March 2017

Once used almost solely to treat post traumatic stress in war veterans, EMDR has slowly become an effective therapy to treat a range of traumas, including those experienced by immigrants. Now, more therapists in California are seeking training in EMDR to help patients process memories and heal, including in their native Spanish. Today, Abad says he’s completely transformed from the days when suicidal thoughts weighed on him. He’s now remarried and seeks to help the undocumented community.

ACEs, Adversity's Impact Adverse childhood experiences ACEs – impacts in the workplace Webinar: Childhood Adversity – data to help advocate for change Brain and Biology The past, present and future of epigenetics Resilience:The biology of stress and the science of hope Bullying Chronic exposure to childhood bullying may have lifelong health effects Social connections Can intensify and alleviate cyberbullying Career Opportunities - Wisconsin DHS Community Recovery Services Coordinator – Apply...

Last week I posted an article about the Harvard study on happiness, which found that strong social connections are the primary driver of happiness. No surprise there. What struck me, however, is how these findings relate to ACEs. I had just finished reading Healing Developmental Trauma: How Early Trauma Affects Self-Regulation, Self-Image, and the Capacity for Relationship , which addresses this very issue. From the back cover: “Although it may seem that people suffer from an endless number...

The loss of a spouse is never easy, but the loss of a spouse to suicide may be even more devastating, leading to a greater risk of a host of mental and physical problems, Danish researchers suggest. Surviving partners are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety and other mood disorders. Surviving spouses are also at higher risk for suicide themselves, the study said. "It's a really distressing event for people," said lead researcher Annette...

Click here to read the full article on the ASN website The Alternative Schools Network (ASN) Youth Resilience Project is an initiative that grew from the collective desire to develop and provide additional clinical resources for ASN Network schools. The Youth Resilience Project is dedicated to the cause of bringing knowledge, awareness, and support to schools around issues associated with youth trauma. Spreading the knowledge of trauma and its impacts on youth development became a mission of...

When Becky Haas started working at the Johnson City Police Department to develop a crime-reduction program funded by a three-year grant, she had no idea it would turn into a full-time, permanent job once the grant ended. The $800,000 grant — the Targeted Community Crime Reduction Project funded from the Department of Justice — started with the planning phase in 2013. “The TCCRP was built on the shoulders of Weed and Seed,” said Haas, referring to a popular crime-reduction program implemented...

When Natividad Gonzalez packs her daughters’ homework and lunches for school each morning, she slips a freshly charged cell phone into her eldest child’s bag. The 11-year-old knows the plan: If she and her younger sister, age 8, walk home from the bus to find an empty house, she’s supposed to call Gonzalez’s friend who will come get them. Her daughter also knows the combination to the family safe, inside which is an ATM card and a quickly drafted power-of-attorney letter granting custody to...

John LaRue is having a tough time of it these days. He used to move things for people, advertising his services on Craigslist. But work slowed up, and he became homeless and started sleeping in his truck, until, that is, someone stole it. Now, he told me, he’s fighting alcoholism and his health is deteriorating from living on the streets. I met LaRue at a Social Security office outside of Charlotte, where he was hiding his belongings in the bushes because he didn’t have anywhere to keep them...

There would be no Wall Street Journal headline above a feature story that reads: “When The Children Crashed Mom’s BBC Interview: The Family Speaks.” But insert “Dad,” instead, and you’ve got news. More than 84 million people — and growing — have viewed the video of Robert Kelly interrupted by his children as he works. I imagine every working mother in the universe is shaking her head and sighing: Been there, done that. The Facebook parody of a mom diffusing a bomb while caring for two...

Polls suggest a majority of Americans disapprove of Donald Trump’s temporary travel ban. But when the president announced at a recent rally that yet another court has blocked its implementation , the crowd’s reaction made it clear that these restrictions are strongly backed by his hardcore supporters. [For more of this story, written by Tom Jacobs, go to https://psmag.com/fear-and-prejudice-drive-support-for-anti-muslim-policies-57bea22b4487#.71ah308kt]

Pediatricians are experts at prevention dialogue in practice settings: from fevers, car seats and safety gates, to locking up medications, toxins and guns — and everything in between — keeping kids safe and promoting healthy development is core to our commitment to families. Surveys have shown, however, that dialogues about preventing child sexual abuse often are a challenge, with the most common barriers to providing guidance being lack of time, training and uncertainty about how to...

Following in the footsteps of Seattle, San Francisco, and D.C., last night Baltimore, Maryland, passed legislation to increase its minimum wage to $15. But there’s one big difference between Charm City and those other three: It’s far less economically healthy. Baltimore would be the poorest city to join the “Fight for $15,” the national movement to mandate a $15 minimum wage. And that fact has been used as ammunition in arguments by both opponents and supporters of the legislation. [For more...