September 2018

(Photo caption: Tennessee First Lady Chrissy Haslam addresses the annual Building Strong Brains Tennessee ACEs Summit, held at the Country Music Hall of Fame on Tuesday, September 11, 2018. Photo courtesy of Governor Bill Haslam/ Flickr.com ) One minute of complete silence. Fred Rogers, the beloved television personality of "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood," gave such a moment of contemplation to the graduating class of Dartmouth University during a commencement speech 16 years ago . A minute to...

Zero to Three Resource- extracted from website and with discussion text by Karin Hecht (September 14, 2018) Bonding activities between parent and child can be a great way to help a child’s development and strengthen the relationship. The Zero to Three website has great resources for child-centered activities to help little ones learn and grow. One particularly useful resource for parents and care providers are a collection of stage-by-stage age-based tips and what to expect as your baby...

Use links within this post to book a hotel room at a discounted rate, register for the ACEs conference, and find out about group rate registration discounts.

The nonprofit sector’s focus on advancing social welfare means that we are responsible not only for implementing effective management practices, but also for holding ourselves accountable to the communities we serve. We know that board diversity improves performance and inclusive teams make better decisions . We know the value of including our communities and program participants in decision-making. Yet while references to equity, inclusion, and diversity (DEI) are seemingly everywhere, as a...

One of the most common questions I get from the trauma-affected children I serve is, "Why did God allow [insert really awful, tragic experience] to happen to me?" I imagine it's a question that most pastors, ministers, chaplains, and those Christians who share their faith with others face. It's fundamentally a relational question, not a theological one... and that's important to remember. The question is seeking the reason why a God who is Love could allow something that is experienced as...

"…the findings provide empirical evidence for the efficacy of ACE Overcomers in improving emotion regulation skills, psychological resilience and well-being, quality of life, illness days, and somatic symptoms…" Evaluation of the ACE Overcomers Program A Technical Report Prepared by: Linda D. Cameron, Ph.D., Paul Carroll, B. A., & William Kyle Hamilton,B.A. University of California, Merced September 20, 2016 Discover prevention and intervention tools that help defeat ACEs... Visit ACE...

Cristina Rivell has been struggling with an opioid addiction since she was a teenager — going in and out of rehab for five years. The most recent time, her doctor prescribed her a low dose of buprenorphine (often known by its brand name, Suboxone), a drug that helps curb cravings for stronger opioids and prevents the symptoms of withdrawal. As the devastating effects of the opioid crisis continue, a growing body of research supports the efficacy and safety of this sort of medication-assisted...

The Global Climate Action summit in San Francisco began on Wednesday. This year’s goal: “Take Ambition to the Next Level.” What is that next level? As part of the We Are Still In , Mayors Climate Alliance , and other city climate-action efforts, many U.S cities are creating their first ever climate-action plans; others are rewriting theirs to meet more ambitious goals. The next level is ensuring that these multi-year plans integrate equity considerations or risk perpetuating an unjust life...

Our nation’s future vitality depends upon all children having the opportunity to grow into healthy, successful, socially and civically engaged adults. Essential to that process is ensuring that children have access to stable, nurturing relationships and the resources needed to support their development. The Family First Prevention Services Act , which was signed into law as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act on February 9, 2018, is an important step toward realizing this goal. For child...

Updated September 2018: According to the most recent Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data, adult obesity rates now exceed 35% in seven states, 30% in 29 states and 25% in 48 states. West Virginia has the highest adult obesity rate at 38.1% and Colorado has the lowest at 22.6%. The adult obesity rate increased in Iowa, Massachusetts, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and South Carolina between 2016 and 2017, and remained stable in the rest of states. [For more go to ...

With two maternal mental health bills on the California governor’s desk and one already signed , a Los Angeles hospital’s work to screen new mothers for depression could soon become a statewide model. Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles worked hard to bring up its low rate of screening postpartum women for depression. If signed, one of the new bills would require obstetric teams to do the same. The hospital’s screening success is largely due to the dogged persistence of clinical psychologist Eynav...

"This a documentary about breaking the cycle of trauma. How we parent is so deeply connected to how we were parented, and how we continue to parent the child within. The most important work we can do as parents... is to find ways to parent ourselves with love." Ana Joanes