TRB Newsletter - 18th March 2026

March 18, 2026•4 min read

A Reflection on connection: A heart felt message from Rachel Fairhurst, the founder of The Trauma Regulation Board

Dear Friends and Colleagues

Over the past months I have found myself in many different places, meeting many different people. Different countries, different communities, different ways of living and something has stood out to me repeatedly.

In some cultures, connection is simply assumed. You arrive somewhere and before long you are sitting at someone’s table. Dinner is shared, conversations move easily. People check that you have eaten, that you are comfortable and that you feel welcome. It is not formal hospitality, it is simply the way people live.

You are treated less like a visitor and more like a family member who has come home. Those moments have made me reflect deeply on something we sometimes overlook when we talk about trauma.

Trauma is not only about what happened to us.

Very often, it is about what we did not receive.

Emotional neglect.
Exclusion.
Disconnection.
Growing up without consistent warmth, protection, or belonging.

Many of the individuals we work with, whether veterans, survivors of violence, or people navigating complex life histories carry not only memories of difficult events, but also the quieter absence of safety, trust, and human closeness.

In our professional fields we often respond to this through therapy, assessment, regulation frameworks and treatment pathways. Those structures are important, and at TRB we take the responsibility of professional standards and regulatory improvement very seriously.

But, there is another element that sits quietly underneath all of this work.

Human connection.

Across cultures and communities, one of the most powerful stabilising forces for the nervous system is simple relational safety: sitting together, sharing food, talking openly, feeling seen being included, allowing the mind and body to feel safe while being part of a community.

In trauma science, we describe this in many ways, social regulation, co-regulation, attachment repair and ventral vagal activation. But in everyday life, it is something much simpler. "It is the experience of being welcomed."

At the Trauma Regulation Board, our work is not only about improving systems or raising professional standards. Those things matter enormously, but they are only part of the picture. We are equally committed to creating environments where people feel safe to be human again.

Spaces where conversation is possible. Where experiences can be shared without judgment. Where individuals who have carried heavy experiences are no longer standing alone.

Healing does not always occur through formal therapy rooms. Sometimes it begins around a table.

As our work expands across sectors, from frontline services to veteran communities, from safeguarding systems to trauma education, this principle continues to guide us.

Trauma regulation is not only technical. It is relational. Often the most powerful thing we can offer one another is not expertise, but presence.

A conversation.
A shared meal.
A reminder that none of us are meant to navigate difficult experiences in isolation.

Thank you to everyone who continues to support the mission of the TRB. Together we are not only improving practice. We are rebuilding the connection, and this is important, especially for our own journeys as we are all human and we are all recovering.

How TRB Training Supports You

The TRB is offering the UK’s first trauma-governed workforce standard. Our CPD's and accredited programs help you engage with individuals affected by trauma and equip you with a solid foundation of trauma awareness by grounding practice in the Universal Trauma Practice Standards. The training reinforces the safeguards required for the trauma informed practitioner. It supports practitioners across all sectors Most importantly, it enables anyone working with traumatised persons to align their practice with emerging regulatory expectations, ensuring that their approach is ethically robust, trauma‑aware, and compliant with the TRB’s evolving oversight framework.

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How to Register Your Interest

Reply to this email or contact:

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Together, we are building the first statutory pathway for trauma therapy and transforming how the UK defines, delivers, and regulates trauma care.

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