Welcome!

I created this Starter Kit because there is a huge difference between knowing that trauma matters and actually knowing what to do differently when you are sitting across from a patient.

Most clinicians have heard the words trauma-informed care.

We know we should create safety.
We know consent matters.
We know we don't want to retraumatize people.

But then the patient is on the table.

Her breathing changes.
Her muscles guard.
She goes quiet.
She says, “I don't know.”
She suddenly wants to stop.

And now you have to make a clinical decision in real time.

What do you notice?

What do you change?

How do you respond?

When do you pause?

What do you say?

And perhaps most importantly:

How do you know what is within your role—and when you need to collaborate or refer?

That is where trauma competence matters.

This Starter Kit is designed to help you bridge that gap.

Inside, you'll have opportunities to look at yourself, your clinical approach, your language, your decision-making, and the practical tools you can begin using immediately.

You'll explore:

• Your own experiences, assumptions, and clinical patterns
• Sexual beliefs and potential clinical bias
• Your capacity, boundaries, and nervous-system responses as a clinician
• The difference between trauma-informed intentions and trauma-competent clinical skills
• What protection can look like in the body
• Practical regulation and orienting strategies
• Trauma-competent intake questions
• Consent and language tools you can use immediately
• Scope, collaboration, and referral
• A 30-day plan for putting what you've learned into practice

You do not need to know everything about trauma to begin providing more trauma-competent care.

You need to know what to notice, what to change, and what to do next.

And that's exactly what this Starter Kit is designed to help you do.

My hope is that you finish this kit not simply knowing more—but seeing differently.

Seeing the patient in front of you.

Seeing the protective responses happening in real time.

Seeing where your own assumptions may enter the room.

And seeing the clinical choices you can make differently because of it.

Because trauma-informed care is a philosophy.

Trauma-competent care is what you do with that philosophy when the patient is sitting in front of you.

Let's raise the standard of trauma-competent pelvic and sexual healthcare—together.

~ Amy