Our keynote speaker, Dr. Sandra L. Bloom, is recognized nationally and internationally as the founder of the Sanctuary Model®.

Dr. Sandra L. Bloom is a Board-Certified psychiatrist, graduate of Temple University School of Medicine and currently Associate Professor, Health Management and Policy at the Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University.

From 1980-2001, Dr. Bloom served as Founder and Executive Director of the Sanctuary programs, impatient psychiatric programs for the treatment of trauma-related emotional disorders and during those years was also President of the Alliance for Creative Development, a multidisciplinary outpatient practice group. Dr. Bloom is recognized nationally and internationally as the founder of the Sanctuary Model®. Between 2005 and 2016, over 350 social service, juvenile justice and mental health organizations were trained in the Sanctuary Model®.

Dr. Bloom is Past President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. She is currently co-chairing a new (2016) national organization, the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP), whose goal is to advocate for public policies and programs at the federal, state, local and tribal levels that incorporate up-to-date scientific findings regarding the relationship between trauma across the lifespan and many social and health problems. In May of 2019 CTIPP was awarded the American Psychiatric Association’s 2019 Distinguished Service Award. Since 2012, Dr. Bloom has also served as Co-Chair for the Philadelphia ACEs Task Force.

Dr. Bloom is the Founder of Creating Presence, an online organizational approach for creating trauma-informed systems.

Dr. Bloom’s complete list of publications are on her website, sandrabloom.com.