May 2018

by Aaron Williams and Armand Emamdjomeh The United States is on track to be a majority-minority nation by 2044. But census data show most of our neighbors are the same race. Since 1990, more than 90 percent of U.S. metro areas have seen a decline in racial stratification, signaling a trend toward a more integrated America. Yet, while areas like Houston and Atlanta have undergone rapid demographic changes, cities like Detroit and Chicago still have large areas dominated by a single racial...

Touching is the core of developmental play therapy, building both the self of the hurt child and his or her appreciation of the nurturing other. It thus makes way for dialogue between them and - as the dialogue becomes an organizing force for the child's behaving and relating - facilitates healing and maturation. 

KENT, Ohio - Kent State University researchers have received a $2.7 million grant to study how to best identify and treat depression and anxiety caused by a trauma. The five-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health will allow a group of researchers, led by associate professor of psychology Karin Coifman, to look for more efficient treatment approaches. Depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide, the university said. According to the World Health...

Welcome to episode 134 of the Therapy Chat Podcast with host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C. This week, we’re delighted to welcome back Hilary Jacobs Hendel, LCSW. In this episode, Hilary speaks to me all about her amazing new book “It’s Not Always Depression”. Hilary grew up in New York City in a culture of "mind over matter." Raised by a psychiatrist and a guidance counselor, family time included analyzing her thoughts and dreams. Feelings were rarely mentioned (except perhaps to discuss how to get...

Human services organizations and coalitions often talk about “making room at the table” for non-professionals, local residents and people with lived experience of poverty, addiction, mental illness or trauma. But those organization leaders rarely spend time at the community’s tables—that is, the block parties and cook-outs, playgrounds and parks, neighborhood association meetings, parent-teacher organizations, Little League games and other grass-roots venues that are essential grounds for...

Your step-by-step guide to using the Department of Education’s latest data release to uncover—and address—the racial disparities in your district. I remember being suspended for “insubordination” in sixth grade. I thought my teacher just didn’t like me. I didn’t know I was experiencing something much deeper and more problematic. It wasn’t just one bad teacher. The entire school district was four times more likely to suspend students who looked like me—Black boys—than our White peers. And...

Hello! I’m one of the Community Managers for the ACES and Nourishment Community on ACES Connection. Along with my co-manager, Adrienne Markworth, I am excited to launch this community where anyone can share research, articles, stories and ideas about the connections between food, eating, nutrition, obesity and ACES. As many of you know, the foundational ACES research emerged from an investigation into why participants in an obesity program were dropping out despite initially losing weight.

Nashville is booming, and so is its real estate, and so is its income inequality. In one of the city’s hottest neighborhoods, East Nashville, the James A. Cayce Homes, a sixty-three-acre tract of aging, run-down public housing, are about to be razed, redeveloped, renamed, and radically transformed—a six-hundred-million-dollar project for the supposed benefit of all. “ The Promise: Life, Death and Change in the Projects ,” a stellar six-part series from Nashville Public Radio reported and...

Sound Transit will now give almost all of its surplus property surrounding Link Light Rail stations to affordable housing developers. On April 26, the agency’s board of directors approved a new policy which requires Sound Transit to offer up 80 percent of any surplus property surrounding Link Light Rail stations for affordable housing projects. The measure also mandates that developers utilizing surplus property around light rail stations set aside 80 percent of their residential units for...

This year, Fostering Media Connections (FMC) launched its first-ever Youth Voice nonfiction writing contest and invited current and former foster youth between the ages of 18 and 24 to submit essays. This year’s theme: “What love is.” Dozens of youth entered the contest from all over the United States. The winning essays appear in the May/June issue of Fostering Families Today (FMC’s magazine for foster parents). Following is a piece by our Second Place winner, Sierra Howard. Check back...

Through a 16-month collaborative (starting in August 2018), seven selected primary care providers will begin piloting the trauma-informed model developed by the Practice Transformation Team at the National Council for Behavioral Health. Primary care organizations selected for this initiative will play a significant role in shaping the future of the health care system by recognizing and responding to the significant impact that traumatic life events have on the health of patients.

A journey through grief in tweets is helping my brave and thoughtful niece, Carly, express herself in a powerful and impactful way. I thank her for her raw honesty and marvel at her ability to capture the essence of what she is feeling in 280 characters or less. Carly is a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. As an Aunt, my heart aches for Carly and for my sister. As a school nurse, I am in search of answers, along with so many others.