September 2021

By Melinda D. Anderson, the Guardian, September 14, 2021 H istory teacher Valanna White filed into the auditorium the first week of August for the customary back-to-school all-staff meeting at Walker Valley high school in Cleveland, Tennessee. What she heard shifted her outlook for the coming school year. On 1 July, a new law took effect banning the teaching of critical race theory in Tennessee public schools. White listened intently as a school district official gave a vague overview...

By Brady Dennis and Adam Taylor , the Washington Post, September 14, 2021 Nearly three-quarters of residents of countries with some of the world’s most advanced economies worry that climate change will one day create suffering in their own lives, according to a far-reaching survey published Tuesday by the Pew Research Center. The findings, based on responses from a representative sample of nearly 20,000 people in 17 countries spanning North America, Europe and Asia, underscore growing...

The word trauma is so important to help those who suffer from emotional injury. Yet people so often think of trauma as only including physical or sexual injury. Many overlook its role in their overall health and quality of life. They don’t know they are struggling with a changed nervous system that leads to a wide range of physical and emotional symptoms. Confusion about the emotional injury we call trauma is a barrier to care. That’s why it’s important to help more people understand the...

Trauma can take many forms. You may have heard of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Most people have at least heard of PTSD, as it relates to veterans. Did you know it impacts many others as well? Have you heard of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (complex PTSD or CPTSD )? People often ask how CPTSD and PTSD are similar and different. I want to help more people have a deeper understanding of what they are experiencing and ultimately get the help they deserve. My goal, as a...

One of the positive outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it has increased mental health awareness. Limiting our activities and contact with others has led to so much talk about fear, loneliness, disconnection and mental health. These experiences have made people notice their needs and feel more comfortable seeking help. More people now seek therapy For some, actually getting help has been easier because they could reach out from their living rooms and receive virtual therapy. Yet for...

Our version of a “Path to a Just Society” is our first attempt at creating a common language and identifying points along the path to a just society. The Race and Equity workgroup of PACEs Connection started the project in early 2021, following a staff meeting where we realized that we, our organization and the movement needed this. We think it can help all of us gauge where we are, where we want to be, and what’s needed to get to the next level of integrating practices and policies based on...

In the agricultural swath of coastal California known as the Salinas Valley, for decades, youth violence has topped the area’s list of most pressing problems. And now there's a solution.

When the FBI Evidence Response Team of which I was a team member arrived the morning of September 12, 2001, the Pentagon was still smoldering.

“I wanted to have access to the parents. If you don’t change what’s happening at home, you don’t change the child’s behavior at school.”

By Jennifer Silverstein, LCSW, jennisilverstein.com, Blog 2021. “Every time I rescue a bee, it matters. If I didn’t rescue it, the hive may not have enough bees, and then there’d be less honey, and less flowers, and less fruit, and when people go shopping there would not be enough for them to eat.” – Dani, 7 years old I have spent 7 years teaching her about the interdependence of all life, and our place in the web of living beings. Yet upon hearing her articulate the values I so carefully...

The stress, fear, grief and loneliness of the pandemic has weighed hard on school-aged children. A teacher, a parent and a school administrator offer strategies for moving beyond loss to healing.

Funded by ACES Aware, this webinar from Origins Training & Consulting is designed to help organizations across sectors and locations learn from Eisner Health’s experience. Register today to hear their story and walk away with practical tips you can use in your organization or community.