The Path from Trauma to Trauma-Informed Care: The Need to Address Unresolved Collective Trauma in Chile

Currently, there is growing literature on trauma-informed care and interventions addressing health and mental health problems from this approach. In Latin America, however, literature and intervention are scarce and there is an opportunity for social work to promote community-wide responses. This article aims to diminish this gap by contributing with a case analysis focused on Chile. For this, we present a descriptive narrative case study approach, drawing upon our previous qualitative research projects, literature, and document review with an empirical analysis based on our professional experiences as a team of Chilean social workers, psychologists, and professors with lived experience in mental health. First, we describe these traumatic events, analyze their consequences on the population's mental health, and delve into the clinical problems associated with the traumatic events described. Then, we approach the mental health system and social work in Chile, discussing the resurgence and strengthening of the social-clinical disciplinary perspective and the gaps in the comprehensive approach to mental health. In our results, we identify opportunities for improvement in the development of trauma-informed interventions. We discuss the lack of awareness, research, and interventions that tackle collective and individual trauma in Chile, identifying the need for mental health first aid in disasters and the need for justice and reparation.