October 2018

The World Bank Group’s Domestic Abuse Prevention Program kicked off Domestic Violence Awareness Month with a screening of RESILIENCE . The film was screened at their Washington DC Corporate Office to an audience of over 100 staff and affiliates. As well, RESILIENCE was screened virtually across approximately 130 World Banks offices with more than 1,400 viewers all over the world. The World Bank Group is a unique global partnership: Five institutions working for sustainable solutions that...

Excerpt from article by Isobel Yeung : Cissy's note: I met the professor, Dr. Alissa Ackerman , written about in this story as part of a survivor collective group that shared how being out as survivors impacts our personal and professional lives and to support each other. It's from Alissa @James Encinas that's I've learned anything at all about what restorative justice is and isn't (to be honest, I'm still learning).

Article by Lara Bazelon and Jennifer Thompson. Read more .

The idea of survivor-led care is gaining traction in groups that help victims of sexual exploitation, human trafficking, and abuse. Karen Campbell, program manager of community initiatives at the Canadian Women’s Foundation, which funds programs to prevent and respond to sexual violence. “Listening to the people who are affected is the first step to figuring out what a strong and good intervention looks like.”

Everyone knows that trauma in childhood can cause problems later in life, but until recently, we totally misunderstood how this happens. Here are four myths that have dominated our understanding of Childhood PTSD, and convoluted our approach to treatment: Myth 1: Childhood PTSD is a psychological wound. What we know now: We now know that the damage from early abuse, neglect and chronic stress is largely neurological -- in other words, it causes brain and nervous system changes. These...

To pave the way for a truly strengths-based approach to full healing and recovery for both service users and burned out staff, we must educate them on (1) the central role of primal body responses to trauma (past and present), and (2) the early development of adaptive thoughts and behaviors in response to traumatic experience.

Governor Carney on Wednesday signed Executive Order #24 making Delaware a trauma-informed state. This Order provides direction for the Family Services Cabinet Council to help mitigate the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and build resilience in children, adults and communities. ACEs can include physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; physical or emotional neglect; household dysfunction, including substance abuse, untreated mental illness, or incarceration of a household member;...

I know that you have thought of the childhood roots of your toxic ties in adulthood. A toxic tie is when you feel yourself being held hostage in a relationship in which you feel yourself losing power. You don’t want to feel this way, but you don’t seem able to stop. One common root of this is being raised by parents who had a toxic tie to one another. We cannot change our past, but we can change our present for a brighter future, and in so doing. support our children in developing healthy...

By Shauna Johnson in News | October 17, 2018 at 11:25AM CHARLESTON, W.Va. — President Donald Trump is expected to soon sign into law the 2018 SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the comprehensive, bipartisan legislation aimed at addressing the opioid epidemic across the United States on many fronts. Included in it is funding to support programs that offer trauma-informed care for young people, specifically programs like Handle With Care which got its start in West Virginia and has...

On the heels of a state policy victory , grassroots advocacy led by the Alaska Resilience Initiative continues to move toward the goal of systemic change by publishing a brief for people who occupy strategic positions across the state. While Alaska Senate Bill 105 builds a framework for changing the system, that's only a beginning. A new document, “ Toward a Trauma-Informed, Resilient, and Culturally-Responsive Alaska ,” authored by Andrea Blanch, is designed to help elected officials,...

The Urban Institute recently conducted an implementation analysis, Early Adopters of Trauma-Informed Care: An Implementation Analysis of the Advancing Trauma-Informed Care Grantees, to better understand how participating pilot sites adapted clinical and organizational practices to advance trauma-informed care. This blog post summarizes findings from the study, which reveals key elements that successful trauma-informed organizations have in common.

Today's guest blogger is the incomparable Janai Mestrovich. Her story is powerful and speaks to how adversity can be used to create post-traumatic growth. Our ACEs can be our superpowers – the fight or flight response is designed to give us an adaptive advantage. Here is the lived expertise of an incredible pioneer in the work of overcoming adversity to create sustainable change in the lives of our most vulnerable population, our children. Janai 'Grandma Boom' Mestrovich Birth Trauma...