September 2021

Responding to Fears Between 3 and 5 years, children are fascinated by the world of pretend and imagination, and may believe in all kinds of fantasies. That also means they get scared of things that may sound silly to grownups. Even though monsters aren't real, the fear is real for the child, and they can't distinguish between fantasy and reality. Keep reading for tips you can offer to parents on how they can understand and respond to their child's fears: Acknowledge the fear - If parents...

By Amanda Winn, 9/16/21, positiveexperience.org/blog Aimee Zeitz, Regional Director of Strategic Advancement at the San Diego YMCA, joined the HOPE Innovation Network in January. She knew that if the YMCA wanted to serve children and families differently, they needed to support and engage staff and leadership differently. Aimee wanted to create a space that was person-centered, family-focused, strengths-based, and trauma-informed. She knew that childhood adversity is so common with the...

We believe there is a good chance to have the "Resilience for All Act of 2021" introduced in Congress. The RFA will establish a grant program to fund community-based population-level mental wellness and resilience building initiatives nationwide. It will also establish an office in CDC to support community-based initiatives and oversee the grant program. To show the support for it we have developed the attached letter to Congress calling for it to introduce and enact the RFA. Links to the...

The Guardian, Monday, September 13, 2021 An extra hour on Saturday and Sunday may be no substitute for a regular good night’s sleep – but according to new research it may help stave off depression. Name: The weekend lie-in. Age: As old as the weekend. Appearance: An unmoving lump under a duvet, with the sun shining on it. Ah! What a guilty pleasure. Apparently, you shouldn’t feel any guilt. Because you’re unconscious? No, because a little weekend lie-in is good for you. [Please click here to...

By Devlin Barrett , the Washington Post, September 15, 2021 Simone Biles and three fellow gymnasts offered gut-wrenching testimony to Congress on Wednesday, describing the abuse they suffered at the hands of doctor Larry Nassar and charging the FBI “turned a blind eye” as he molested young female patients. Biles blamed USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympics committee and the FBI for the long-running abuse by the doctor, who molested girl and women athletes under the guise of medical treatments.

By Himmali McInnes, the Guardian, September 13, 2021 If there is one patient who has opened my eyes to my own cognitive bias and who has helped me to recognise the profound effect of the past on a person’s health, it is my patient Arama*. “Hey, what’s up, doc?” says Arama as he walks into my consulting room one day. He’s weaving a little, his breath reeks of alcohol, his speech is slurred. He wants to get some antibiotics for a chesty cough that he’s had for a week. [Please click here to...

By Lydia Chávez , California Health Care Foundation, September 13, 2021 Throughout the pandemic, communities of color, often filled with essential workers returning home to crowded households, have been contracting and dying from COVID-19 at the highest rates in the country. This year, Public Health Advocates, a California organization that advances policies to reduce health disparities, created an initiative to respond to the deep-rooted inequities brought into focus by the pandemic. The...

The Surviving Spirit Newsletter September 2021 Healing the Mind, Body & Spirit Through the Creative Arts, Education & Advocacy Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health “ Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars”. Kahlil Gibran Hi Folks, Twenty years ago today at this time of the morning I was getting ready to leave for Ellenville, New York to perform and speak at the Annual New York Association of...

This article was first published in RACMonitor and appears with explicit permission. Another week, another report on Americans facing concerning access to basic human needs. This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its annual report, Household Food Security in the United States in 2020 . Data for the report was collected from 34,330 households in December 2020, though at first glance, this is misleading. While 89.5 percent of U.S. households were “food secure” at that...

A moving and interesting piece that explores the role of trauma in the lives of urban Black youth: https://www.teenink.com/nonfiction/academic/article/1136976/The-Notorious-Big-Had-It-Right

By The HOPE Team, 9/15/21, positiveexperience.org/blog Each person is an individual with essential human dignity. Our society, however, continues to struggle with persistent racism. Today, we have posted a new statement about how HOPE intends to infuse an understanding of race, racism, and anti-racism into our work. Beyond individual biases, systems perpetuate inequity via systemic racism, endangering the health of children and families of color . HOPE core faculty member Dr. Baraka Floyd...