February 2023

[Editor's note: Dr. Harise Stein at Stanford University edits a web site — abuseresearch.info — that focuses on the effects of abuse, and includes research articles on PACEs. Every month, she posts the summaries of the abstracts and links to research articles that address only ACEs, PCEs and PACEs. Thank you, Harise!! — Rafael Maravilla] Domestic Violence – Effects on Children Ahmad SI, Rudd KL, LeWinn KZ, et. al. Maternal childhood trauma and prenatal stressors are associated with child...

Healing the Mind, Body & Spirit Through the Creative Arts, Education & Advocacy Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health “ Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars”. Kahlil Gibran The Surviving Spirit Newsletter February 2023 It can be read online via this - http://ml.survivingspirit.com/dada/mail.cgi/archive/newsletter/20230206162036/ or this -...

I'm not going to waste any time in this month's post - let's get right to the heart of the matter. “How easily a life can become a litany of guilt and regret, a song that keeps echoing with the same chorus, with the inability to forgive ourselves. How easily the life we didn’t live becomes the only life we prize. How easily we are seduced by the fantasy that we are in control, that we were ever in control, that the things we could or should have done or said have the power, if only we had...

By Angela Colón-Rentas, Illustration: Angela Colón-Rentas, Mad in America, February 4, 2023 When I was 3 years young, I saw my dad hit my mom. It was the first time but not the last—one of many traumatic moments I witnessed growing up, and one of many reasons why I’ve devoted my life to healing. And helping others heal, too. We were living in Puerto Rico, where I spent the first years of my life. I was born there in 1993 and raised from age 5 in Rochester, New York, to mostly Latin culture...

By Vinita Mehta, Photo: Unsplash, Psychology Today, January 23, 2023 What is it like to grow up in an alcoholic family, in which one or both parents are dependent on or misuse alcohol? This was the question of a study conducted by Swedish researchers Anneli Silvén Hagströma and Ulla Forinder. Because children who experience parental alcoholism tend not to disclose their circumstances for fear of shame and stigma, their urgent need for help often goes undetected—and their voices go unheard.

By Nehemiah Frank and Ezekiel J. Walker, Illustration: Alfred Waud, The Black Wall Street Times, February 1, 2023 During the Civil Rights Movement, Black Americans made lots of progress, but today many of those gains are being reversed. Ever increasing since the 2016 Presidential Election, right-wing extremism threatens the foundation of America’s civil society. The GOP’s newest target is an AP program, a college level course on African American studies offered to high school students by the...

By Allison Kelliher (The Conversation), Photo: Donovan Quintero/Reuters, PBS New Hour, February 3, 2023 Six and one-half years. That’s the decline in life expectancy that the COVID-19 pandemic wrought upon American Indians and Alaska Natives, based on an August 2022 report from the National Center for Health Statistics . This astounding figure translates to an overall drop in average living years from 71.8 years in 2019 to 65.2 by the end of 2021. [ Please click here to read more .]

PREVENTING TEEN DATING VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS FREE WEBINAR BY TEEN LEADERS FOR SCHOOLS WHEN? MONDAY FEB. 13 9AM-10AM INTENDED AUDIENCE: School administrators, teachers, social workers, counselors, nurses, ASB advisors, and coaches. JOIN TEENS IN THE LEAD: This February for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. Teen leaders will be addressing questions and sharing insights about today's teen dating violence (TDV). How can adults and school staff better support teens? How TDV affects teens? How...

Today, HUD announced $315 Million in Special NOFO Competition Awards in approximately 30 states for 173 local homelessness programs across the U.S. These Special NOFO grants encourage coordinated planning among a variety of partners that include healthcare, Public Housing Agencies, other HUD-assisted housing providers, and people with lived experience. In the coming weeks, HUD will be awarding grants to an additional set of communities, as well as allocating housing vouchers to awarded...

Once the healing of hidden wounds from adverse childhood experiences has sufficiently progressed, attention can turn to developing a richly satisfying future. Your innate inner strengths, experiences, and acquired skills will help rewire your brain for a brighter future.

Life is hard. None of us makes it through unscathed. Unfortunately, though, some of us have a much tougher journey on this planet than others. Most distressingly of all, children and babies are by no means immune from the wounds that this world all too often inflicts. Indeed, for many children, trauma is not a future threat but a present reality. And these adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can have a devastating long-term impact across all domains of a child’s life. This includes...

By Kelly Kasulis Cho, Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images, The Washington Post, February 2, 2023 Long-term exposure to even low levels of air pollution is linked to increased incidence of depression and anxiety, a U.K. study suggests, adding to a wave of evidence that fossil fuels may be negatively impacting mental health. Researchers in the United Kingdom and China followed nearly 390,000 adults in the U.K. for roughly 11 years and found long-term exposure to multiple air pollutants was...