Sanctuary at Glade Run

Glade Run is Sanctuary certified. Sanctuary is a way of guiding an entire organization to a culture that recognizes and helps individuals recover from trauma. Developed over the last 20 years by Dr. Sandra Bloom for traumatized adults in inpatient hospital settings, the Sanctuary Model has been adapted for school, home, outpatient and community based settings.

The goal is a deliberate shift in the understanding of how a traumatic life event or chronic stress affects our ability to relate to the world. So that when we encounter a struggling person, our approach changes from “what’s wrong with you?” to “what’s happened to you?” and “how can we help?” This approach changes the therapeutic relationship to offer communication and trust without judgment. Sanctuary is fluid and always focused in the present moment. By creating a safe environment which models this system we are thereby building steps for a successful future.

Sanctuary also helps guide the way we interact and the choices that we make. At its center is the concept of SELF: safety, emotion, loss and future. We subscribe to the seven sanctuary commitments to support our existing core values and to provide staff with an additional tool to manage the healing process. We call our shared values commitments because everyone in every part of the agency is expected to practice these commitments in their daily work.

These seven commitments are to:

  • Non-violence – being safe outside (physically), inside (emotionally), with others (socially) and to do the right thing (morally)
  • Emotional Intelligence – managing our feelings so that we don’t hurt ourselves or others
  • Social Learning – respecting and sharing the ideas of our teams
  • Shared Governance – shared decision making
  • Open Communication – saying what we mean and not being mean when we say
  • Social Responsibility – together we accomplish more; everyone makes a contribution to the organizational culture
  • Growth and Change – creating hope for our clients and ourselves

We are proud of this prestigious certification and what it means for our agency and the people we serve.