The Sanctuary Model

We recognize that we are an organization that works in a stressful environment in which our clients and our staff may be carrying trauma with them. We have chosen to adopt the sanctuary model because it uses evidence to demonstrate that this model supports staff to provide therapeutic, mindful, and safe practice in order to,  

What is Sanctuary?

The Sanctuary Model is an evidence-supported blueprint for clinical and organizational culture change. It is a clear and structured set of values  and practices that Zepf Center uses every day to promote safety and recovery from trauma through active creation of a trauma-informed and trauma-responsive community.

The Sanctuary Model focuses on safety; and implementation focuses on how to create a safe, non-violent environment that teaches people to cope effectively with stress and adversity and to heal from trauma. The model is focused on implementing the ‘Seven commitments’: Non-violence, Emotional Intelligence, Social Learning, Democracy, Open Communication, Social Responsibility, and Growth and Change. It also features a trauma-informed problem-solving framework represented by the acronym S.E.L.F (Safety, Emotions, Loss and Future) and a set of practical tools (called the Sanctuary Tool Kit) to improve communication, team work, learning, conflict resolution, safety (for staff and clients) and self-care.

Sanctuary emphasizes support not only for people who seek treatment, but equally for the people and systems who provide that treatment. This work promotes the idea that change brings about growth for the individual and the community. Trauma and adversity affect people and systems in predictable ways, and through adopting these principles and practices, we can begin to reverse the impacts of trauma for our clients, our staff, Zepf as an organization, and our entire northwest Ohio community.

FAQ’s

• Most questions are right on target and wouldn’t need much change
• “What is Core Team?” section—we don’t have Expression of Interest survey, we have a Core Team Membership Interest Survey
• We do NOT have Local Implementation Teams so we would want that taken from the mix