A Psychologically Informed Environment — or PIE — is not just a way of training staff. It is a whole-service approach that takes into account the psychological needs of everyone in it: the people being supported, the people providing that support, and the organisation itself.
The concept of PIE emerged from work in homelessness services in the early 2000s, and has since become central to how the homelessness sector thinks about good practice. Many of the features of trauma-informed care, strengths-based approaches, and reflective practice come together within a PIE framework.
This module explains what a PIE is, what its five key elements are, and — most importantly — what it looks like in practice. It is designed to help you understand the 'why' behind the approach, and to give you a practical lens for thinking about how your own service could become more psychologically informed.
This is a Developing-level module. It builds on the foundations of What Is Trauma? and the Six Principles of Trauma-Informed Practice.