Call for Chapters: Cross-Sector Trauma-Informed Leadership for Healing-Centered Organizations

Editors

Micaela Swan, Grand Canyon University, United States
Kathleen Sprute, Grand Canyon University, United States

Call for Chapters

Proposals Submission Deadline: July 16, 2026
 Full Chapters Due: October 8, 2026
 Submission Date: October 8, 2026

Introduction

Trauma has emerged as a significant concern across professional contexts, influencing individual well-being, organizational culture, workplace performance, interpersonal relationships, and service delivery. Research demonstrates that traumatic experiences can affect cognitive, emotional, behavioral, social, and physiological functioning across the lifespan. As a result, professionals in diverse sectors increasingly recognize the need for trauma-informed approaches that promote safety, trust, resilience, healing, and human flourishing. While trauma-informed practices have gained traction within individual disciplines, much of the existing literature remains siloed within specific professional fields. Consequently, there is a need for a comprehensive volume that examines trauma-informed practice through an interdisciplinary lens while highlighting practical implementation strategies across diverse organizational and professional settings. This edited volume seeks to bridge research and practice by providing theoretical foundations, evidence-based frameworks, and applied strategies for implementing trauma-informed approaches across professional contexts. Contributors will explore how trauma manifests within specific industries, identify barriers and opportunities for implementation, and provide practical guidance for leaders and practitioners seeking to create trauma-informed environments.

Objective

The primary objective of this book is to advance understanding of trauma-informed practice as a framework for promoting healing, resilience, and human flourishing across systems. The volume will provide readers with foundational knowledge regarding trauma and its impacts, while also offering practical strategies for implementation within various professional contexts. The book is organized around three themes: 1. Foundations of Trauma-Informed Practice 2. Industry-Specific Applications 3. Implementation and Systems-Level Change Through these themes, the volume aims to provide a comprehensive resource that integrates current research, interdisciplinary perspectives, practical tools, case studies, and implementation guidance. The book seeks to move beyond trauma awareness toward sustainable organizational systems-level transformation.

Target Audience

The target audience for this book includes researchers, scholars, graduate students, practitioners, and organizational leaders interested in trauma-informed practice and systems change. Relevant disciplines include, but are not limited to: • Education • Educational Leadership • Counseling and psychology • Social work and human services • Public health • Healthcare administration • Business and organizational leadership • Human resource management • Criminal justice • Community development • Faith-based leadership • Public administration • Nonprofit management Additionally, the book will serve as a valuable resource for professionals responsible for organizational culture, employee well-being, leadership development, professional learning, policy development, and systems improvement initiatives.

Recommended Topics

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. Foundations of Trauma-Informed Practice a. Neurobiological foundations of trauma b. Psychological and social dimensions of trauma c. Trauma across the lifespan d. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) e. Collective and community trauma f. Trauma and resilience g. Trauma-informed principles and frameworks h. Healing centered engagement i. Human flourishing and well-being j. Cultural responsiveness in trauma-informed practice k. Equity and trauma-informed systems l. Organizational culture and trauma-informed approaches 2. Industry Specific Applications a. Education i. Trauma-informed classroom practices ii. Trauma-sensitive instructional design iii. Student behavior and regulation iv. School leadership and trauma-informed culture v. Family and community partnerships vi. Teacher preparation and professional development vii. Social emotional learning and trauma-informed education b. Healthcare i. Trauma-informed patient care ii. Trauma-sensitive communication iii. Healthcare workforce well-being iv. Trauma-informed healthcare leadership v. Patient engagement and trust vi. Reducing retraumatization in healthcare settings c. Business and Organizational Leadership i. Trauma-informed leadership practices ii. Workplace well-being and psychological safety iii. Organizational culture and employee engagement iv. Human resources and trauma-informed policies v. Burnout prevention and workforce resilience vi. Leadership development and trauma awareness d. Social Work and Human Services i. Trauma-informed case management ii. Client empowerment and advocacy iii. Community-based interventions iv. Secondary traumatic stress and compassion fatigue v. Interagency collaboration and support systems e. Faith-Based Organizations i. Trauma-informed ministry and pastoral care ii. Faith communities as healing environments iii. Spiritual formation and trauma recovery iv. Leadership development in faith-based organizations v. Supporting vulnerable populations through faith communities f. Criminal Justice and Community Agencies i. Trauma-informed approaches in law enforcement ii. Trauma-responsive correctional settings iii. Restorative practices iv. Community violence prevention v. Reentry and rehabilitation services vi. Trauma-informed community partnerships 3. Implementation and Systems-Level Change a. Leading trauma-informed organizations b. Strategic planning for implementation c. Professional development models d. Organizational readiness assessments e. Policy development and systems alignment f. Measuring implementation fidelity g. Evaluating organizational outcomes h. Sustainability and continuous improvement i. Cross sector collaboration j. Future directions in trauma-informed practice Intended Chapter Structure To ensure consistency across chapters, contributors will be encouraged to address the following components where appropriate: • Overview of the professional context • How trauma manifests within the field • Key challenges and barriers • Evidence-based trauma-informed strategies • Case study or applied scenario • Practical tools and implementation guidance • Reflection or discussion questions • Recommendations for future practice and research Authors are encouraged to draw upon current (published in the last 5 years) peer-reviewed empirical literature and systematic reviews whenever possible to support recommendations and implementation strategies.

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before July 16, 2026, a chapter proposal of 1,000 to 2,000 words clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors will be notified by July 30, 2026 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines.Full chapters of a minimum of 10,000 words (word count includes references and related readings) are expected to be submitted by October 8, 2026, and all interested authors must consult the guidelines for manuscript submissions at https://www.igi-global.com/publish/contributor-resources/before-you-write/ prior to submission. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-anonymized review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Note: There are no submission or acceptance fees for manuscripts submitted to this book publication, Cross-Sector Trauma-Informed Leadership for Healing-Centered Organizations. All manuscripts are accepted based on a double-anonymized peer review editorial process.

All proposals should be submitted through the eEditorial Discovery® online submission manager.

Publisher

This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global Scientific Publishing, an international academic publisher of the "Information Science Reference", "Medical Information Science Reference", "Business Science Reference", and "Engineering Science Reference" imprints. IGI Global Scientific Publishing specializes in publishing reference books, scholarly journals, and electronic databases featuring academic research on a variety of innovative topic areas including, but not limited to, education, social science, medicine and healthcare, business and management, information science and technology, engineering, public administration, library and information science, media and communication studies, and environmental science. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit https://www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2027.

Indexing Information for Prospective Authors

IGI Global Scientific Publishing meets the criteria for inclusion in major indexing services such as Scopus; however, it is important to note that all indexing decisions are made independently by these services. IGI Global Scientific Publishing books are selectively indexed by the indexing organization after publication. Indexing cannot be guaranteed for any book prior to publication, and the indexing organization has complete control over the final selection and timeline.

Important Dates

July 16, 2026: Proposal Submission Deadline
July 30, 2026: Notification of Acceptance
October 8, 2026: Full Chapter Submission
November 19, 2026: Review Results Returned
December 17, 2026: Final Acceptance Notification
December 24, 2026: Final Chapter Submission

Inquiries

Micaela Swan
Grand Canyon University
micaela.swan@gcu.edu

Kathleen Sprute
Grand Canyon University
katie.sprute@gcu.edu
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