about me
Digital design is never neutral
At Trauma-Informed Content Consulting, I work with public services, essential industries and mission-driven organisations to make complex content safer, clearer and kinder, especially for people already facing stress, grief, fear or discrimination.
what i do
I help organisations reduce harm through content
When someone interacts with a service in crisis — applying for a benefit, disputing a bill, reporting an assault, asking for help — the words they encounter can calm or escalate, include or exclude, empower or shame. I help you design content that does less harm and more good.
That means:
Reviewing high-risk content journeys
Training teams in trauma-aware writing and UX
Embedding inclusive tone and language practices
Auditing for emotional friction, not just cognitive load
Building systems that respect lived and living experience
Trauma-informed content isn’t a trend or a technique. It’s a shift in responsibility. If we know content can hurt, we’re accountable for how we use it.
Why I’m equipped to do this work
I’ve spent decades designing content for people in distress
I began my career in journalism, editing local newspapers, business magazines and national radio broadcasts in the Netherlands and the UK.
Since the early days of government digital transformation, I’ve helped design content for services that deal with some of the most vulnerable moments in people’s lives: from victim support and financial hardship to disability, immigration, bereavement and public health.
I’ve written national service content for:
The Metropolitan Police
Universal Credit
The UK Cabinet Office
Ofsted
Cancer Research UK
- ACAS
And many others
I’ve trained writers, designers and civil servants. I’ve created tone-of-voice guidance for services that communicate with people at their lowest point. And I’ve done it without ever forgetting that words are never just words. They’re tools, or they’re weapons.
senior content strategist
why this matters to me
This isn’t theoretical. It’s personal.
I’ve watched too many people, — including those I love — be dismissed by poorly written letters, confused by forms, shut out by cold language. I’ve helped my own mother navigate digital services that weren’t built for her. I’ve worked on frontline-facing content while processing grief, loss and burnout myself.
That’s why I believe trauma-informed content shouldn’t be a luxury — or a workshop — or a bolt-on. It should be a foundation. And it should be led by people who understand what’s at stake.
