October 2020

In this extended "How to talk policy and influence people" interview with Christine "Cissy" White, a writer (see healwritenow.com), mom, trauma survivor (including child sexual abuse) and staff member of Aces Connection, we discuss the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) science and the importance of attachment and a felt sense of safety for health and human flourishing. We explore some criticisms of the ACEs framework, the benefits and risks of ACEs screening and problems with the concept...

Children who experience betrayal trauma in their family-of-origin may struggle to form deep, intimate relationships due to an inability to form healthy, secure attachments and past experiences of having their trust betrayed. Alternatively, they may find themselves in abusive relationships as an adult, unconsciously recreating their painful childhood experiences...

Mental health experts offer advice on how to handle the return to indoor life the cooler weather will bring. Abby Guido is dreading the winter. The cold will force her family back into the same kind of lockdown they faced in the early days of the pandemic. “It’s constantly on my mind,” said Ms. Guido, 41, an assistant professor of graphic and interactive design at Temple University. Ms. Guido’s husband, Chris, has lymphoma, so the family needs to be particularly careful. He’s in remission,...

The third annual gathering of Minnesota ACEs collaboratives—“Growing Resilient Communities: Collaboratives Addressing ACEs”—began with a sober recitation of inequities: We acknowledge that the wealth of this country was built on stolen land and with enslaved and underpaid labor of African American, Native, and Immigrant people…We acknowledge that the recent global uprising, which was sparked by the murder of George Floyd right here in Minnesota, paired with the COVID-19 pandemic, makes for a...

As the Minnesota trainers expected—and welcomed—the ACE trainings in tribal settings lasted for hours: multiple generations of people from the White Earth and Fond du Lac communities gathering around simmering Crock-Pots of food, sharing stories, standing in line to talk with the trainers afterward. Once, a White Earth elder was the only person to show up for a presentation, recalls Linsey McMurrin, Director of Prevention Initiatives and Tribal Projects for FamilyWise Services , the...

Join us for a deep dive into Tian Dayton's book Emotional Sobriety. We will utilize both the book and workbook - available online for ordering - for this long-term Continuum of Care series. Starting in November 2020 , we will read one chapter a month. TLOEP Founder, Licensed Mental Health Therapist, and Subject Matter Expert, Alfred White, will lead us in discussion asynchronously on our Facebook TLOEP Book Club group and in once-a-month live conversations. You can expect to experience a...

Dr. Shandi Fuller recalls that when she first assembled an all-staff meeting at the Solano County Family Health Services to show how equity and ACEs screening should go hand in hand, some staff members were bewildered. “Why are we talking about equity?” they asked. As Fuller explained to attendees at “A Better Normal,” an ACEs Connection webinar on Oct. 13, the question led her and a colleague to develop training for medical providers on this concept. The webinar was also based on extensive...

Why do SO few people make real progress recovering from the long term effects of childhood trauma? If you ask me, it’s because of the misguided belief that telling the story of what happened in the past -- if we just probe the memories enough and generate enough emotions around those memories -- will somehow make everything better. And now this belief in “the story” dominates the kind of help you can get when you ask for help, and it dominates decisions about what health insurance will...

Hi Folks, The October edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2020-10-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_October_2020.pdf To sign up for an e-mail copy, please write to me @ mikeskinner@comcast.net or sign up @ Website via Contact Us, Thanks! Michael. Newsletter Contents : 1] Beauty 2 The Streetz: This woman is beautifying Skid Row one makeover at a time by Alicia Lee 2]...

By Rachel Rosenberg and Alaina Flannigan, Child Trends, October 15, 2020 The data provided through the National Youth in Transition Database (NYTD) is critical to shaping the services and supports available to young people as they transition out of foster care and begin to live independently. While earlier briefs in this series have highlighted ways in which the research community can use the NYTD data, survey administrators (state and federal) should also strive for a better understanding...

By Elena Moore, National Public Radio, October 16, 2020 Key priorities Joe Biden Make public colleges, historically Black colleges and universities, and minority-serving institutions tuition-free for families making less than $125,000. Make two years of community college and training programs tuition-free. Cancel $10,000 of every American's student debt and revise the current loan repayment system. Establish universal prekindergarten. Read details of Biden's plans below. Donald Trump...

By Xenia Shih Bion, California Health Care Foundation, October 19, 2020 When California’s statewide stay-at-home order took effect in March, Orlando Ruiz lost his job at a landscaping company, and he panicked because he was the only full-time worker in his household. Ruiz, who emigrated from Guatemala seven years ago, shares a house in East Oakland with his wife and two children, his two brothers, and his parents. His brothers assured him that they could cover the rent with part-time jobs,...