Meet Our Plenary Speakers

Sandra L. Bloom, MD
Presenter Biography: 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, where she teaches five courses focused on the impact of psychological trauma on individuals and organizations.

From 1980-2001, Dr Bloom served as Founder and Executive Director of the Sanctuary programs, inpatient 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.

In extending her work to include an online delivery program for Leaders, Clinicians, Direct Service Staff, and Indirect Service Staff called Creating Presence, Dr Bloom hopes to make the innovative approach to service delivery known as “trauma-informed” and “trauma-responsive” more available and cost effective. More information about Creating Presence can be found at https://www.creatingpresence.net/ Dr Bloom is a Past-President of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and author or co-author of a series of books on trauma-informed care: Creating Sanctuary: Toward the Evolution of Sane Societies published in 1997 with a second edition in 2013; Destroying Sanctuary: The Crisis in Human Delivery Service Systems published by Oxford University Press in 2010 and Restoring Sanctuary: A New Operating System for Trauma-Informed Systems of Care, published by Oxford University Press in 2013. Many of her articles can be found at https://sandrabloom.com/.

She is a founder of and currently chairing a new national organization, CTIPP – The Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice 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 https://www.ctipp.org/

Frank Corrigan
Frank Corrigan qualified in Medicine in 1976 (MBChB, Glasgow) and began his career in psychiatry in 1977. Throughout a career spanning over 30 years as an NHS Consultant Psychiatrist in Scotland, Frank combined his extensive clinical experience with research on the neurobiology of trauma and its underpinnings in major psychiatric disorders.

His research broadly explored the intersection between affective Neuroscience and the science of healing culminating in the development of Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR). This new and novel psychotherapeutic approach emphasises the importance of tracking a distinctive neurophysiological sequence embedded in ‘deep brain’ systems. One of the most unique aspects of DBR as a trauma-focused therapy, is the embodiment of a natural healing process that is consonant with the evolutionary process of the developing brain and nervous system.  Preliminary results of a clinical and neuroimaging study of DBR in London, Ontario, have been accepted for publication.