Create a Safer, More Effective Courtroom

Download the Person-Centered Courtroom Checklist for Judges

Justice Shouldn’t Retraumatize

This quick-reference guide gives judicial professionals practical, trauma-informed tools to support emotional safety, de-escalation, and fairness in the courtroom.

Whether you preside over family, juvenile, civil, or criminal proceedings, this resource will help you make your courtroom a place where all people — regardless of their trauma histories — can be seen, heard, and treated with dignity.

What’s Inside the Checklist:

Executive Functioning Activation Techniques

Regulate your own nervous system to model safety and clarity

Safety Strategies

Create emotional and physical safety using trauma-informed language and tone

Common Trauma Triggers & Signs

Regulate your own nervous system to model safety and clarity

De-Escalation Approaches

Respond to distress with calm, compassion, and flexibility

Continuous Learning Recommendations

Create emotional and physical safety using trauma-informed language and tone

This trauma-informed guide helps you recognize and reduce power imbalances, respond to signs of trauma without judgment,

and build a courtroom culture of compassion and accountability.

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