May 2020

When I was an adolescent and young adult, I struggled with depression. As I reflect back on that time, so much of what I was experiencing was deeply tied to coming to terms with my sexuality. Growing up in the 1980’s in a relatively conservative town, I was closeted (even to myself) until I was a young adult. The pain and fear of being different, of not belonging, of being judged or rejected for who I was more than my adolescent brain could wrap its conscious head around.

Author Tracey Maxfield will be the special guest on this Sunday night's "Breaking the Silence with Dr. Gregory Williams" radio program. The program will air LIVE Sunday, May 31st at 8:00 pm central time. Tracey Maxfield is a retired nurse with over 36 years’ experience in gerontology, mental health, and dementia care. She is a regular guest on well-known author and radio host Peter Rosenberger’s show Hope For the Caregiver on Sirius radio. Tracey has written multiple articles on dementia...

By Chloe Yang, 5/26/20, positiveexperience.org Last Monday, Dr. Robert Sege was invited by the Maine Resilience Building Network (MRBN) to speak about HOPE and Positive Childhood Experiences during an interactive webinar. Usually an in-person meeting, the gathering attracted nearly 300 virtual participants. Our Zoom screens were tiled with pages and pages of faces, front-line workers across Maine who continue to serve families during this time. Among the audience were teachers, social...

By RICK GANLEY & MARY MCINTYRE • MAY 7, 2020, on NHPR.org Before the coronavirus pandemic, an alternative school in Rochester was finding new ways to help its students cope with difficult situations. Bud Carlson Academy is on its way to becoming the first trauma-skilled school in the state. Principal Bryan Kelliher says most of the students enrolled there didn’t succeed in a typical high school environment, and many have experienced childhood trauma. “The school now functions for those...

Have you been wanting to share an webinar you're hosting? Want to spread the word about an upcoming conference? Here are ACEs Connection's video on how to create, edit, and import a calendar event! How-To: Post a Calendar Event How-To: Add Events to Your Personal Calendar How-To: Edit Your Event After Posting It Please leave any comments or questions below!

"Beyond Crisis" is a stunning mural in Leysin, Switzerland. For more, please click HERE.

By CNN staff, on Tuesday, May 19th 2020, CNN.com CNN is partnering with "Sesame Street" for a second special town hall about coronavirus, focused on kids and parents. "The ABCs of Covid 19: A CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall for Kids and Parents" will air on Saturday, May 30, at 10 a.m. ET and tackle issues such as summer safety, play dates, schooling and how kids and families around the world are creatively coping during these challenging times. The 60-minute town hall will feature experts and...

Depression and anxiety are a poor mixture for keeping the engine going. So how is it that so many of us keep on going, day after day, without outwardly batting an eyelid at the multitudes of challenges being thrown our way?

By ALEX MCOWEN & PETER BIELLO • MAY 7, 2020, NHPR.org Because of COVID-19, the New Hampshire Department of Corrections suspended all visits and volunteer services at the state’s prisons on March 16, more than 7 weeks ago. Nicole Belonga has been serving time at the New Hampshire State Prison for women in Concord for 11 years. She says these efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus have cut off almost all contact with the outside world, making stressful prison life even more so.

New podcast launched - an educational resource on trauma-informed lawyering by Myrna McCallum, Miyo Pimatisiwin Legal Services @LegalTrauma

This week, we're hosting 'A Better Normal' discussions on Tuesday, April 7; Thursday, April 9; and Friday, April 10, 2020....12 pm PT/ 1 pm MT/ 2 pm CT/ 3 pm ET. Tuesday, April 7, 2020 Therapist and author Dr. Tian Dayton, who first started writing about ACEs science more than 20 years ago, will address grief and maintaining emotional sobriety during COVID-19. (See more about Dayton below.) Alison Cebula, Northeastern regional community facilitator, and Carey Sipp, Southeast community...

In the thirteenth installation of the " A Better Normal " community discussion series, ACEs Connection facilitated a conversation focused on health inequity as it pertains to the COVID-19 pandemic . This discussion featured myself and ACEs Connection member Joshunda Sanders and highlighted the role of racism, historical trauma and poverty when it comes to the impact of this pandemic on African Americans and other vulnerable populations. In this session our guests were Sarah Bounse with...