The Palm Beach County Youth Services Department held a one-day conflict and communication retreat for the department's Sanctuary Steering, Core and Trainer teams as part of its pursuit of department-wide certification in the trauma informed care model by the Sanctuary Institute.

Remaining true to Sanctuary practice, the day kicked off with a community meeting. In addition to the standard three questions, “How are you feeling? What is your goal for today? Who can you ask for help?," a fourth question was added; attendees were asked to think of a time they were in conflict and share how they felt. The consensus was a feeling of anxiety and being unsettled. Taking the opportunity to reflect on such feelings opened the floors to incorporate Sanctuary methods of why conflict arises as well as why it is necessary for growth and change to occur.  

The first breakout session required the group to write appreciation statements about one another and share what they appreciate about their colleagues. Sanctuary consultant Aaron James then led the groups through a series of conflict and communication topics and activities around conflict management.

Discussions focused on theory and application through the Sanctuary model including how our values and perspectives shape our conflicts, how conflict and lack of communication can lead to problems, the benefits of conflict and how language creates the contexts, as well as solutions to developing conflict management; such as the use of “I" statements, active listening, and “carefrontation.“

The retreat gave participants the chance to S.E.L.F conflict to work through “hard to say" “hard to hear" conversations to create win/win solutions.  These four components (Safety, Emotions, Loss, Future) are the framework for treatment planning, community conversations and collaborative decision-making, and allow for healing from trauma in a simple and accessible way.

A special thank you to members of the Sanctuary-Trauma Informed Cross-Divisional Action Team and department staff who planned and coordinated the retreat. ​