EP 26: Trauma-Informed Storytelling: The Secret to Inspiring Without Causing Harm With Taylor Kampia

About the Episode

Stories have the power to inspire, build trust, and create meaningful change. But they also have the potential to cause harm, sometimes unintentionally.

In this episode of Whole by Design, Dr. Julie Lopez sits down with Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and Make a Scene Media founder Taylor Kampia to explore the growing practice of trauma-informed storytelling and why it matters. Together, they discuss how psychological safety, authenticity, and ethical communication create stronger connections and greater impact than sensationalism ever could.

You’ll learn why authentic storytelling begins long before a story is ever shared, how stories can empower rather than exploit, and a practical framework for building trust, reducing harm, and communicating with greater intention. Whether you’re sharing your own story or amplifying someone else’s, these principles can transform the way you inspire others.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that the most impactful stories aren’t the loudest. They’re the ones that help people feel seen, safe, and understood.

Episode Guest

Taylor Kampia is the founder and CEO of Make a Scene Media, where she leads strategic media and communications for mission-driven brands and leaders. She’s also a Certified Breakthrough Academy coach, working with other leaders and entrepreneurs to help them break through whatever’s been holding them back. When she isn’t helping others break barriers, she’s a mom raising kind, independent humans, and a creative always looking for the best view.

Watch the episode:

Episode Transcript:

Welcome to The Whole by Design: Healing Through Trauma-Informed Storytelling

Dr. Julie Lopez: Hi everyone, my name is Dr. Julie Lopez, and I’m your host for Whole by Design. On this episode, we will be diving into the power of storytelling and specifically how you can use storytelling to heal instead of harm.

Today I’d like to welcome Emmy Award-winning Taylor Kampia, who is also the founder and CEO of Make a Scene Media, where she not only runs the business but is an expert photographer and videographer with a background in television and is using her interest in trauma-informed practice to really use storytelling for good on the planet.

Stay until the end, where she is going to share with you her go-to 4Rs for making sure that you are also using your storytelling for healing instead of harm.

Thank you so much for joining us today, Taylor.

Taylor Kampia: Thank you so much for having me. I’m super excited to have this conversation with you.

From Sensational Media to Trauma-Informed Storytelling: A Journey of Growth

Dr. Julie Lopez: Well, you know, we want to have you here because we are all about the trauma-informed paradigm and it really got me excited to read some of your materials and some of the work you’re doing as a servant on the planet.

Trying to do good with non-profits to spread healing, but very specifically empowering not just people in the media but non-profits and businesses, people in sales, people using stories to really slow down, think about, and start to incorporate sound trauma-informed practices so that these stories, while maybe in intention, are being told to do good, to inspire, and all this stuff, but are really 360 degrees consideration of all the people involved in making that story.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you started grabbing onto that niche in particular as someone with a background in television?

Taylor Kampia: Yeah, that’s usually the first question I get, which is like from people when I tell them that I do trauma-informed video production, there’s sort of like a question, oops, sorry, there’s sort of a question mark that goes across their face where it’s like trauma-informed video production, like I understand trauma-informed, I understand video production, how do those things go together, and aren’t you just using buzzwords right now?

And I actually really appreciate that question because I do feel like being trauma-informed is something that a lot of people are talking about, which I don’t think makes it a buzzword; I think that makes it awesome because the more we talk about being trauma-informed, the more we can actually be trauma-informed, so yes.

Dr. Julie Lopez: I love that, you know I love that.

Taylor Kampia: Right, exactly, so like just to get you to kind of catch you up to here to today, but basically yeah, I started out creating television shows for networks like Discovery Channel, National Geographic, History Channel, I got to work on some really, really cool, fun cable network TV shows, everything from like survival shows in Alaska to like swamp shows in Florida to wedding dress shows.

It’s a super fun job. But you know if you watch any of that kind of television, you know that people’s stories are not necessarily presented in maybe what would necessarily be the most realistic light.

You know really the reality TV industry, the cable TV industry is about sensationalizing stories, about taking stories and making and kind of like blowing them up, and the purpose of that is to help sell advertising, to help you watch the shows, to get eyeballs so they can sell ads and they can make money off of it.

And kind of understanding that model helps you really see why they produce TV shows that way. But I can tell you that like the entire time I worked in the industry, as much fun as I had, it never really felt right.

