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When the #MeToo movement began, I watched, stunned. While in despair to learn of so many high profile predators using their power to intimidate and abuse women, I was also exhilarated; finally the world was opening its blind eye. Maybe my daughters will be able call out men who try to sexually intimidate them, and be believed. But there was also a place inside me that could not feel anything, an empty place with no words, and no sound. A place I inhabited when I was a child , alone, trapped...

A big NY Times story about a talented young woman who ended up schizophrenic and homeless. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/nyregion/nyc-homeless-nakesha-mental-illness.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=nytmm_FadingSlideShow_item&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news Buried in the article is that she was repeatedly sexually abused as a child. But the bulk of the article is about people trying to help her. Not much mentioned about...

What does becoming the change you want to see in the world look like? So many victims of child abuse and trauma are stuck because they don't know that things can be different. Their inner world of tension, fear, and distrust has become their outer world. They have been living this way for so long that they don't know that things can shift and they don't know how or where to start. Then one day, they realize they are stuck and they want change but how to get unstuck is unclear, since this is...

A new study showed that doctors could help reduce their patients’ stress levels, along with boosting other health benefits, simply by recommending that people spend time in nature. “What we learned is that nature can help with stress,” said Dr. Nooshin Razani, a study author and director of the Center for Nature and Health at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. The study was published this month in the journal PLOS ONE. “Forest therapy is...

The talk around the table is not what one might expect when community advocates begin a meeting with county health officials. “I went into this [work] through my own lived experience of trauma and family addiction,” said Toni DeMarco, the deputy director of children’s services for San Mateo County Health System. Rocsana Enriquez, who teaches yoga to teens in juvenile hall in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties and in high schools for the Palo Alto-based Art of Yoga Project , chimed in. “I’m...

In Cody, Wyoming we are sponsoring a simulcast. Please join the live event or the simulcast in your area. Credits available in many locations for social workers and possibly educators. https://empoweredcody. eventbrite.com The Empowered to Connect Conference is a two-day event presented by Show Hope and the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development. Come experience practical teaching in a safe and supportive community as we work to equip families, churches, and professionals to better...

In the late afternoon on Feb. 26, the House of Representatives unanimously passed H. Res. 443 , a resolution recognizing the importance and effectiveness of trauma-informed care and calling for a national trauma awareness month and trauma-informed awareness day. The impetus for the resolution resides with the First Lady of Wisconsin, Tonette Walker, who has taken a strong leadership role in advancing trauma-informed policy and practice statewide through Fostering Futures , and has elevated...

Tapping into the electrical chatter between different regions of the brain may provide a new way to predict and prevent depression, according to new research by Duke University neuroscientists and electrical engineers. The researchers found different networks of electrical brain activity in mice that were more susceptible to developing depression-like symptoms following stressful events than in more resilient mice. If replicated in humans, these results could be the first step toward a test...

On February 12 , 200 California Youth Connection (CYC) members, allies and community members gathered to celebrate 30 years of the organization’s youth-led advocacy in California, and to continue the fight with a new bill to prevent unnecessary placement changes for foster youth in the state. That day, the steps of California State Capitol in Sacramento resonated with the voices of current and former foster youth, who chanted “C’mon, c’mon, join the fight! Stability is our right!” and “CYC...

CHARLESTON — As the opioid epidemic continues to ravage West Virginia, a group of child welfare advocates gathered Wednesday to kickoff a campaign to ensure children impacted by the crisis aren't forgotten. "We talk a lot about the drug epidemic in terms of overdoses and first responders, but we rarely talk about the kids," said Kelli Caseman, Director of Child Health with West Virginians for Affordable Health Care. "They're kind of the second line of casualties." Caseman is leading "Year of...

This article was produced in partnership with WMFE, which is a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network . A Florida bill to assist first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder has found new life in the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. At least three first responders to the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, which killed 49 people, have publicly disclosed that they have a PTSD diagnosis, and advocates have been trying to expand...

In the spring of 2016, African-American children as young as 11 marched in protest against the gun violence in their Miami neighborhood of Liberty City. The low-income area had lost 13 teens and children so far that year to guns. The kids demanded the right to play outside safely; they held signs and chanted slogans like “We want to live” and “We want to see another day.” Phillip Agnew, leader of the Florida-based Dream Defenders, a youth-led group fighting for racial justice, said the...