In design and research, we’re often under pressure to work efficiently and create change, often operating across a range of contexts. These demands can make it hard to dedicate enough time for reflecting on our capabilities and responsibilities with respect to the people and contexts we engage with. Gaining clarity on our values and practicing self-awareness is one way to strengthen our capabilities and build a trauma-informed design and research practice.
In this workshop, Rachael Dietkus, a trauma-informed social worker–designer, explains what a trauma-informed scope of practice can look like in the context of design and research.
Speaker
Rachael Dietkus, a social worker-designer, specializes in integrating care, ethics, and trauma awareness into design, social work, and technology. Her design care approach emphasizes an ethic of care through responsibility, accountability, and possibility in these disciplines. Through her consultancy, Social Workers Who Design, she collaborates globally on design research, strategy, and training, prioritizing building trauma literacy in design. With nearly 25 years of experience, Rachael has contributed to social justice, human rights, and social change efforts in various sectors, including non-profits, academia, and government. She has also served as a UN delegate to the Human Rights Council. She is currently the first social worker at the U.S. Digital Service, a unique design and tech unit under the White House, where she focuses on trauma-informed design across agencies. She is a fellow with the RSA and the Social Work Futures Lab, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. You can read more about Rachael on LinkedIn or Social Workers Who Design.
