Pace School is a private pittsburgh based school for children with special needs

Trauma Sensitive Environment

"A traumatic experience impacts the entire person--the way we think, the way we learn, the way we remember things, the way we feel about ourselves, the way we feel about other people, and the way we make sense of the world. . . "
Sandy L. Bloom, M.D.

Pace School embraces the organizational philosophy of the Sanctuary® Model. (Bloom, 2001) Creating Sanctuary is the actual process of providing a safe and healing environment for children who need to recover from adversity in their childhood experience. Such experiences disrupt the normal development of a child and can interfere with the ability to learn.

Building on that knowledge, Pace School is committed to reversing the effects of childhood adversity by creating a non-violent, democratic school community where staff and students are empowered to overcome challenges.

In 2001, Pace School engaged Dr. Sandy Bloom for consultation on how to create a trauma sensitive environment. In 2005, Pace School became one of the first organizations to participate in the Sanctuary Leadership Development Institute. Through active collaboration with the Institute, Pace School has been at the forefront of the effort to create a trauma sensitive environment in an educational setting.

To learn more about Sanctuary® visit www.sanctuaryweb.com

Sanctuary at Pace School

In order to understand trauma, it is only necessary to look around at the world in which our children are growing. In an age when a child can witness violence just by turning on the television, listening to music or logging onto the Internet, it is no longer possible to ignore that our culture of violence affects every family.

But what about children living in high crime neighborhoods? What about children who live with domestic violence, substance abuse or sexual abuse? What about children who live with mental or physical illness and are defenseless against the challenges of their own body? On top of the chronic stress of a dangerous culture, such challenges can rise to the level of chronic traumatic stress.

Chronic traumatic stress is a serious problem for adults. For children, it can have lifetime effects that may even result in early death. (For more information on how adverse childhood experience affects the lifespan, click here to review the ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experience Study)

So how does a child react to chronic traumatic stress?
They develop coping mechanisms, many of which are unhealthy and have a lasting impact on how they understand and respond throughout their lives.

Trauma and chronic traumatic stress interrupt a child's learning, overriding their higher level reasoning skills at a time when they are just developing. Regardless of the source of the traumatic stress, the outcome is the same. Children develop reasoning and behavior that is illogical and sometimes dangerous. Children and Grown-Ups are Different written by Dr. Sandy Bloom explains this complex issue in simple language.

Understanding how children respond to trauma is the basis for creating a place of sanctuary for children. Creating Sanctuary® is only possible when we understand the nature of both individual and organizational trauma. Everyone in the organization must actively work together to build a community where healing can occur.

In an organization that embraces Sanctuary® each individual must commit to and embrace the practices that help to overcome adversity.

	Sanctuary The Seven Commitments
Commitment	Value	Teaches the Development of
Non-Violence	Physical, social and moral safety	Valuing safe behavior for self and others
Emotional Intelligence	Symptoms have meaning. It's "what happened" that determines that meaning.	Managing and understanding your emotions.
Inquiry and Social Learning	A mind open to learning will always find a solution	Problem-solving skills
Shared Governance	Might does not make right	Social and political skills
Open Communication	Speak your own truth and be accountable for your words	Ability to give words to feelings and to resolve conflict
Social Responsibility	We are accountable to each other for the society we create	Healthy relationship and healthy communities
Growth and Change	It is possible to create opportunity	Hope for a better future

Living the seven commitments is a daily challenge for individuals and for the organization.

The S.E.L.F. compass visually represents the circular nature of recovery. Recovery is a process that we engage in throughout our lives. Each time we experience a traumatic, or stressful event or situation, we begin again in a process of recovery that is never linear but always fluid.

