October 2021

By Paurvi Bhatt, STAT, October 19, 2021 A s a working daughter, I recently embarked on a new and uncertain phase of my career: taking paid leave for my seriously ill mother. Without children of my own, I never needed to consider paid leave. This new role in caregiving is making me square cultural norms and values engrained in me as a second-generation South Asian immigrant and as a female only child with my senior leadership role in corporate America. While I’ve juggled responsibilities for...

By Claudia Boyd-Barrett, Resolve Magazine, October 8, 2021 At first, Ethan Martinez’s parents thought his persistent high fever was some kind of temporary virus or infection. The doctor thought so too, and prescribed the eight-year-old antibiotics. But within weeks, the normally easygoing and active child was behaving strangely. Ethan cried while playing baseball, a game he’d always loved. He started getting in trouble at school, and would get suddenly angry for no reason. Early puberty, his...

By Mandy Ferguson and Naomi Newman, JD Supra, October 25, 2021 Overview Increasingly, states are using their Medicaid managed care (MMC) contracts to define the role Medicaid and Medicaid managed care plans can play in addressing unmet social needs and promote a “whole person” approach to care. A few leading states are leveraging contracts with Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) to require health plan investment into the community being served. This article describes the context for...

By Anthony Wallace, The Guardian, October 26, 2021 Leaders of non-profit organizations serving Native American communities in the US say they have been inundated with unprecedented financial support over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic. Native Americans are three times as likely to have died from the virus in the US as white Americans, according to the APM Research Lab . America’s largest Indian reservation, the Navajo Nation, has lost 1,471 residents to Covid-19 so far. That figure...

By Sara Tiano, The Imprint, October 21, 2021 P rompted by a celebrity’s painful childhood revelation, growing cries to crack down on abusive practices in residential treatment programs for children and teens have reached members of Congress, who are now vowing to act. A flurry of advocacy this week is being led by celebrity heiress Paris Hilton — who has spoken out about her time in a Utah program where she said she was strangled, struck and forcibly medicated. In a series of media events...

Representatives from trauma-informed community networks throughout eastern Virginia engaged in a community conversation on October 21 as part of First Lady Pamela Northam's On the Road to Resilience Tour. The conversation was moderated by Melissa McGinn, Director of Community Programs at Greater Richmond SCAN and State Coordinator for Virginia's Trauma-Informed Community Networks . Participants included Senator Montgomery ‘Monty’ Mason; Dr. Janice Underwood, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s...

IF WE CAN FACE OUR TRAUMAS, WE LESSEN THE RISK FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS, CHRONIC ILLNESS, AND MORE By Sue Morris We all enter the world a blank slate, free of thoughts and ideas. Who we eventually become is determined by the upbringing and experiences that fill that slate. We don’t get to choose who will raise us. We don’t control whether they’ll be caring and loving or distant and rejective. If you were born lucky, a home could be a pillar of strength. Supportive, safe, nurturing, and...

It’s not time, but an integrated recovery plan that heals.

When articles on self-harm are posted, I recommend we understand that diagnoses are merely labels for symptom clusters, almost always resulting from early trauma. Professionals use labels primarily for billing. They are also used widely as derogatory terms, at least when I was working as a mental health professional. "Borderline personality," "dissociative disorders," etc. are shorthand descriptions of desperate coping measures that survivors use to manage the pain from early extreme abuse.

Reimagining Resilience 1: Using a Trauma Lens November daytime option - Mondays, 11/8, 15, & 29 11am - 12:15pm https://www.eventbrite.com/e/194069215247 November evening option - Tuesdays, 11/9, 16, & 30 5pm - 6:15pm https://www.eventbrite.com/e/180398666267 You will leave this training series with a deeper knowledge of trauma’s impact on developing brains, a better analysis of your own behavior and triggers, and concrete next steps to improve your relationships with kids. The course...

By The Transylvania Times, October 20, 2021 What helps you cope and get through hard times? How do you face life’s challenges, adversities and crises? The ability to be resilient in times of stress, adversity, failure, challenges or even trauma is a skill that not everyone has. Studies have found that 45% of North Carolina children have experienced one or more adverse childhood experiences and only 57% of adults studied exhibited strong resiliency. Smart Start of Transylvania County (SSTC)...

Often, we are confronted with dehumanizing practices in education setting—practices that cause trauma, induce shame, and contribute to the adversity that many children and adults already face. Practices that push us away from our better selves, and strip others of their dignity and humanity. Practices and institutions that punish, harm, exclude, degrade, dismiss, disrespect, and disregard. Educators and students alike have experienced being dehumanized in their school environments at some...