As part of Blomeyer & Sanz’s commitment to ensure high-quality, responsible data collection, team members recently completed a certification on Trauma-Informed Interviewing Techniques.  The course content was developed by the FreedomLab together with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). 

Interviewing individuals who have witnessed or survived traumatic events can be part of our evaluation work. In such contexts, interviews may present particular challenges, as witnesses and survivors can still be deeply affected by what they have experienced. At the same time, interviewers themselves may face the risk of trauma when exposed to accounts of suffering as a result of emphatic engagement. The course addressed these challenges by providing practical knowledge, skills, and strategies for conducting interviews safely, respectfully, and effectively, ensuring that necessary information can be gathered while safeguarding the well-being of both interviewees and interviewers. 

The training explored different dimensions of trauma-informed interviewing. These included an introduction to the ways trauma can affect memory and communication, as well as guidance on the P.E.A.C.E. model, which involves five stages: Plan and Prepare, Engage and Explain, Account, Closure, and Evaluate. Each stage involves a layer of depth for dealing with interviewees in a way that prioritises their well-being while supporting accurate and ethical information gathering. 

The course also provided practical tools to identify and respond to an interviewee’s emotional and psychological state. 

Conducting such interviews requires careful emotional and psychological preparation. Interviewers must remain aware of their own limitations and state of mind before engaging in an interview and avoid re-interviewing individuals to minimise the risk of re-traumatisation.