SAFETY As human beings we are biologically programmed to respond to any trauma with a “fight or flight” safety response. Whenever we experience a trauma, we must first regain our sense of safety before we deal with the next stage of recovery.	Physical Safety • Is my body protected from danger and/or can I see danger coming? Psychological Safety • Can I trust and manage my thoughts and feelings? Social Safety • Will my peers, family, and community support and protect me? Moral Safety • Am I free to choose between right and wrong?
EMOTIONS All stressful situations and events create strong emotions. The more serious the traumatic experience, the more intense the emotions. Sometimes those emotions are so intense that we will do anything to avoid the pain of those intense emotions. In order to move through recovery, then, we must find a way to experience and manage these difficult emotions.	Identification • What am I feeling? Can I name my felling or am I avoiding it? Managing • How am I coping with these strong emotions? Am I expressing them(either verbally or physically) or suppressing them? Words • Can I use words to manage my feeling instead of actions so I can learn from them?
LOSS All life changes involve losing something we are used to. It may not even be a good thing, but we are used to it being part of our life. Recovery requires that we find a way to readjust to our new circumstances.	Grieving • I must experience the feelings that come with losing something. Re-enactment • Am I trying to re-create the situation I am used to in order to avoid the feeling of grieving? Letting Go • Have I accepted that things have changed and will not go back to what I'm used to? Saying Goodbye • Am I able to acknowledge the loss verbally and finally? Moving On • Have I made that situation part of my past?
FUTURE Recovery means the process of finding a new future to replace the situation that is lost. To recover from a trauma, we must change and grow. Being able to envision a better future is the first step to living it.	Changing Trajectory • Am I doing things differently or am I stuck in old patterns because they are comfortable? Attracting Good Things • Am I open to new thoughts, actions, friends, supports? Do I feel the power to find good things? Different Choices • Am I making different choices that will have different results? Imagination and Vision • Can I imagine a new and better life after this loss or trauma?

Creating Sanctuary® and a trauma informed environment is more than just a philosopy. Each day, we take specific actions that over time, build a healing community for everyone.

Some of these actions are formalized "tools" that the community uses to build new habits. Like any new habits, these need to be practiced over and over until they become the way the community works.

SAFETY PLAN Every member of the community at Pace School is committed to identifying the behaviors we need to use when we are feeling uncomfortable or unsafe in any of the ways identified in SELF	How? • Each person has a list of the 5 actions that make them feel better when they are stressed. • Preparing a plan for dealing with your fear gives you the power to face it using the actions that work just for you.
COMMUNITY MEETINGS In order to have a strong community, we must work every day at building it. By learning about each other we build the social bonds that we need to help each other.	How? • We come together each day to formally acknowledge that we are a community and that we share responsibility for each other. We ask 3 questions . . . How are you feeling? So we can practice putting words to feelings and so the rest of the community can emphathize with us. What is your goal for today? So we can nuture our vision of the future and our power to create it. Who can you ask for help? So we learn that the community is a support when things get tough. • This doesn't take long and everyone can and must participate. At Pace School we find ways to empower every member of the community to join in.
TEAM MEETING We get more done when we work together. Whatever the challenge, two minds (or more) are always better than one. Working together is an on-going process and to be sure that everyone is going in the same direction, it is necessary to check-in each day and plan for tomorrow.	How? • We close each day with a short check in with the other members of whatever team we areworking with that day. Again, we use a simple 3 question format. What went well today? So we can celebrate our success and recognize that every day has success in it. What did not go well today? So we can identify problems early. What can we do differently or the same tomorrow? So we can end the day feeling empowered and ready for tomorrow.
RED FLAG MEETING Crisis will happen. No matter how well prepared you ar or how strong you become, sometimes you just run out of ideas. The important thing is that you can ask for help and the more people who pitch in, the more likely you are to come up with a creative solution. At Pace School we use the Red Flag Meeting when we need help to solve a difficult problem.	How? • Anyone can call a Red Flag Meeting. • Everyone who can come is invited, even if they are completely unfamiliar with the situation. • A facilitator is used to keep the meeting solution focused. • Follow up is scheduled to evaluate the solutions proposed and to generate more if needed.

We have an unlimited number of tools in our tool kit. Building a trauma sensitive environment is a never-ending, creative process that has the power to change the life of everyone involved in it.