Trauma Informed Practice
Why Trauma-Informed Practice Matters in Dispute Resolution
By the time most people arrive at mediation, they are already carrying a significant emotional load. Separation, conflict, financial stress, fear for their children’s wellbeing, and sometimes a history of domestic or family violence — all of this affects a person’s capacity to think clearly, communicate effectively, and make sound decisions.
Standard dispute resolution processes can inadvertently make this worse: putting people in the same room before they are ready, using language that feels threatening, or moving too quickly through difficult territory. For trauma survivors, this can trigger responses that make genuine resolution nearly impossible.
Trauma-Informed Practice is an approach to mediation that recognises these realities. It doesn’t treat trauma as a barrier to get around — it designs the entire process around the needs of people who are carrying it.
At Brisbane Mediations, trauma-informed practice is not a specialist add-on. It is embedded in how we work across all our services — and is especially central to our family and separation practice, led by Crystal Montaldo.
The Six Core Principles
Drawn from the SAMHSA framework and adapted for Australian dispute resolution practice.
Safety
Physical, emotional and interpersonal safety is the foundation of everything. This means separate waiting areas where needed, careful seating arrangements, shuttle mediation options, and online sessions — whatever it takes to ensure no one feels trapped or threatened.
Trust and Transparency
Trust is built through honesty about the process, consistency in how we show up, and never surprising participants with what comes next. We share information clearly, explain what will happen, and keep our word.
Choice and Control
Trauma often involves a loss of control. Our process actively restores it — giving participants meaningful choices at every stage, from the format of sessions to the pace of the conversation. Nothing is imposed without consent.
Collaboration
We work with participants, not on them. The mediator’s role is to facilitate, not direct. We share power rather than concentrate it, and treat participants as experts in their own lives and circumstances.
Empowerment
Our focus is on building capacity, not managing symptoms. We support participants to identify their own strengths, articulate their own needs, and reach agreements they have genuinely shaped — not agreements they were steered into.
Cultural Respect
Trauma is experienced and expressed differently across cultures. We bring cultural humility to every session — recognising that a one-size-fits-all approach fails many of the people who need support most, including First Nations clients and culturally diverse communities.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Trauma-informed practice shapes every phase of the Brisbane Mediations process.
Before
Preparation and Assessment
During
The Session Itself
After
Closure and Follow-Through
Who Benefits from a Trauma-Informed Approach?
The short answer: almost everyone in dispute resolution. But it is especially critical for some.
Survivors of domestic or family violence
Research shows around 41% of family violence survivors still use FDR to resolve disputes. A trauma-informed process ensures this can happen safely.
Separating parents under high stress
Fear for children, financial pressure, grief, and uncertainty all affect decision-making. This approach creates the conditions for clear thinking.
People with a trauma history
For those who carry trauma from childhood, prior relationships, or other experiences, standard processes can trigger unexpected distress.
Culturally diverse and First Nations clients
Cultural safety is part of trauma-informed practice. We adapt our approach to ensure the process is genuinely accessible and respectful.
Anyone who has found conflict overwhelming
If conflict has left you anxious, avoidant, or unable to advocate for yourself, a structured, supportive process helps you participate effectively.
Children, indirectly
When parents are supported to participate without being retraumatised, they protect their own capacity to parent effectively.
A Note on Domestic and Family Violence
Family violence is a feature of a significant proportion of family law disputes in Australia. Research consistently shows that allegations of family violence — including coercive control — arise in many contested parenting matters.
A trauma-informed approach does not assume mediation is always appropriate in these cases. Our screening and assessment process is specifically designed to identify situations where mediation would not be safe — and where court intervention or specialist DV support is the right path instead.
Where mediation does proceed, every element of the process is designed to prevent re-traumatisation, manage power imbalances, and ensure no participant is pressured into an agreement they do not genuinely support.
If you have experienced family violence and are unsure whether mediation is appropriate for you, please call us. We will have an honest and confidential conversation about your options — with no pressure in any direction.
Meet Crystal Montaldo
Principal Mediator • FDRP • Child-Inclusive Practitioner • Lawyer
Crystal holds a Master of Laws in Family Law and Family Dispute Resolution Practice, and a postgraduate specialisation in Domestic Violence. She brings both legal rigour and deep human understanding to every matter she handles.
Trained in Child-Inclusive Practice, Crystal works across the full spectrum of family and separation disputes — including those involving family violence, high conflict, and complex parenting arrangements. She is known for making even the most difficult situations feel manageable.
Her training and experience make her exceptionally well-placed to lead trauma-informed practice at Brisbane Mediations.
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