Kind of the way in which we were encouraged to not only get people to sign up to be on TV shows, but the way that you kind of like present them, or the way that you’re you know producing these TV shows around their stories, around the real lived experiences. That then presents them to the rest of the world in a specific manner, that they’re then tied to for the rest of their lives.

You know this was something that I always felt really uncomfortable with. With like these like shows that featured young children. I’m like you know if a child is being presented as like this tiny pageant star, that is going to you know… it’s one thing to be like featured in like you know the local news, and maybe your mom’s photo wall, and you’re like you know trophy room, it’s another thing to be on national TV as the like toddler tantrum pageant girl right? And that story can carry with you for the rest of your life, so it always just… it never really sat right with me.

And actually a lot a lot of people that I work with now at Make a Scene Media we all work together in the television industry, in fact my co-founder Heather Hutt and I worked at the same production company, and you know my VP we all work together, so we all were having these conversations about maybe there’s a different way.

And so when we started our production company we actually had the benefit our very first project was with a domestic violence organization in Fairfax County, and my business partner Heather at the time was a volunteer for the organization, and they got a grant, and they were like hey we need a PSA made, and we have a shoestring budget, but you you do TV so you could make us a PSA, we were like “sure yeah yeah yeah”, like I mean it felt like a really good opportunity.

It was something that was really close to both of our hearts obviously, but we were like there’s got to be a different way from the way that we used to do interviews, from the way that we used to kind of present these stories, and a way that really works with not only the mission, because what we needed to do with that PSA was to help people find the organization.

Domestic violence rates were skyrocketing during COVID, and they needed to have a video that helped people not be scared to call the organization, and to feel good about working with them, and to also encourage maybe people who are in the other people who might see violence happening, and be a friend to help lead others to get help right, so it was like multi-platform audience.

Cultivating Safety and Connection in Trauma-Informed Video Production

Dr. Julie Lopez: Jump in here just for a second, so what I’m hearing on this particular project is your big hearts, you were wanting to create this video for good, for healing, for bridges, for right, and you talked a little bit about sometimes storytelling can become sensationalized, or people get trapped or frozen in one particular story.

And so who better than you to really see the multi-dimensionality of everyone that’s involved in creating the story, and how that can have impact, sometimes unintended impact, so sorry, just wanted to point out all these things, because you know, yeah you talked about safety versus sensationalism, and how that plays out in making sure you’re caring for the people in the project.

Taylor Kampia: And I think even just like the nature of like sometimes the conditions under which we did television, maybe made conditions unsafe on purpose, because you were able to get interviews out of people that become more emotional right? They’re just because they’re there’s a camera, there’s just it’s just you’re taken out of your feelings in that moment.

And so when we worked on this project, we really wanted to kind of think through all of it, the safety element from scratch, obviously we weren’t trauma trained, or trauma you know, we didn’t even know the words trauma-informed necessarily.

But we were working with an organization that had licensed social workers, there was therapists on staff, and so we went to them, and we said okay, can you help us think through this process, and be more intentional to create the conditions of safety for the people sharing their story.

And also for us as the people interviewing, and the people that were going to be hearing the story, and editing the story, to make sure that we’re all being safe through this.

Because what I also recognized when I was working on this project, was I had spent an entire career chasing stories that were like open wounds in my own personal life, because I was right, so like I chased all these stories of like kids, and like you know rough childhood, and all this sort of stuff, because I could relate really well to people who had that.

But it was never allowing me to like fully, I was relating, but like trauma bonding in a way, like it was that right, like people could open up to me for sure, but we were always leaving these moments like fully like re-engaged with our trauma, and I had my own you know history as a child, and growing up, and stuff dynamic, I call myself, I had a dynamic childhood, and so you know, I know.

And so that was one thing I knew working on this domestic violence piece, was that there might be an opportunity for my own trauma to resurface, and so I was very honest with the clients, and I was like how do we do this, how do we do this in a safe way for everybody.

And so they taught us about being trauma-informed, they taught us about SAMHSA, which is the Substance Abuse Mental Health…

Dr. Julie Lopez: Service Administration,

Taylor Kampia: Service Administration, have a whole concept of how to be trauma-informed, which we then took that concept and applied it to the stages of production, so in production we have three stages.

The Ripple Effect of Ethical Storytelling: Honoring the Whole Team

Dr. Julie Lopez: Hold on, hold on just a sec before we get into production, so I love this, because I think most people thinking about the concept, and and I love how you expanded it, this is not just for media, this is about storytelling, and we all tell stories as humans on the planet, and we might be telling stories to lead our teams and our company, we might be telling stories to lead our family for connection with friends, you might be telling stories because it’s part of your job in sales, in fundraising, right?

