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Often we think that technology and mindfulness are opposites. We think they’re at odds. When we think about practicing mindfulness or meditation, we think about putting away our phones. We think about turning off the TV. We think about shutting down all our devices. We think about digital detoxes. [For more of this story, written by Margarita Tartakovsky, go to https://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2017/07/29/using-technology-to-help-us-practice-mindfulness/]

The KIDS COUNT: The State of the Child in Tennessee 2016 report released today by the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth (TCCY) focuses on the importance of preventing and responding appropriately to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), current ACEs data for Tennessee, and also ranks counties on child well-being. “Research demonstrates Adverse Childhood Experiences can disrupt brain development, especially in young children,” said Linda O’Neal, TCCY Executive Director, “and present...

What does it mean to be resilient — to be able to face trauma and get through it? You're resilient if you're like a stick of bamboo — able to bend with the winds rather than break in half. That's how psychologists like to explain it. But in different cultures, the source of that strength can be very different. That's the finding in a study published in the journal Child Development. The researchers interviewed Syrian tweens and teens who had been displaced because of war. [For more of this...

I wanted to follow up to say that I did receive a reply from Laura Porter regarding Master Trainer training that has been done by Laura and Rob Anda. And because of Laura's response (and others on this blog) I've been able to communicate with several groups who are doing ACE's work in Indiana. If you've had difficulty getting a response from ACE Interface: Master Trainer Education, I would suggest you not give up. Laura had indicated that there has been a glitch in their communication system...

Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL), Wendy Ellis, Olga Acosta Price (obscured), Monica Battle, Kathryn Larin, and Whitney Gilliard ______________________________________________________ The first comprehensive trauma briefing in the U.S. House of Representatives was held on July 26 to an audience of Hill staff, interns, and advocates. The briefing included substantive content from a variety of perspectives—academia, government, education—and unexpected moments of moving personal testimony. Rep. Danny...

“I know this today: building the resilience that will afford us a Third Act does take a village. It takes our being checked into the collective energy of a group of people who are dedicated to truth, self-care, and healing.” Carey Sipp Carey Sipp is a health writer, parenting educator and trauma-informed communities advocate. She is the author of The TurnAround Mom: How an Abuse and Addiction Survivor Stopped the Toxic Cycle for Her Family and How You Can, Too! She is a frequent speaker on...

The County of San Diego’s Behavioral Health Services is holding their community engagement forums this summer. There are several opportunities in August for community members to provide feedback about its behavioral health programs and services. I invite you to register to attend these events and also welcome your help to spread the word about these important forums. Visit www.SDLetsTalkBHS.org to view the engagement opportunities and register to attend. Please share widely! Thursday, August...

This is a fabulous new movie about rural education in Bertie NC and the lives of three young men, regularly experiencing toxic stress and trauma. The lives of the people in Bertie -- the prisons, the teen pregnancies, the poor schools, the lack of support both economic and psycho-social is stunning in its presentation of reality. Movie makes you want to cry but it also serves to energize. As this review notes, take action; see the movie as a true call to action. Time is a wasting'.

For generations travelers have understood the importance of always knowing the location of the North Star. As the only fixed point in the night sky, the North Star is a constant companion and a sure reference for setting one’s course on a journey. For TCE's Building Healthy Communities Initiative, we too are setting our North Star that will guide our BHC work over the next half of the initiative. Our North Star Goals and Indicators illustrate what success looks like in 2020. Essentially, the...

While mental health is a priority for many high school students , they don't always see their schools as supportive places where they can seek help and talk through problems, a survey released Thursday finds. And that matters because teens often turn to informal support from peers to get through personal difficulties and stress, the report's authors said. Fifty-four percent of high school students responding to the online survey said mental health was a very important priority, and 34...

Among women in the United States, depression is at epidemic levels: Approximately 12 million women in the U.S. experience clinical depression each year, and more than 12 percent of women can expect to experience depression in their lifetime. Moreover, many experts believe the numbers are likely higher, given the degree of under-reporting about the condition, the fact that depression in women is often misdiagnosed and the fact that fewer than half of women who experience clinical depression...

Much of the scientific research on resilience — our ability to bounce back from adversity — has focused on how to build resilience in children. But what about the grown-ups? While resilience is an essential skill for healthy childhood development, science shows that adults also can take steps to boost resilience in middle age, which is often the time we need it most. Midlife can bring all kinds of stressors, including divorce, the death of a parent, career setbacks and retirement worries,...