Blog

It’s clear which emotions are acceptable at work: Happiness and enthusiasm are welcomed, but sadness and fear are usually awkward and taboo. That’s likely why workers tend to cry in the bathroom but smile at their desks. While emotions such as fear or sadness are perceived negatively by companies, they can actually be helpful for work, according to Susan David, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School. As part of her work, she consults with companies on how to best motivate their employees...

Recent federal legislation put forward by senators Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Al Franken (D-MN) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) proposes to address the issue of childhood trauma through the creation of a federal trauma task force. The Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families Act would gather federal officials and members of tribal agencies to create a set of best practices and training to help create a better way to identify and support children and families that have experienced trauma. In...

Have you ever wondered how to break free of a worry loop? You know the experience. You’re in the shower, at the computer, or out to dinner with the family and there is a worrisome thought running through your mind over and over — a looming deadline, an awkward social interaction, the finances, etc. It doesn’t matter if the worry is irrational — or recognized as unhelpful — you still can’t shake it. No matter what you try, your mind keeps returning to the troubling thought. Sound familiar?

In 1966 Bridgewater State Hospital for the Criminally Insane gave filmmaker Frederick Wiseman unprecedented access. Wiseman documented staff at the Massachusetts hospital herding patients, often heavily drugged and naked, through bare rooms and corridors. The resulting documentary, Titicut Follies, shook up the medium and launched Wiseman's innovative, Oscar-winning career. A ballet adaptation of the film premieres in New York Friday night . The ballet and the film it's based on are both...

“We are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not,” Joan Didion famously wrote in making her case for the value of keeping a notebook . But many of us frequently find it hard enough to be on nodding terms even with the people we currently are. “We have to imagine a world in which celebration is less suspect than criticism,” psychoanalyst Adam Phillips wrote in contemplating the perils of self-criticism and how to break...

Check out this new podcast to learn from experts and long time innovators in the field of family violence prevention.

He says: Addiction shouldn’t be called “addiction”. It should be called “ritualized compulsive comfort-seeking”. He says: Ritualized compulsive comfort-seeking (what traditionalists call addiction) is a normal response to the adversity experienced in childhood, just like bleeding is a normal response to being stabbed. He says: The solution to changing the illegal or unhealthy ritualized compulsive comfort-seeking behavior of opioid addiction is to address a person’s adverse childhood...

"These types of demographics and statistics are unacceptable." That's what Senator Windy Boy, sponsor of Montana Legislative House Bill 118 , said in regards to suicide rates in Montana. “We’re ranked among the highest in suicide nationwide,” said Windy Boy. “Indian Country is ranked the highest in Montana." He continued, "This is the first step in reducing that,” adding that he wants to thank the governor and the Legislature for their support in “making sure this was a priority in this...

A legislative scan in March by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) of bills that specifically include references to ACEs (nearly 40 bills in 18 states) also found seven statutes enacted in six different states. That number increases significantly when laws that reference “trauma-informed” policies are included—the number of statutes totals 20, enacted in 15 different states. These numbers are based on information from various sources (including the NCSL, our own reporting,...

Hello! I was just reading about Ruth Charles and her life-changing successes as an ACES Interface trainer. I would like to know how to get this training to be a trainer myself. I appreciate your help!

ACE Interface Presenter Ruth Charles, MSW, PhD, LCSW Professor, Social Work Dept Winona State University What led you to want to become a certified ACE Interface presenter? I teach at Winona State in the social work department and coordinate the IV-E Child Welfare Scholar program which integrates social work students into the public foster care system. I am always looking for new information to bring to my classes. When I learned about the ACE research, it made perfect sense! The evidence...

More foster and relative homes are needed across the country. One barrier is child care access. A new bill seeks to solve this problem by providing a child care bridge program with a trauma informed training component. http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article147546504.html