It’s not just non-profits, it’s what is happening here and are we, you know, using stories for connection, community, power, and healing, or are we unintentionally creating more harm, and I’m hearing your first project as a way that you slowed it down, got more empowered yourselves, and that you took it beyond.

Because of course when I first heard it, I thought, oh, it’s the person telling the story, especially if the story has trauma to it, how do we take care of them, it’s not just the person telling the story, it’s everyone involved in the production of the story, and that feels really powerful in terms of how, or alignment with the whole by design mission, which is recognizing people, all people, as whole people, and that our human design is whole, and how do we work with it, instead of against it.

So you were going to talk about production, I just wanted to, you know, comment a little bit about how significant that is, to think not just about the storyteller.

Taylor Kampia: Well, no, that’s, again, thank you for pointing that out, that’s usually an aha moment for people when I share that with them, when I’m like, I know that you think about the person sharing the story, but have you ever thought about that production assistant who is right out of college, showing up on set, what their experience was.

And maybe they haven’t been briefed before they’ve shown up on set, because they’re the lowest paid person on the set, and nobody thinks to tell the PA what’s happening, but maybe they have a lived experience that relates to what you’re having a conversation about that day.

So that’s the one thing but the other thing is too, is just talking about the power of stories. Our sort of little motto is that “with great stories comes great responsibility”, because I do think stories are our greatest asset, it’s the number one currency that moves the world, it has overthrown regimes, it has overthrown monarchies, it has, you know, changed dynasties, so I feel like stories are so powerful…

Dr. Julie Lopez: So powerful

Taylor Kampia: So powerful!

And I think that we have, there’s an ethical part to this conversation as well, about the responsibility of those powerful stories, and ethically what we can do with them, because again, you know, the Jerry Springer era, if anybody who is watching is from that age group, but basically this sort of idea of sensational media being the thing that people want, because it’s like, you know, it’s the most extreme versions of what you might have heard of, and so we love to hear about it, sort of like rubbernecking and all that sort of stuff.

But ultimately, is it responsible? Ultimately, are we teaching people anything, or is it helping them?

Inspiring Generosity and Transformation Through Trauma-Informed Media

Dr. Julie Lopez: Well, I was just thinking about experience I had at a non-profit organization, I went to like a fundraising luncheon, and you know, they had their agenda, but there was a pretty significant moment where they had a, you know, a member of their community come in and talk about their experience.

And it was like really a lot, and it was hard, and I know a lot of wallets opened up, because that story was told, mine included, right, but it was hard to go through, I’m like crying, people are crying, everyone’s crying, all around this huge ballroom, and did they make money from it? For sure.

How was it for the person? I don’t know.

How was it for me? Really hard, for a lot of different reasons.

So yeah, sales, fundraising, you know, the intention, was the money going for good? For sure. What’s the balance of that?

How do you… and I know you speak on this topic too, right, you give presentations about trauma-informed storytelling, and trauma-informed media production, how do people know if they’re, you know, if it tipped the scale towards healing or harm?

Taylor Kampia: Well, here’s the thing, the good news is, it doesn’t have to be healing or impactful, it doesn’t have to be treating people with care, or raise a lot of money, you can do both things, so that is the really exciting thing that we’ve discovered on that very first project with the domestic violence victims, where we employed our very first trauma-informed framework.

Not only did all of those participants at the end of the process, when we implemented our trauma-informed framework, all the people who shared their stories, who were people who had all experienced trauma, said that the interview process, watching the story, was the, was part of their, not only the final piece of their healing journey, because they felt like they were on the other side of the event that had happened to them, and now they’re helping people.

But like, they felt empowered, because they knew that this story was going to do something, that their story now wasn’t just this bad thing in their life, it was empowerment to help other people, that was the catalyst for other thing.

One of the people who participated went on to get her PhD in trauma-informed work, and is now doing trauma-informed offices, and employment, like for business, right?

Dr. Julie Lopez: Oh my gosh, I love her, I need to, an introduction, she needs to be on the podcast.

Taylor Kampia: I totally, 100%, I’m going to need to.

Dr. Julie Lopez: I want this out in the world, right? This is not just a therapy type of thing, this is about how you live your life, and how you.

