This is Internal Calms.

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Internal Calms is a trauma-informed approach to internal communications that reduces workplace anxiety — not adds to it. Less noise, more clarity, so your people can stay focused, connected, and ready for what's next.

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explore The approach

Check out the core principles that guide the Internal Calms approach to employee communications — and why these ideas are essential for today. Our trauma-informed framework draws from neuroscience, stress response research, and decades of evidence from healthcare, education, and other industries.

Learn more
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Let’s Work together

There are a few ways to bring Internal Calms into your organization — from a Steady Hour to tackle your most pressing challenge, to the Steady Work practitioner workshops, to ongoing strategic partnership through channel audits, employee listening, and more. Find the right fit for where you are.

Find your fit
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stay IN THE LOOP

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Ellen Griley, creator of Internal Calms, wears brown framed glasses and orange blouse in front a window with green leaves. Ellen is a rauma-informed communications consultant based in Portland Oregon, specializing in employee communications strategy.
Pink wavy lines forming a pattern against a black background.

Hi, I’m Ellen.

I’m a trauma-informed leader, internal communications consultant, and expert storyteller passionate about building clarity and trust in the workplace. With 20 years’ experience across tech, healthcare, and journalism, I help organizations communicate with empathy and intention, creating lasting impact for teams everywhere — even in an era of perpetual uncertainty.

I'm based in Portland, Oregon, and work with organizations nationwide.

Read my story

Why this? Why now?

Climate anxiety, layoffs, AI headlines, political division — these aren’t occasional disruptions anymore. They’re the daily soundtrack of work. Employees are showing up with their nervous systems already activated before they even open their laptops.

Yet we’re still communicating like it’s 2019.

The Internal Calms approach works with nervous systems, not against them. It recognizes that stress fundamentally changes how we process information — and designs communications accordingly.

This approach doesn’t eliminate uncertainty — or anxiety. But we can help people stay steady within it by communicating with clarity and humanity — consistently, transparently, and with deep respect for what our people are carrying.

  • “The idea that past experiences directly inform the person who shows up in the workplace makes so much sense, but is routinely overlooked. The focus on addressing this, and even designing and supporting for it, was eye-opening for me.”

    Workshop attendee, “The Neuroscience of Employee Engagement: Designing Communications for Stressed Brains” | ALI Employee Experience Conference 2026

  • “This workshop made the heaviness lighter — by sharing the emotional burdens of the world and talking through our reactions to them, we can literally share the weight. It felt liberating.”

    Attendee, “Holding Space for Moral Injury, Collective Grief, and Everyday Coping” | ICology 2026

  • “Ellen helped me put words to what I've been struggling to name to myself as a communicator. I'm now able to share the message with colleagues and leadership. I needed to hear it this way!”

    Attendee, “More Than Words: Trauma-Informed Communications in Practice” | PRSA 2025