Janet Roche Designs

07/13/2026

This Disability Pride Month, I wanted to share one of the most meaningful interviews I've ever recorded: my conversation with the great Judy Heumann, celebrated civil rights activist and "rolling warrior" who helped spark the creation of Section 504 and the ADA.
Judy opened up with me about her decades-long fight against discrimination, and shared what she believes designers need to understand to build a more inclusive world, for disabled and non-disabled people alike.
Her story is also told in her memoir Being Heumann and the Oscar-nominated documentary Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution. Her impact on disability rights — and on how I think about inclusive design — is immeasurable.
🎧 Give it a listen and celebrate Disability Pride Month with us.
https://inclusivedesigners.com/podcast/designing-for-disabilities-rights-rolling-warrior-judy-heumann/

05/26/2026

Years ago, I kept encountering the same frustration: designers who wanted to create trauma-informed spaces but had nowhere to turn. No curriculum. No credential. No community that could say, "Here's how you do this well and do it responsibly."
So we built it, and this week, I’ll be at the Environmental Design Research Association conference in Amherst, Massachusetts with my incredible team at the Trauma-informed Design Society to share what that journey looked like.

We'll be presenting two sessions on behalf of the Trauma-informed Design Society:

📌 Playing the Future of Learning Environments — an interactive world game workshop exploring how trauma-informed design can transform the spaces where students learn, grow, and heal. Friday, May 29th 1:30–2:45pm (Campus Center Marriott Center, 11th floor, UMass Amherst Campus Center - 1 Campus Center Way, Amherst, MA)

📌 Professionalizing the Trauma-Informed Design Framework — sharing the story behind our credentialing and CEU programs, and why creating an evidence-based educational pathway for TiD practitioners has been so close to my heart. Sat. May 30th 8–9:15am Campus Center Amherst Room (10th floor, UMass Amherst Campus Center - 1 Campus Center Way, Amherst , MA)

If you're attending, please come to our sessions — and more than that, come find me. I want to hear what brought you to this work. That exchange of stories is honestly what fills my cup.
Will you be at EDRA57? Tell me in the comments!

https://edra57.org/

04/28/2026

So honored to receive the Boston Architectural College's 2026 Distinguished Alumni in Practice Award! ✨

The BAC is where my journey into trauma-informed, inclusive, and human-centered design truly began. That mission continues to drive everything I do, from Janet Roche Designs and the Trauma-informed Design Society, to co-hosting the award-winning Inclusive Designers Podcast.

And getting to meet the incredible Taniya Nayak of HGTV was the cherry on top! 🙌

Grateful beyond words. Thank you, BAC. 💙

04/08/2026

Are you interested in the Trauma-informed Design Credentialing Course, but worried it might not work for your schedule?

At the TiD Society, we are serious about hosting participants with full schedules from around the world. Participants from a recent cohort engaged from six countries across three continents, including North America, Europe, and Asia.
The course is mostly asynchronous. All the course material, including the recorded lectures, are available in a learning management system, so participants can work at their own time and pace, with assignments due on specific dates.

There are three only exceptions:
Office hours are held at a scheduled time every other week.

At the end of Session 6, all participants are expected to check-in with the instructor about their progress on the final project. We typically schedule three options for this check-in (participants must only attend one).

At the conclusion of the course, participants are expected to attend a final session, during which they present their final project and provide feedback to others. We typically schedule three options for this final session, and participants are expected to attend the full-length of the session they choose to attend.

Participants who cannot make any of the scheduled times for required meetings, or who wish to meet with the instructor and can't make office hours, can arrange to meet at another mutually agreed-upon time.

Come join us and launch the next wave of your career!

Register at

This course is an intensive immersion into the TiD Framework and how to apply it to real-world projects.  Participants will learn about the full scope of trauma and why it matters in design.  They will practice communicating key TiD concepts

04/06/2026

Are you interested in the Trauma-informed Design Credentialing Course, but worried it might not work for your schedule?

