February 2023

By Stephanie Malia Cross, Illustration: Nelli Polk/Shutterstock, EdSurge, February 17, 2023 Content warning: gun violence. The morning of Oct. 24, 2022, I was facilitating a meeting in Charlottesville, Virginia for education and youth development leaders when I got word that my 15-year-old godson had been shot at his high school in St. Louis, where I live. He was alive, seriously wounded and being treated at our local children’s hospital. One of the meeting attendees was my friend and...

By Jeneen Interlandi, Photo: Donovan Smallwood, The New York Times, February 22, 2023 I. ‘Let’s not crowd her right out the gate.’ It was late summer, and the sun was high over East Harlem. Terrell Jones stepped out of a large black van that advertised help with detox and free hepatitis C testing and scanned the homeless encampment beneath the elevated train tracks across the intersection from where he stood. He was looking for a specific inhabitant, a white woman in her late 20s or early...

By Jill Suttie, Greater Good Magazine, February 6, 2023 What makes for a happy life? Philosophers have pondered this question for millennia, coming up with different theories and recommendations for people to follow, but not necessarily having any hard evidence to prove their ideas. That’s what inspired the long-running Harvard Study of Adult Development . Starting in the 1930s, researchers tracked men from different neighborhoods in the Boston area over several decades, asking them to...

By Lexie Manion, Illustration: Lexi Manion, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), February 4, 2023 I am in recovery from mental illness and have been on a positive path for the last few years. In the past, I have struggled with depression, anxiety, unresolved trauma, an eating disorder and, later, bipolar disorder. Recently, I have felt more balanced and stable with the help of regular therapy and appropriate medication. However, I still experience the effects of trauma and symptoms of...

In this episode of Transforming Trauma, Emily is joined by Dr. Jim Coan, a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Virginia Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Virginia. Dr. Coan is well known for his Social Baseline Theory which resulted from his research on the psychological and physical health benefits of strong friend and family networks. His theory states that the human brain depends on relationships to coordinate the body’s resources. Dr. Coan and Emily dive into...

PACEs Connection members are encouraged to join as many communities as they are interested in. Keep scrolling to find our list of geographic communities to join your local, state, or country community! Interest Based: PACEs Connection Community Champions, Facilitators, and Managers (for Community Managers only) PACEs Connection Cooperative of Communities (for coop affiliates only) 16 Strong Project Addiction & Recovery Balancing ACEs with HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences)...

By The HOPE Team, 2/23/23, https://positiveexperience.org/category/blog/ February is Parent Leadership Month, bringing attention to the importance of parent voices, and parent leadership in the child and family serving sectors. When parents lead and advocate, children and families get better access to the services and supports they need. Encouraging parents to use advocacy tools supports their roles as experts of their children, families, and communities, and supports their skills and...

Self-Care is a necessity for all mental health workers, but it is especially imperative that anyone just entering the profession practices healthy forms of self-care. The mental health field, and anyone with a “relationship intense,” role can easily experience compassion fatigue. The concept of compassion fatigue refers to exhaustion after a period of helping others through emotional, psychological, and/or physical trauma. (Figley, 2002) While some may scoff at the idea of compassion...

Curious about the direct link between having a difficult childhood and struggling with relationships, food, weight, and/or substances? Watch my interview on The Healing Place Podcast with Teri Kamphaus Wellbrock . Watch on: https://youtu.be/yn0HiAcBd70I Take a quick "Look Inside" peek at my new book "It's Not About Food, Drugs, or Alcohol: It's About Healing Complex PTSD":...

Alaska state Rep. Eastman sparks outrage after asking about the potential economic benefits of the deaths of abused Alaska children Anchorage Daily News February 21, 2023 JUNEAU - Wasilla Republican Rep. David Eastman sparked outrage online after asking whether there could be economic benefits from the death of abused children. Eastman asked a series of questions during a Monday House Judiciary Committee hearing on adverse childhood experiences — such as physical and sexual abuse on children...

By Andrea Harris Smith, Photo: Jared Soares, The Guardian, February 21, 2023 I’m sitting in the auditorium at my children’s elementary school. On stage is a multiracial group of kids in a circle singing a K-pop song – in Korean – for the annual talent show. The gym floor that doubles as theatre seating is full of parents, teachers, caregivers and supporters of all kinds. I scan the demographics in the room like a statistician, curious at how diverse it is. Craning my head to discern how many...

By Michael Wines, Photo: Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press, The New York Times, February 20, 2023 Mississippi’s struggling capital has been a favored target of Republican leaders since the G.O.P. took total control of the state a decade ago. But perhaps none of the slings and arrows flung at Jackson has provoked as much outrage as the one the state House of Representatives loosed earlier this month. Legislators approved a bill that would establish a separate court system for roughly...