April 2021

There is unprecedented momentum to tackle the mental health crisis affecting our children. The universally felt isolation and suffering caused by the pandemic are helping to strip away the stigma of mental illness. In its place is an energized movement, led by advocates, that is transforming the way California provides mental health services for its most vulnerable children—the majority of whom are black and brown. This movement has captured the attention of state and local policymakers,...

Dr. Bob Sege, 4/15/21, positiveexperience.org/blog On April 9, the HOPE National Resource Center hosted our first annual summit. This year’s theme was Spreading HOPE, and among rich discussions on HOPE in various sectors, we celebrated the growing recognition of our work around the country. Over three hundred people participated from across the U.S. and five other countries, from the health, education, child welfare, and public health sectors, including front-line providers and senior...

The body holds trauma from early childhood experiences. In this episode of Delusional Optimism, Dr. B explains how weight gain can manifest as a response to trauma and why she’s on a mission to change the word “obesity” to “protective weight gain.” Listen to why words matter to avoid causing more injury. samc.com/about-us/community-benefits/aces-aware-podcasts

By Allison Gilbert, The New York Times, April 12, 2021 The end of the Covid-19 crisis in the United States is in sight, thanks to effective vaccines being deployed on a massive scale. But the still growing death toll will leave behind millions of bereaved people, wracked by the suffering that the loss of a loved one can bring. This is a public health crisis with consequences that may last generations, which we do not currently have the policy tools or resources to address. We first need to...

“The agenda for the third annual “Creating a Resilient Community Conference (Virtual Event)” reads like an all-star cast of trauma-informed experts coming together to share the best of what they know, and offers myriad opportunities for communities at all stages of becoming trauma-informed to learn about best practices, in many instances, by people who created landmark trauma-informed programs,” said Rachel C. Allen, PJI Director. The two-day conference, which starts April 20th, features...

I hope you will share this FREE VIRTUAL parenting event with your community! It is a neurodevelopmentally & trauma-informed parenting event to help reduce child abuse during this stressful time. The event is next week APRIL 20-24th! The research shows the alarming negative impact of the pandemic on children and their parents. Several studies have shown: A majority of parents (52%) said financial stress and social isolation is getting in their way of parenting 1 in 5 said they...

Connected to those who need us now, keeping them and others safe, and caring for our own well-being and survival, we want to do all that is within our ability as expediently, effectively, connectively as possible. Logic-Connection is the foundation. And having that awareness of being connected to all (inclusive of all existence that we know and all possible existence) EVERY. MOMENT. MATTERS. Until then - the current and possible cost of all that could be addressed is beyond my communication.

Let's make sure our high school students are enrolling parenting and child development classes

Dr. Chan Hellman, leading researcher in the power of hope to improve lives of impoverished children and families who have experienced abuse and neglect, Justice Dawn Beam, and Christopher Freeze, co-chair of Mississippi ACEs Connection , on day three of presentations by Hellman to judges and staff members of Mississippi's Youth Courts. “Hope is a better predictor of college success than the ACT or the SAT score” was one of the startling comments made by Chan Hellman, Ph.D., in the first of...

From Child Health and Development Institute, April 2021 Advancing Equity in Behavioral Health Through Telemedicine , examines the value of permanently expanding telemedicine to support the fundamental delivery of health care. The COVID pandemic helped demonstrate that telemedicine promotes access to health services and improves equity among socioeconomically, racially, and ethnically diverse families. Research has also shown that telemedicine is generally as effective as in-person...

By Richard Morgan, Vogue, April 13, 2021 A year into the pandemic, as virus concerns slowly move to the background amid the vaccine rollout, our undiagnosed parallel pandemic of anxiety, burnout, depression, stress, and trauma will hit hard front and center (for some of us, it already has). So Vogue caught up with Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, an expert in toxic stress who in 2019 became California’s first-ever state surgeon general and, by extension, one of the most powerful public health...

As the sun nestles into the Klamath mountains of Northern California, my parents, partner, and I make our way through the willow brush on Tishawnik flat. My mother, a prolific Karuk basketweaver, shows me how to prune the willow, ensuring its optimal growth. In exchange, we accept its gift of sticks, destined to become spines of elegant baskets. The principle of reciprocity is central to Karuk teachings and resonant in many Indigenous cultures. In the Karuk worldview, success in life is not...