimed at building emotionally safe, human-centered workplaces—even in settings that are often overlooked.

What Is This Series?

Trauma-Informed in Unexpected Places is a 36-part series that explores how trauma-informed care can show up in everyday professions—from the DMV counter to the hair salon. Each entry breaks down one profession at a time, offering:

• A brief look at how trauma may show up in that role

• Practical strategies for supporting clients, staff, and yourself

• Examples from real life

• Suggestions for scalable, low-cost implementation

It’s designed for helpers, leaders, front-line staff, and anyone else asking, “How can we do better?”

The first post in the series, titled "Care Looks Like This: Six Small Moments That Can Create Change," introduces the six guiding principles of trauma-informed care with real-life reflections and tangible examples.

Where Can You Find the Series?

You can read the series across several platforms, each with a unique lens:

• Medium: Each week’s article will feature a local business or setting as a kind of case study to show what trauma-informed principles look like in real life.

• HubPages: A more factual approach, focusing on policies, research, and current trends in the profession, with guidance on how trauma-informed care can be implemented.

• Substack: Focused on the emotional side of things, reflecting on everyday experiences and the often-unspoken human stories.

• BKay’s Brain Blog: Where I share deeper thoughts behind the writing process, critiques, personal connections, and messy reflections.

• 29 Blooms: A home for concrete trauma-informed training tools and resource ideas, including outlines for profession-specific trainings that may not yet exist.

• Ko-fi and BlueSky: Visuals (illustrations), highlights from reader discussions, and featured comments. If you’d like to be featured, leave a public comment or tag me.

• YouTube (BKay’s Brain): Weekly long-form videos blend research, personal narrative, and practical applications. A YouTube Short every Friday by 5PM PST will reveal that week’s topic — sometimes with skits or roleplays to show trauma-informed strategies in action.

• Gumroad: Free and affordable companion resources may be shared here.

• Etsy and TPT: Related educational materials, handouts, and digital tools.

Want a Custom Training?

While many of these tools are still being developed, profession-specific training outlines are in the works. If you’re in a role or industry that could benefit from trauma-informed support—and especially if there’s not much out there tailored to your field—I’d love to hear from you.

At 29 Blooms, I collaborate with professionals to co-create workshops, guides, and resources that match real needs on the ground. Whether you’re a team lead in a restaurant, a school staff member, or part of a union or HR department, your insight matters.

Contact me directly to:

• Request a tailored training

• Co-create a resource for your field

• Share your story or example for inclusion

• Collaborate on a pilot project or workshop

What’s Coming Next?

Each week, a new post will spotlight a profession and offer tools you can bring into your work or life right away. You’ll see tips that help reduce burnout, increase connection, and improve service—not with more paperwork, but with more humanity.

Because trauma-informed care doesn’t need to be clinical to be effective. It just needs to be real, relational, and intentional.

Let’s build from there.