The term, “sanctuary trauma” was first coined by Dr. Steven Silver and occurs when an individual who has experienced a traumatic event goes to somewhere they expect to be supportive and healing, only to discover more trauma and stress. An example, described by Dr. Steve Rose, is when a Veteran who has faced either physical or mental injuries find themselves battling stacks of paperwork, endless wait times, and sometimes wrongful denials of initial applications when trying to get services.
Sanctuary trauma not only impacts the people being served, but also the staff, and the organization itself. Bloom & Farragher (2013) describe organizations as living complex systems that are vulnerable to trauma and chronic stress. They discovered seven relevant ways that organizations destroy sanctuary:
- Organizational Stress – When an organization is under constant stress, repetitive trauma and prolonged crisis, the people within the organization are left feeling unsafe (with their clients and even at times with their colleagues). Perceived lack of safety (both physical and psychological) can result is a highly reactive organization that sees threat rather than opportunity, pathology rather than strength, and risk rather than reward. This could result in physical violence, abusive behavior, or pervasive mistrust within the organization.
- Loss of emotional management – When an environment is constantly in crisis, staff may not have the space or capacity to acknowledge and manage their own emotions, which can lead to difficulty in providing a healing environment. When experiencing overwhelming stress and burnout, staff members may have little left to give. As such they may struggle with providing empathy, care, concern, and tolerance for the people they serve. Since research shows that emotions are contagious, this can have a negative impact on client outcomes.
- Organizational Learning Disabilities and Organizational Amnesia – The impact of stress on cognitive abilities is well documented. When chronic stress is rampant within an organization, decision-making abilities are compromised and often result in short-sighted policy decisions. In addition, organizational memory may be lost, and organizational amnesia may impact services which can become fragmented.
- Miscommunication, Conflict, and Organization Alexithymia – When a lack of communication persists in an organization, and people are unable to talk about the things that are bothering them, this can often result in chronic unresolved conflict, and unproductive communication (petty arguments, gossip, unresolved feelings of anger, and frustration), which ultimately lowers morale.
- The Uses and Abuses of Power – As a result of communication breakdown, compounding errors, and continual crisis, organizational leaders often become more controlling and authoritarian. This can result in employees losing a sense of self-efficacy and autonomy
- Punishment, Revenge, and Organizational Injustice – As communication continues to breakdown, and power over continues, organizations often become more punitive in an effort to maintain control. The result can be a group of people who are chronically stressed, and feel chronic shame, guilt, and anger.
- Unresolved Grief, Reenactment and Decline – When systems are broken, loss is inevitable. There is often a revolving door of staff and leaders, and grief can be experienced as people depart. In addition, people may feel worn down, exhausted, depressed, angry, demoralized, and hopeless. This results in staffing shortages, a decline in care delivery, and ultimately a loss of meaning and purpose in the work.
In addition to classifying ways that sanctuary has been destroyed within organizations, Bloom & Farragher (2013) have also identified a “parallel process”, which is a framework that aims to understand the interconnection of trauma among clients, staff, and the organization as outlined below.