April 2020

By Guest Author, positiveexperience.org/blog, April 13, 2020 Being in nurturing, supportive relationships are critical for children to develop into healthy, resilient adults. This concept forms the first of the 4 Building Blocks of HOPE . The first of these positive childhood experiences is having parents/caregivers who are responsive and interact warmly. Today’s blog is based on an interview with Dr. Heather Forkey and Dr. Moira Szilagyi , who will be discussing vulnerable children, the...

Andy Marlette This week, we're hosting 'A Better Normal' discussions: on Tuesday, April 14; and Thursday, April 16, 2020....12 pm PT/ 1 pm MT/ 2 pm CT/ 3 pm ET. Tuesday, April 14, 2020 Margaret Stagmeier, Atlanta real estate developer and social entrepreneur, has developed an affordable housing model that decreases income inequality and improves failing schools. Her nonprofits — EduHousing and Star-C — purchase blighted apartment complexes located next to failing elementary schools, a nd...

It is easy to feel confused, worried, helpless, and to have many questions when watching a loved one struggle with substance abuse. You may find yourself asking “What can I do?” The first step towards helping a loved one who struggles with substance dependence is to understand the role of trauma in addiction. The struggle with addiction is painful and often deadly, but it is often a symptom and coping response to the trauma that they have experienced. Drug Chemistry Is the Wrong Explanation...

Dr. Sells demonstrates the use of the FST Mini Scale technique in an online counseling session with a single parent mom in crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic. The presentation highlights the use of this Mini Scale to quickly instill confidence in your family and improve your online counseling practice. DATE: April 15 TIME: 12 pm EDT Register for FREE here Participants will learn: • Rules of thumb to do online counseling with maximum engagement. • How to use the FST Mini Scale technique with a...

Healing the Heart 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 April 2020 http://www.survivingspirit.com/ http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2020-04-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_April_2020.pdf Hi Folks, Obviously we are all experiencing some very trying times and...

By Anna Borges, SELF, April 10, 2020 In every virtual therapy session I’ve had since the new coronavirus crisis upended my life, I’ve opened with some iteration of, “I don’t even know what to talk about today. I’m feeling 6 million different things.” Each new session, I bring with me the baggage of a week that felt like a year. How can I decide between talking about how lonely I feel in isolation and how stressed I am about my family and how guilty I feel about falling behind at work and how...

By Elaine Lipworth, Thrive Global, April 6, 2020 Spring is the season for major milestone celebrations. Everywhere families have been looking forward to weddings, graduations, bar and bat mitzvahs, quinceañeras, and proms. But now, in this highly unusual time of social distancing , those celebrations have been postponed or canceled for good. There’s an understandable sense of grief and disappointment that so many of us are feeling. (And for some of us, that grief is coupled with financial...

By Lizzie Dearden, The Independent, April 11, 2020 Police officers are being “repeatedly exposed to trauma ” as they are increasingly called to homes where people have died during the coronavirus outbreak, with one officer responding to 15 deaths in the space of 24 hours. While official statistics show that most deaths linked to the pandemic happen inside hospitals, an estimated 7 per cent have happened in private homes and care facilities . Police officers are called to every sudden death...

By Julia Preston, The Marshall Project, April 10, 2020 They are children who were caught crossing the southwest border without papers and sent to migrant shelters in New York when the coronavirus was silently spreading. Now the city is a pandemic epicenter in lockdown, but the Trump administration is pressing ahead with their deportation cases, forcing the children to fight in immigration court to stay. In two courthouses in the center of the besieged city, hearings for unaccompanied...

Hello, ACEs Connection professionals! Here is the 4th in our series of COVID19 weekly resilience briefs. This one explores the protective factor of connectivity and spiritual beliefs. It encourages children in research supported ways to look to something greater during difficult times. Many Thanks to the contributions of Victor Vieth, MA Theology, J.D., Director of ZeroAbuseProject, the CAST university programs, and Chair of AVAhealth. Enjoy!

“ Surviving is important but thriving is elegant” Maya Angelou In my series of blogs raising awareness on childhood trauma, I will tackle intergenerational trauma. I had scheduled to write and post this some weeks ago but the Coronavirus pandemic sent me into a disregulated and anxious state like many of you. I was reflecting the other day that it is the first time the whole of humanity is facing the same threat, I hope it makes us look inside of us and connect more with ourselves and the...

By Cara Anthony, Kaiser Health News, April 6, 2020 That was before the coronavirus pandemic. Wilma Walker’s now nonagenarian mom moved into her daughter and son-in-law’s home about 15 years ago. Their party of three turned into a household of six when the Walkers’ now 30-year-old daughter, Andre’a Walker-Nimrod, moved back in with her young son and a daughter on the way. Their living arrangement — four generations together under one roof — has its advantages: financial support, shared meals...