April 2022

By Stacey Colino, Photo: iStock, The Washington Post, April 26, 2022 We all know what stress feels like physically — though the symptoms vary by person. Some people experience shakiness or a racing heart, while others develop muscle tension, headaches or stomach aches. But what we might not realize is that our physiological responses to life’s stresses and strains can have deeper, less obvious, repercussions for just about every organ and system in the body. “I think people really...

By Anemona Hartocollis, Photo: Kayana Szymczak/The New York Times, The New York Times, April 26, 2022 Harvard University is committing $100 million to study and redress its ties to slavery, the university’s president announced Tuesday, and with that money will create an endowed “Legacy of Slavery Fund,” which will continue researching and memorializing that history, working with descendants of Black and Native American people enslaved at Harvard, as well as their broader communities. With...

By Annie Lowry, Illustration: Getty/The Atlantic, The Atlantic, April 25, 2022 A mother in Louisiana is struggling to pay her bills and decides to apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, better known as food stamps. She starts to fill out the state’s 26-page, 8,350-word application . Page one instructs her to distinguish between SNAP and two other programs, the Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program and the Kinship Care Subsidy Program, providing a...

By Yinka Bokinni, Photo: Channel 4, The Guardian, April 25, 2022 B efore I went into the metaverse, I’d read a few articles on it and people didn’t have the nicest things to say. But I wanted to see if that was true, or whether people were just trying to find negativity. I’m a heavy user of social media, so a 3D virtual space where you can interact with other people – where artists are doing concerts and fashion houses are doing shows? That’s exciting to me! But within the first 10 minutes...

By Donald Judd, Photo: Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images, CNN Politics, April 26, 2022 President Joe Biden will mark "Second Chance Month" at the White House on Tuesday, commuting the sentences of 75 people serving time for nonviolent drug offenses, issuing full pardons for three individuals who the administration says have worked toward rehabilitation and unveiling new actions aimed at easing the transition back to normal life for the formerly incarcerated. "America is a nation of...

When it comes to optimizing learning, we don’t value breaks enough, neuroscientists suggest in a new study. Practice makes perfect. To become ambidextrous in basketball, dribble with your left hand, switch to your right, and repeat the process again and again. Likewise, to solve differential equations in math, pile them up and work your way through them diligently. According to one popular school of thought, it’s this active, repeated manipulation of material that lays the neural foundations...

A new resource looks at the preva­lence of trau­ma among youth in the juve­nile jus­tice sys­tem and out­lines ways to pro­tect their men­tal and emo­tion­al well-being. The fact sheet , pro­duced by the Amer­i­can Acad­e­my of Pedi­atrics (AAP), is part of a grow­ing call from child and ado­les­cent health experts to reform long­stand­ing juve­nile jus­tice poli­cies and practices. “Efforts aimed at improv­ing our juve­nile jus­tice sys­tem must extend beyond issues relat­ed to youth arrest...

So often alcohol and abuse live in the same house, significantly impacting children who are silently suffering. April is both Alcohol Awareness Month & Child Abuse Prevention Month, bringing together the need to raise awareness of their co-existence in homes that may otherwise appear safe. These children need protection, and healing. For a short, this video packs a huge, emotional message. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8L8Dz_j7l8

In this first episode of 2022, NARM Faculty Marcia Black, Stefanie Klein and Brad Kammer welcome our new Transforming Trauma host Emily Ruth, and together explore the challenges, learning and growth over this past year. They reflect on how NARM has supported them in their teaching and work with clients. They also reflect on the power of coming together in community with NARM Therapists and Helping Professionals around the world, and how this has sustained them through this time of COVID.

“Pirates” - A song I wrote about facing adversity - the 'pirates' in our lives & the journey[s] we embark upon - we are resilient & resourceful. Please do click the Subscribe & Bell button to my You Tube channel - more songs and ' lessons learned ' about healing from Trauma, Abuse and Mental Health to be shared very soon. Thank you, Michael - Pirates - Live at the River Ledge - YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us6ucfwRAtA “ PIRATES” © Michael Skinner Walking down to the...

April news for the Southwest Washington PACEs Action Alliance and other local coalitions.

Apr 25, 2022 6:40 PM EDT The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution for 52-year-old Melissa Lucio, a woman who had been set to be the first Hispanic woman put to death by the state in modern history after being convicted of beating her 2-year-old daughter to death in 2007. Vanessa Potkin, director of special litigation at the Innocence Project, which is representing Lucio, joins Amna Nawaz to discuss. The following is an excerpt from the interview addressing how being a...