Taylor Kampia: Every single work that you do, but the other thing was, this was the highest watched thing on all of their social media, to this day, I think it’s still one of the highest watched things that they’ve ever had on all of their social media, they won a matching grant.

Dr. Julie Lopez: For the DV organization, wow.

Taylor Kampia: Which was their goal, to get people in the door, they got a matching grant, which is more money, and then they got another grant, two years later, to do a team version, so we were able to help that organization.

And then now, we employ that trauma-informed framework, we’ve had videos that have 1000% ROI, an organization calls us up and said, we just had a breakfast, we’ve never raised this much money at a breakfast before.

Dr. Julie Lopez: Oh my gosh, amazing.

Taylor Kampia: We raised, I watched one do a gala, just like you just talked about, we’re all sitting around the tables, dressed up in fancy things, guess what, we showed a video, everyone’s laughing, everyone’s smiling, everyone feels good, are there tears?

Yes, but it’s happy tears, they’re like, this is so great, I love it, we’re helping each other, it raised $250,000.

The Science of Authentic Connection in Trauma-Informed Storytelling

Dr. Julie Lopez: Amazing. I want to talk a little bit about the science, this podcast is put on by Viva Partnership, we are an outpatient mental health practice, and we very specifically are employing the latest and greatest advanced therapeutic techniques that don’t use words specifically, and there’s a scientific reason, it’s because of a part of the brain that gets engaged, when we go beyond talk, it’s actually part of what we say over and over again, that when you speak the right language, you get the right results, right, and you go beyond talk to begin healing.

So you shared something about the power of video, and the fact that it’s so sensory, and in fact, one of the pivotal elements of the type of change that we support, because it’s long lasting, and it’s permanent, and it tends to be held by the nervous system in a significant way, hits our implicit memory, this place in the unconscious, and the main communication channel is sensory, and visceral.

Tell me a little bit about that, even the story you just told about watching the video, laughing, crying, appreciating the power and resiliency of the human system, the human experience, and how that plays a part in this trauma-informed storytelling and process.

Taylor Kampia: Yeah, so I think that when people watch a video, there’s so much happening at once. Not only are you actually seeing the person relating to what their background looks like, where they are, where are they located, what are they wearing, all those sorts of things.

I think for me, the more people see themselves, and other people sharing their stories, or the more they can imagine themselves and other people sharing their stories, I think that’s how the world gets to be a better place.

My personal mission is to create this army of storytellers out there sharing their own individual stories, because I believe that that is the thing that helps people understand and truly relate to one another, and truly say, I get you now, and I understand where you’re coming from in a way that maybe just reading their story, or hearing somebody else tell it, just doesn’t make that connection.

Somebody authentically sharing their own story and their own lived experience makes a big difference, and this is where the difference maker is too, because the word authentically sharing your story can only happen when you feel safe while you are sharing your story.

So I think people know when someone is sharing their story, that’s either coming from a place of they’re currently being triggered, and their trauma has been activated.

You can see it, they’re having a hard time thinking, they’re jumping all over the place, they’re maybe completely frozen, they’re maybe just sobbing. There’s all kinds of ways you can see that someone is not in their authentic body, in their authentic selves, sharing this moment in a way that is it’s full embodied self. People in trauma can share their story.

It’s not the same as when you’re sharing it in a place that you’re safe. So to me, that’s the difference. The difference between, I think, yeah, you can share a very positive, wonderful storytelling that’s very like, and then I did this, and then I did this, and then it was so great, but it doesn’t feel embodied, because there’s a mask, and there’s a robot that’s sharing it, or we’re really sharing a moment, and you can feel it.

And that’s what I feel like opens up wallets more than anything else, more than anything else. You can be sharing a sad story, or a happy story, but if it’s shared with real intentionality, and emotion, and authenticity, that’s the thing that moves people.

How to Incorporate the 4R’s of Trauma-Informed Storytelling

Dr. Julie Lopez: So, you know, that made me, well, A, we’re at the end of our time, so it’s like a perfect segue into that juicy tidbit at the end, but that little thing made me think about authenticity versus like a performative kind of quality to it, the same as like safety versus sensationalism. It feels like little roadblocks, but you even said storytelling is so powerful. I hear you saying, let’s do it.

This is how we connect.

This is how we move the world.

This is how we heal and grow together.

But I want to hear about these 4R’s so that I might know how I can be on the right side of the storytelling equation and not accidentally causing more harm. So let’s hear it.

