March 2022

Thirteen years ago, I was hired as a trauma specialist at a domestic violence/sexual assault coalition. The primary objective of my job was to assist domestic violence programs in enhancing services to women and children who had been impacted by substance abuse and mental health issues. I had been working for domestic violence and mental health programs for several years and felt prepared to jump into the work and help others provide support to survivors of trauma. What I did not know,...

It took eight years for Mathew Portell to get an undergraduate degree. Not sure what to major in, the self-described, “free-spirited vagabond” matriculated at more than a handful of colleges and universities throughout the Midwest while working low-paying jobs to support himself. Yet this month, Portell was hired as director of communities for PACEsConnection, where he will help our Growing Resilient Communities and Cooperative of Communities programs find the resources our network provides...

Early childhood trauma or adverse events in the absence of natural supports or a nurturing caregiver may interrupt and negatively impact brain development and affect behavior and long-term emotional and mental health. Early experiences in life that are positive and negative shape the architecture of the brain. When a an infant or young child is exposed to chronic stress or traumatic events, the brain's emotional center, the amygdala, reacts. In a state of constant fight, flight or freeze,...

In consideration of Women's History month, the entire month of March will be dedicated to the women creating a legacy in the worldwide PACEs movement. In this episode, co-hosts Ingrid Cockhren, CEO of PACEs Connection, and Mathew Portell, the organization's new director of communities, will talk with Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW, an author, lecturer, consultant, radio show host, internationally recognized trauma therapist and social entrepreneur. Miller-Karas is the co-founder and director of...

Gain the knowledge and ability to practice FFT in a private practice setting Online and live training to gain the theory and knowledge of FFT 2 Year Certification CE’s Included For more information or to register, click Link on FFT Private Practice Info Sheet attached

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) “ Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences: Data to Action (PACE-D2A) ” has been underway for about a year and a half (announced September 4, 2020), adding two awardees to the original four to participate in the three-year, $6-million project. PACE-D2A is a major addition to CDC’s already robust portfolio addressing the prevention of ACEs and building resilience in individuals, families, and communities. The initial awards were made to...

By Lenore Palladino, Photo: Unsplash, Roosevelt Institute, March 16, 2022 Chairman Beyer, Ranking Member Lee, Members of the Joint Economic Committee, thank you so much for the invitation. I am honored to be here today. My name is Lenore Palladino, and I am an Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. My research focuses on large corporations and their critical role in generating innovation, as well as how public policy can enable...

By Ben Steverman, Photo: Myesha Evon Gardner/Bloomberg Businessweek, Bloomberg Businessweek + Equality, March 17, 2022 Darrick Hamilton grew up shuttling between two worlds. Each morning during the 1970s and ’80s he and his sister would travel three miles to Brooklyn Friends , the elite private Quaker school that their parents had scrimped, saved, and sacrificed to afford. Then the kids would return from downtown Brooklyn to Bedford-Stuyvesant, which was overwhelmingly Black, largely poor,...

By Taylor Lorenz, Photo: Courtesy of loveyoustepan, The Washington Post, March 17, 2022 For the past week, fans of Stepan , a 13-year-old black-and-brown-striped rescue cat based in Kharkiv, Ukraine, have been in anguish. They’ve refreshed the cat’s Instagram and TikTok feeds and begged for updates in the comments since the accounts went quiet on March 3, as Russia continued its invasion of Ukraine. On Wednesday, nearly two weeks later, Stepan’s more than 1 million followers breathed a...

By Eesha Pendharkar, Photo: Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press, EducationWeek, March 18, 2022 Florida’s legislature passed controversial bills in the past two weeks affecting conversations about race and racism in the classroom, as well as restricting younger students’ access to lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity. The bills—widely referred to as an anti-"woke” bill and a “Don’t Say Gay” bill—have been covered extensively in national media and even late night television. However,...

By Eric M. Brown, Photo: Keira Burton/Pexels, Psychology Today, March 16, 2022 One of the gifts of therapy is being able to understand one’s life within context. To begin to see the seemingly random occurrences of pain, poor personal choices, and disappointing relationships as a coherent narrative. Perhaps the most important task of therapy is to help a client see that their lives make sense. I have found that helping clients understand intergenerational trauma is key to helping them make...

April 27, 2022 | 9:30am - 12pm April 28, 2022 | 12:30 - 3pm *Traducción en Español Abajo* ENACT Day brings together community members from all over California to advocate for policies addressing racial and socio-economic inequities. The Annual ENACT Advocacy Day is designed to share space, expertise and lived experience to inform policy solutions. A wide variety of coalition partners help plan ENACT who work on health, equity, and racial justice issues. The time is now. Communities most...