IDC Trauma-Informed Practice 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following is a core principle of trauma-informed care as applied to performance contexts?
- Efficiency in scene completion above performer comfort
- Transparency, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness, and empowerment (Correct answer)
- Confidentiality over communication with production leadership
- Standardized choreography regardless of individual history
Correct answer: Transparency, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness, and empowerment
SAMHSA's six trauma-informed principles include safety, trustworthiness, peer support, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural sensitivity.
Question 2: An actor whose trauma history is unknown begins exhibiting dissociative signs mid-scene. A trauma-informed coordinator should:
- Continue the scene so as not to disrupt the director's flow
- Gently call a pause, use grounding techniques, and check in quietly (Correct answer)
- Ask the other actor to improvise until the moment passes
- Notify the producer to document the actor's behavior
Correct answer: Gently call a pause, use grounding techniques, and check in quietly
Pausing and using grounding techniques helps the performer reorient to the present and restores safety before continuing.
Question 3: Why is power imbalance between a director and actor a trauma-informed concern for intimacy coordinators?
- It affects the artistic integrity of the scene
- Power differentials can coerce apparent consent that is not freely given, especially for trauma survivors (Correct answer)
- Directors are not trained in physical choreography
- Industry unions do not regulate director authority
Correct answer: Power differentials can coerce apparent consent that is not freely given, especially for trauma survivors
When power imbalances exist, performers may comply out of fear rather than genuine willingness, which invalidates true informed consent.
Question 4: A trauma-informed intimacy coordinator uses 'check-in questions' rather than yes/no questions during choreography because:
- Open-ended questions allow more creative actor input
- Yes/no questions can elicit automatic compliance rather than genuine self-assessment (Correct answer)
- Directors prefer narrative feedback from performers
- Union rules prohibit binary questioning on set
Correct answer: Yes/no questions can elicit automatic compliance rather than genuine self-assessment
Open, reflective check-ins invite genuine self-reporting rather than socially compliant 'yes' responses that mask discomfort.
Question 5: The Window of Tolerance model is useful in intimacy coordination because it helps identify when a performer is:
- Within their optimal zone for engaged creative work versus outside it in hyper- or hypo-arousal (Correct answer)
- Ready for a costume or makeup change
- Prepared to deliver dialogue with emotional range
- Comfortable with their scene partner's acting style
Correct answer: Within their optimal zone for engaged creative work versus outside it in hyper- or hypo-arousal
The Window of Tolerance marks the zone where nervous system activation supports performance; outside it, trauma responses impair functioning.
Question 6: Cultural humility in trauma-informed intimacy coordination means:
- Applying a universal script for all trauma disclosures regardless of background
- Recognizing that trauma expression, disclosure norms, and boundaries vary across cultural contexts (Correct answer)
- Using the same choreography techniques for all performer demographics
- Deferring all cultural questions to the casting department
Correct answer: Recognizing that trauma expression, disclosure norms, and boundaries vary across cultural contexts
Cultural humility requires coordinators to remain curious and responsive to how culture shapes a performer's relationship to body, intimacy, and trauma.
Question 7: What distinguishes 'trauma-sensitive' from 'trauma-informed' practice in intimacy work?
- Trauma-sensitive is more legally binding than trauma-informed
- Trauma-informed involves structural/policy integration; trauma-sensitive focuses on individual interaction adjustments (Correct answer)
- Trauma-sensitive applies only to minors on set
- There is no meaningful distinction between the two terms
Correct answer: Trauma-informed involves structural/policy integration; trauma-sensitive focuses on individual interaction adjustments
Trauma-informed practice reshapes systems and policies, while trauma-sensitive describes moment-to-moment relational adjustments within existing structures.
IDC Trauma-Informed Practice 4
Which of the following is a core principle of trauma-informed care as applied to performance contexts?