Reflecting on trigger warnings.

I’ve been reflecting on trigger warnings. As most of you know, at Touch we use trigger warnings very lightly. Guests at our events are given a programme with a brief synopsis of the stories that they will be hearing and are encouraged to check in with us if anything leaves them feeling wobbly or vulnerable. The hard, and often unseen, work is in the preparation the storytellers put in before they share. They are supported to share their stories in boundaried ways: in ways that focus on the positives and celebrate resilience. We believe that there is a lot of power in what isn’t said in a story and details of hard times are not important for an audience to appreciate the magnitude of someone’s overcoming story.Recently Debs and I have been working with Psychologists at The University of Southampton and I took the opportunity to ask for some advice on trigger warnings.  It’s interesting. Research suggests the efficacy of trigger warnings is limited, and some researchers point to the potential for them to do harm. The research hinges on a couple of ideas: that trigger warnings can cause a kind of anticipatory anxiety which exceeds what would have occurred anyway and secondly that trigger warnings can cause avoidance behaviours, which therapists suggest is not helpful for people managing certain conditions.  Reflecting personally, though, I feel sure that I benefit from a gentle ‘heads up’. Our events are evenings out for people to connect with one another, listen and reflect. We are not offering a space for formal therapy and I think that giving people the chance to step away from stories they may not feel they want to hear offers respect and empowers our audience. We are committed to creating a safe and supportive environment and have found that our approach of providing programmes is part of this consideration. What do you think? I’m so interested to hear people’s thoughts and wonder how I might reconcile my own personal feelings and experiences with what the research tells us. If you have a perspective you’d like to chat through, please drop me an email: [email protected] you’re interested to read about trigger warnings, this article is useful.