EP 17: Trauma Responsive Design | Rachael Dietkus

Meet Rachael Dietkus. She’s a clinical social worker who has dedicated her career to trauma responsive practices in design. After a 10-year career working with social justice and human rights non-profits, she pursued a Master of Social Work and worked at Veterans Affairs across the patient advocacy, planning and construction, and housing and homelessness arenas. Since 2016, she has been working in higher education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an Assistant Dean at the School of Social Work and the Associate Director of Programs at the new Siebel Center for Design. Bon and Rachael talk about how design and social work fit together, why designers should think more like social workers and about the journey of developing the field of trauma responsive design. You will also hear advice on how to respond to trauma that you may be experiencing during this pandemic.