March 2018

The news cycle is flooded every day with more and more challenging issues facing our nation. In particular, two topics that I care deeply about have been taking center stage as of late: gender-based violence and climate change. Over the last year, the #MeToo movement captured the country’s attention—making space, at last, for the stories of hundreds of sexual abuse survivors, transforming hundreds of celebrities into activists. And with unprecedented hurricanes, wildfires, an eroding...

Over a melting ice cream sundae on our first date away from our new son, my partner and I talked about what we’d be doing if we were still drinking. A cozylooking bar across the street might have suited our purposes. Yet years of partying had shown us that abstinence was necessary for him and best for me. So, ice cream it was. Popular parenting culture doesn’t have much room for sober sorts like us. Jokey messages on coffee mugs and T-shirts reinforce the notion that the best cure for the...

Kevin Zeich had three and a half years to go on his prison sentence, but his doctors told him he had less than half that long to live. Nearly blind, battling cancer and virtually unable to eat, he requested “compassionate release,” a special provision for inmates who are very sick or old. His warden approved the request, but officials at the federal Bureau of Prisons turned him down, saying his “life expectancy is currently indeterminate.” Congress created compassionate release as a way to...

What makes an event traumatic? Historically, trauma was believed to be a result of going to war and reserved for soldiers who presented with a collection of symptoms labeled as PTSD . However, using a diagnosis to help us understand the phenomenon of trauma is misleading, as many people experience trauma and post-traumatic stress without meeting criteria for a psychological disorder. Current events have opened the door to a broader conversation about trauma and how many of us are exposed to...

Thirty-three minutes into his conversation with Patricia Ravitz, Dr. Felitti speaks about the prevention of adverse childhood experiences through a new kind of parenting education. Yes!!! Take a listen. http://www.acesconnection.com/clip/dr-vincent-felitti-speaks-with-patricia-ravitz-lmft-about-the-adverse-childhood-experiences-study Thank you, Dr. Felitti! Visit advancingparenting.org to read about what we do, why we do it, and our plans for the future.

I'm based in London where the ACEs movement is starting to take off. We have been encouraged by the James Redford film "Resilience" which is being widely shown in the UK. Can anyone suggest how we can watch Oprah's 60 minute show in the UK? All good wishes for your great work.

For all of our progress in understanding and treating mental illness, it continues to be a subject of misapprehension, prejudice, and stigmatization. The reason for that may be not its strangeness but its familiarity. Very few individuals or families are not touched by at least some aspects of mental dysfunction, some periods of the discouragement, disconnect or anxiety that, on a deeper and more chronic level characterizes the mind state of the mentally ill. And beyond individual experience...

Gain insights into the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, a collaborative analysis by Kaiser Permanente and the CDC. The study followed 17,337 middle-class adults for 20 years, matching adult well-being, disease status, and premature death against 10 categories of common, but typically unrecognized, adverse life experiences in childhood and adolescence. The relationships are profound and have major implications for the health and economy of the nation. Register to attend CAMFT’s...

One of Advancing Parenting's goals is to get the parenting tips on semi trailers and static and digital billboards across the U.S. on a permanent rotating basis. Open the attachments to see a few rough mock-ups of billboard and semi trailer tips and visit advancingparenting.org to see the complete list of tips. Bear in mind that Advancing Parenting's activities are not about intervention, healing, rehabilitation, treatment, and recovery. Our focus is the prevention of adverse childhood...

I am incredibly happy to have stumbled upon this amazing ACEs Connection site. Thank you for the work being done to "prevent ACEs, heal trauma and build resilience". My current mission is to finish up developmental edits on a book proposal which will be submitted to Hay House Publishing in April, 2018 and continue sharing my "story of hope" with the world through my motivational speeches and podcast. My book, Unicorn Shadows , is based upon my complex trauma history, resulting C-PTSD, and...

“Dead leg!” was what my older brother Todd would shout as he balled up his right hand into a fist and slammed it down hard on my thigh like a rubber headed hammer. Upon impact I’d scream, sending Todd into a fit of laughter. When he laughed, the outer corner edges of his eyes slipped back towards his ears and his right front tooth, the only crooked one in his mouth, popped out over his bottom lip. Tommy, my other older brother, and the oldest of the three of us, was more covert with his...

A good economy has produced rising revenues for the state of Oregon, which allowed legislators to add almost $5 million in mental health investments. The closeout budget bill for the 2018 session included a number of new social service items, particularly with investments in mental health. School-based health centers won their request of $950,000 to hire more mental health therapists. “As numerous studies have indicated, youth stress, anxiety, mental and behavioral issues are increasingly...