Taylor Kampia: Yeah, because I think when you can do that, then you create those conditions where people are sharing their stories. You can use those stories, again, that helps you raise money, helps you raise awareness, helps you do that thing that you need to do. Because I know that a lot of people who are watching this are out there doing some incredible work.

So my advice is just turn on the camera to your own work. Obviously, there’s consent if you’re ever filming other people and letting people know, and we can talk about that. But for me, just go out, hit record, share your story, talk about your experience.

But yeah, so the 4R’s, and again, I’m pulling these straight from SAMHSA. And then what we do is we put these four R’s into our three stages of production, which is pre-production, which is all the planning, and relationship building, production, which is the actual day of filming, and then post-production, which is the editing, and then the sharing, and then everything that comes beyond that.

And so throughout those three stages, we’re putting these 4R’s into place, which are realize, recognize, respond, and then resist.

What Does it Mean to Realize the Presence of Trauma?

And so what that means is realize, it means that everybody has trauma. We talked about that earlier. It’s just recognizing that we live in a world where trauma is present, and therefore, we should be aware of that, and that trauma could be anywhere.

It could be not only with the person who’s sharing their story, but the crew member who shows up. It could be the editor who’s working on it. It could be the person in your finance department who is just helping to do the invoicing, but is watching it cut.

But thinking through every person who might touch that project and say, hey, how can we potentially mitigate the trauma, or somewhere where this might potentially hurt somebody?

And just realize that it can happen in places you don’t expect. I always think we work with a lot of domestic violence on affordable housing, but then somebody reminded me the other day, yeah, what if you were doing a dog shelter, and you just lost your dog, like a pet shelter? I was like, yeah, I didn’t even think, there’s certain things like that. You just don’t even know.

How Do We Recognize Needs and Build Trust on Set?

Recognize is the second R.

So build the trust. Recognize that you don’t know what to look for until you ask. So say, hey, we’re going to be having a trauma-informed set. That means that if you feel unsafe, we want to know about it. And recognize that people feel safe when they’re invited to tell you those sorts of things, that you start to build those conditions for safety.

And then being able to respond to that, saying, hey, if somebody says, I don’t feel comfortable on this, being like, that is okay. Because the third R is respond. So respond.

What Are the Best Ways to Respond and Create a Safe Environment?

So saying, hey, if we know this is going to be a very potentially sensitive conversation, we are going to say, hey, we’re going to take breaks at these parts, no matter what. We’re going to have this on hand for breaks. We’re going to do a morning meditation.

We’re going to have essential oils on hand. Whatever those things are that that person or you’ve decided as an organization or as a community that will create conditions of safety, having that present. And then finally, resisting re-traumatization is the fourth, and I guess fifth R.

How Can Storytellers Actively Resist Re-Traumatization?

Because that really just says, look through all the processes and make sure where can we avoid trauma? How can we put those practices into place? How can we encourage people to speak up, do the groundwork, make sure there’s consent at all places?

But that’s really how you can do that. And then I think we’ve been doing that for the last seven years and had a lot of success. I think that is so amazing.

Embracing a Healing Approach to Mental Wellbeing and Storytelling

Dr. Julie Lopez: I was writing them all down. I think they’re amazing. As a trauma-informed center, Viva, we live by these, honestly, every single one of them.

I mean, realizing is just a bigger awareness that trauma touches everyone’s lives.

Different traumas, different ways. But just seeing that and recognizing, I guess I should stay with realizing because that was the first one.

Then recognize that just the invitation or the disclaimer builds trust. Asking preemptively can also build trust, responding, create safety, having a plan, knowing what to do, making it really felt that it’s okay to have limits. It’s okay to take a break and having backup plans for that.

And then the last one, resisting re-traumatization is just this really proactive, responsible way of engaging with all the different elements.

I love it. I see it as such a careful, intentional practice, I know you speak on this topic all the time. So it was great to just scratch the tip of the iceberg with you and start to open minds about how this might be possible in a plethora of ways.

Taylor, thank you so much for being here with us today.

And thank you listeners for joining me on this episode of The Whole by Design. I hope it left you feeling inspired to toss out the labels, embrace new perspectives, and take one step closer to the joy and clarity that is waiting for you.

Let’s spread the message, subscribe, review, or share this episode with someone who could benefit from a stigma-dropping approach to mental wellbeing today.

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