As we discussed the Seven Mindsets, I was reminded how I had made a concerted effort to change my thinking patterns and create new habits filled with positivity instead of focusing on the struggles when I first started out on my healing journey.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ( PTSD ) is a relatively common condition, affecting nearly seven percent of people over the course of a lifetime and over 3.5 percent of people in any given year, according to the NIMH from National Comorbidity Survey data. Other estimates suggest even higher rates, more so in at-risk groups. PTSD is more than two times higher in women than men, and PTSD is associated with higher suicide rates. Fifty to 70 percent of US citizens are expected to experience major...
Immigration authorities separated Vilma Carrillo—a domestic violence survivor whose asylum application has been denied—from her young daughter in May, shortly after their arrival at the United States border, where Carrillo applied for asylum. In July, when a federal judge ruled that all separated families had to be reunited, Carrillo, together with a group of other immigrant mothers, was transferred to Texas, where she awaited reunification with her daughter. But upon discovering that her...
For decades, the federal Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (FRL) program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been used as a proxy to identify economically disadvantaged students. Participation in that program has been limited to students from low-income families, defined as those earning below 185 percent of the federal poverty line. FRL has been widely used in state school funding formulas and accountability systems to identify at-risk children. But in 2010 Congress enacted two changes...
Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of trauma, such as physical or sexual abuse, neglect or family dysfunction. And what is one of the most important factors in building resilience? Healing, hopeful, honest and trusting relationships. Those relationships are the heart of the work we do and the people we serve. The National Council for Behavioral Health’s 9th Trauma-Informed, Resilience-Oriented Approaches Learning Community is a year-long initiative that provides you with...
The 7 Mindsets consist of seven ways of thinking and using our minds that are demonstrated by the highest and happiest achievers in history (see www.7mindsets.com for more about the background of The 7 Mindsets). Interestingly, these Mindsets not only show the way to a great life, they show the way to a great relationship. They also reveal the basic flaws of a relationship that is really not good for us, no matter how strongly attracted we might feel to it! Let’s begin with an understanding...
When Maddy Nadeau was a toddler, her mother wasn't able to care for her. "I remember Mom was always locking herself in her room and she didn't take care of me. My mom just wasn't around at the time," she says. Every day, her older sister Devon came home from elementary school and made sure Maddy had something to eat. "Devon would come home from school and fix them cold hot dogs or a bowl of cereal — very simple items that both of them could eat," says Sarah Nadeau, who fostered the girls and...
People who experience childhood maltreatment frequently have perturbations in their brain architecture, regardless of whether they develop psychiatric symptoms, but a study in Biological Psychiatry found additional alterations in people who don't develop symptoms. The study, by researchers at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, suggests that the additional changes may help compensate for the effects of maltreatment. The findings shed light on the mystery of why some children are...
While you might have been focused in recent weeks on flashier headlines about the latest mass shooting or the Russia probe, the Trump administration has been busy removing any mention of transgender people from federal employment guidelines. The actions taken by the Office of Personnel Management support the assertion by the Trump administration that federal civil rights law does not extend employment protection to people based on their gender identity. Many federal courts have disagreed...
As a trauma psychologist and researcher, I applaud the article in "The New York Times" this morning, on how providing incarcerated mothers the opportunity to interact and play with their children during visits may reduce the trauma of separation. But, as the Senate thinks about bipartisan prison reform , I urge them to take a broader trauma-informed approach. This is necessary for effective correctional management, prisoner health and successful re-entry to our communities, particularly for...
TIJUANA, Mexico — The 30 migrants were huddled under a tree on a cold night as an American government helicopter hovered overhead, its searchlight sweeping the tree’s boughs and the hard earth around it. From where they crouched, the men, women and children could see American soil only yards away, on the other side of the tall border fence separating Mexico from the United States. They had come to jump the fence. But so many things perplexed them. What if they got caught? If they did, could...
When President Donald Trump endorsed a prison reform bill titled the First Step Act in mid-November, it revived both bipartisan legislation that had seemed doomed and a national political debate about mass incarceration. The bill targets federal prisons — which incarcerate more than 180,000 individuals — and would allocate more funding to anti-recidivism programs, make certain offenders eligible for early release, reduce mandatory-minimum sentences for some drug crimes and apply the Fair...
Artemis is a student of power and liberation. As a young girl growing up in a black neighborhood, she learned at an early age to navigate social dangers. She went on to college and then to graduate school, deepening her knowledge and experience of power and liberation. As she moved into the social change field, she realized that the fight for liberation is actually a journey toward enlightenment. The concept of difference is central to interactions in relationships of inequality. Humans have...
As promised, here is the monthly update about the growing numbers of ACEs Connection members and geographic, interest-based, organizational, and international communities that joined ACEs Connection in November. Join or visit our newest communities: Baylor College of Medicine (Texas) ACEs Connection : A platform for medical students, clinical/academic professionals and university community partners to collaborate across the United States with other medical universities to raise awareness of...
With Thanksgiving behind us, and the new year looming ahead, we are clearly in the midst of the holiday season. It is easy to focus on our students and their behavior this time of year. However, I would like to turn the focus back on us: the educators, caregivers and administrators. Though it is likely for different reasons than our students, many of us find the holidays to be a rather stressful time. You may be hosting, cooking, traveling, shopping, wrapping, financially strained,...