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Join us at EmpowerSurvivors Each week on our program "Conversations with Evey & Elizabeth " we will introduce a special guest or conversation starters and discuss issues of interest for survivors of childhood sexual abuse and trauma. This Monday, March 8, 2021, at 6 PM CST – 7:30 PM CST we invite you to join us once again for comfortable conversations on uncomfortable topics. Register in advance for this meeting:...

Empathy requires understanding. Understanding requires listening. Listening requires TIME, patience, and our presence. ---------------- We have all, likely, at some point read or heard the brilliant saying that "Trauma is not what happen's to you, but what happens INSIDE of you", by Dr. Gabor Mate, and other brilliant trauma aware advocates and researchers. But what I love most about Dr. Peter Levine's version, is the addition of "in the absence of an empathetic witness", because it reminds...

Recently, the United States reached a sobering milestone. The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 500,000 people, surpassing the number of US soldiers who died in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined. The pandemic has closed schools, turned urban areas into ghost towns, and caused massive job loss, long food lines, more homelessness, and isolation for many shuttered indoors in response to orders by public health officials. And 2020 also witnessed numerous instances of...

By Celeste Fremon, WitnessLA, February 26, 2021 On Thursday morning, February 25, the California Supreme Court ruled in a very strongly-worded opinion that 14 and 15 year old kids cannot be transferred to adult court under California state law, contrary to the claims of a great many prosecutors around the state, including Santa Clara District Attorney. Jeff Rosen , Ventura D.A. Erik Nasarenko, and former Los Angeles D.A., Jackie Lacey. Associate Justice Joshua Groban wrote the 27-page ruling...

By Taylor Walker, WitnessLA, February 22, 2021 On Tuesday, June 4, 2019, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted in favor of legislation to shutter the local juvenile hall by December 2021. The ordinance, which SF supes authored in partnership with the Young Women’s Freedom Center (YWFC), made SF the first major urban jurisdiction to choose to abolish juvenile incarceration. The city-county’s lone 150-bed youth lockup is already so close to empty — on August 15, 2020, there were 13...

Denis Thompson joins the show to talk about the relationship between trauma and pain. Trauma and stress are the often overlooked aspects of the opioid epidemic and addiction in general. Denis shares his expertise in pain management and provides a new way to think about and treat a common struggle of people with trauma. www.traumainformedlens.org

A 10-year author, Jayomi Douglas, will be the special guest on this week's "Breaking the Silence with Dr. Gregory Williams" radio program. Jayomi Douglas is a 10 year-old-born in Livingston NJ and she started school at 2 ½ years old. She currently attends Charter School, Easton Arts Academy in Easton, PA. She excels in all subjects but her strongest subject has always been Reading. Her mom who is a college graduate and former teacher helps enhance her writing skills by encouraging her to...

We are looking for Middle School and High School student leaders for two new student-led initiatives with the 16 Strong Project. The 16 Strong Project is dedicated to empowering resilience to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) through educational workshops, school partnerships, student-led initiatives, and community outreach. By educating youth to be more trauma-informed in their actions and intent, we take a proactive approach to adolescent mental health. We aim to raise awareness and...

Covid-19 is a challenging time for all of us. People are limited to their homes, and social distancing is the requirement of the time to stay protected from this contagious virus. Although social distancing is the only thing stopping the spread of the virus, it is also becoming the number 1 cause of anxiety and depression. People worldwide from all walks of life are suffering the psychological effects of isolation, and working moms are not an exception. They experienced a unique pressure...

By Oliver Murphy, Yes!, July 21, 2020 As a kid growing up in 1960s Chicago, Daryl Davis was shocked when his parents explained that White children were throwing rocks at him during a Cub Scouts parade because he was Black. Davis’ parents both worked in the U.S. Foreign Service and, having lived in numerous parts of the world, he had become used to attending integrated schools, where the children of diplomats of different races and cultural backgrounds were taught together and interacted with...

By Elisha Brown, Facing South, February 26, 2021 After Gloria De Los Santos gave birth to her second daughter 12 years ago, she hemorrhaged. She called for a nurse who suggested they go to the bathroom. "When I got up, blood gushed out," said De Los Santos, who is Black. "My husband ran out to find a doctor because some of the nurses behind the desk weren't taking it seriously." "What really got to me was that if my husband and that one nurse weren't there, I probably would have died," she...

By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN, February 26, 2021 We've all had at least one bad haircut in our lifetimes, and chances are, we remember how that bad haircut made us feel. Jason Smith, the middle school principal at Stonybrook Intermediate and Middle School in Indianapolis, Indiana, understood that feeling. And that's why it was a no-brainer to jump into action for one of his students, Anthony Moore. Moore was wearing a hat, which is against the school's dress code. After the student spoke with a...