At the TiD Society, we are serious about hosting participants with full schedules from around the world. Participants from a recent cohort engaged from six countries across three continents, including North America, Europe, and Asia.
The course is mostly asynchronous. All the course material, including the recorded lectures, are available in a learning management system, so participants can work at their own time and pace, with assignments due on specific dates.

There are three only exceptions:
Office hours are held at a scheduled time every other week.

At the end of Session 6, all participants are expected to check-in with the instructor about their progress on the final project. We typically schedule three options for this check-in (participants must only attend one).

At the conclusion of the course, participants are expected to attend a final session, during which they present their final project and provide feedback to others. We typically schedule three options for this final session, and participants are expected to attend the full-length of the session they choose to attend.

Participants who cannot make any of the scheduled times for required meetings, or who wish to meet with the instructor and can't make office hours, can arrange to meet at another mutually agreed-upon time.

Register at the link. Come join us and launch the next wave of your career!

This course is an intensive immersion into the TiD Framework and how to apply it to real-world projects.  Participants will learn about the full scope of trauma and why it matters in design.  They will practice communicating key TiD concepts

03/27/2026

This Saturday March 28th, the Trauma-informed Design Society presents "Designing with Empathy: Shaping Place Through Trauma-Informed Design" at the AIA Continental Europe conference — via Zoom webinar, 9:00–9:50 AM. I could not be more honored to be joined by two extraordinary collaborators:

🌿 Christine Ann Awad Cowart, MA, TiD-P — our COO and a true force in this work
🌿 Alina Osnaga, NOMA, Assoc. AIA, TiD-S — whose insight never fails to open minds

We'll walk through the foundations of Trauma-informed Design and share the Society's ongoing work to reshape how spaces hold people.

You can join us from anywhere from the link here! Let's keep building a design world that centers healing.

Speakers - Janet E. Roche, Christine Cowart, Alina Osnaga / As designers and policy makers, the responsibility of shaping place must extend beyond sustainability metrics to include human experience, emotional safety, and wellbeing… CES: Estimated 1 LU/HSW for AIA Members Join Event

03/01/2026

The wheelchair doesn't limit, it liberates! On , we honor the wheelchair users, advocates, and designers who push us to think beyond the default. Let's keep designing a world where everyone moves forward.


Photo credit: Janet Roche

01/20/2026

I’m thrilled to kick off the new season of Inclusive Designers Podcast with Designing for: Birthing Environments… from Hospital to Home!
I had the honor of speaking with Doreen Balabanoff, J. Davis Harte, and Alison Mulvale Fletcher of the Global Birth Environment Design Network (GBEDN) to explore how design influences safety, agency, trauma, dignity, and outcomes across hospitals, birth centers, and home settings.
This conversation invites designers, architects, and healthcare leaders to rethink deeply embedded assumptions about birth—and to consider how trauma-informed, inclusive design can support one of life’s most profound moments.
Produced by Carolyn Robbins, whose thoughtful guidance continues to shape the conversations on Inclusive Designers.
Listen now on your favorite pod streamer or at the link!�

When preparing for birth, there are many considerations. One significant decision is choosing between a home birth, birth center and hospital setting. Since environments matter, this episode explores the pros and cons of different birthing environments. Designers, take note!

01/16/2026

I was honored to join the Experience by Design podcast with my Trauma-informed Design Society colleague Christine Cowart to talk about how Trauma-informed Design can support safety, agency, and dignity; and why the spaces we design play such a critical role in how people experience care, education, and everyday life.

The holiday season often brings joy—but also stress and even trauma. In fact, more than 70% of Americans have experienced at least one traumatic event, yet few receive help. Trauma isn’t limited to major life events; it can show up in family dynamics, workplaces, and everyday environments. On th...

12/24/2025

I got a beautiful new website this year, check it out at plansbyjanet.com!
Wishing everyone comfort and joy this holiday season, and all the best for the new year!