Reclaiming Agency After Trauma: What The Body Keeps the Score Teaches Us About Workplace Violence and Safety
Trauma is more than an event. It is an imprint on the body and brain. In The Body Keeps the Score, psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk explains that traumatic experiences can fracture our sense of safety, skew how we respond to stress, and disconnect our bodies from our minds. Healing is not just about remembering what happened. It is about rebuilding a sense of agency, the ability to act, to feel in control, and to inhabit one’s body rather than feel trapped by past wounds.
What Does Agency Mean in Trauma Recovery?
Agency, or the sense of being an active participant in your own life, often gets eroded during trauma. When someone experiences violence, especially repetitive or overwhelming experiences, their nervous system can default to survival instincts such as fight, flight, or freeze. These states are not choices so much as biological reactions to danger, but over time they can create a chronic sense of powerlessness and hyper-reactivity.
Van der Kolk highlights how trauma rewires the brain’s stress responses, reducing a person’s access to thoughtful, intentional self-regulation. Healing in this model means restoring control over one’s body and reactions, creating environments that support presence rather than fear, and engaging in practices that reconnect the mind with physical sensation. People who feel safe enough to act rather than merely survive regain agency and resilience.
Workplace Violence: Trauma in the Modern Workplace
Workplace violence is distressingly common, particularly for frontline workers such as healthcare professionals. Violence can range from verbal abuse to physical assaults and life-threatening incidents. These events do not just cause immediate harm. They can produce long-lasting psychological impacts consistent with trauma.
The danger is not only physical. The loss of agency plays a critical role. When staff feel unsafe, unsupported, or unable to prevent escalation, it reinforces a sense of helplessness. That fear persists long after a shift ends and can shape future interactions, creating a feedback loop between past threats and present reactions.
From Powerlessness to Preparedness: Pinpoint Inc.’s Mission
This is where the work of Pinpoint Inc. becomes deeply relevant. Pinpoint is not just providing safety technology. It is creating tools that help restore agency in the workplace. Their de-escalation and panic button systems empower healthcare workers to act early by alerting nearby colleagues at the first sign of agitation rather than waiting for a crisis to erupt.
Key aspects of Pinpoint’s approach reflect trauma-informed principles:
- Discreet, wearable alerts that allow workers to call for help without escalating a situation
- Non-tracking design that respects autonomy by activating location only when help is requested
- Rapid response that enables local support before violence occurs, reinforcing a sense of control and safety
In trauma theory, safety and agency are foundational. When environments are unpredictable or threatening, nervous systems remain locked in survival mode. When people know they can act and be supported quickly, they are more likely to remain present, regulated, and engaged.
Why This Matters Beyond Healthcare
While Pinpoint’s technology is embedded in healthcare settings, its implications extend far beyond hospitals. Workplace violence across industries undermines people’s sense of agency and belonging. Systems that help staff act before a threat becomes violence do more than prevent injury. They affirm dignity, autonomy, and trust.
In the language of The Body Keeps the Score, this is part of healing. It creates conditions where people feel safe enough to listen to their bodies, trust their instincts, and know that support is available when they need it.