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Announcing the Sharpen Shop with an entire collection of resiliency gear that has powerful messages of hope and healing. In particular the award-winning "5 Minute Mindfulness" program has been deployed in resilient schools and community suicide prevention initiatives for over 10 years.

Madison Stalker, 15, a camp attendee, stands in front of her peers during Path Finders Camp, a bereavement camp put on by Hospice of Northwest Ohio, at Camp Miakonda in Toledo, on July 26. (The Blade/Stephen Zenner) By Stephen Zenner, The Toledo Blade, August 6, 2023 Experiences ranging from rowdy to solemn worked their way through the foliage of Camp Miakonda’s outdoor activities and cabins during Path Finders Camp, a bereavement camp put on by Hospice of Northwest Ohio. To the general...

By Bob Brody, Illustration: Carlos Miranda/The Washington Post, The Washington Post, August 6, 2023 My 4-year-old granddaughter, Lucia, and I are once again getting athletic together. One minute we’re kicking around a soccer ball, the next we’re shooting miniature basketballs. Later, with me holding her hand, she’ll teeter-totter atop a foot-high stone wall along our driveway. Tomorrow, we’ll probably have a pillow fight and chase each other around the backyard. Meantime, I’m ready for a...

If children love boxes and other upcycled items, do parents really need to invest in ‘eco toys’? (Shutterstock) By Ozlem Cankaya, The Conversation, April 18, 2023 Many have observed that sometimes when given a toy as a present, children play with the box the toy came in, or even the gift wrapping . In earlier generations, children’s play materials were often homemade or relatively simple. Commercial or hand-made toys were made from durable and long-lasting materials. Today, mass-produced...

Research shows guided play is the most effective type of play for helping children learn. Credit: Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report By Jackie Mader, The Hechinger Report, June 29, 2023 Parents are under a lot of pressure these days: They need to support children’s emotional development after a traumatic few years of the pandemic, address learning loss and prepare children to be productive, successful members of society. The good news is, research shows there’s a simple way to help kids do...

By Psychology Today Staff, Photo: Unsplash, Psychology Today, Retrieved August 10, 2023 Play—or fun, imaginative, relaxed, and self-directed activities—is a key part of life for children and adults alike. Play tends to be self-chosen, removed in some way from “real” life, and governed by a set of rules determined by the players, rather than an outside source. Play has myriad payoffs and is more common in children than adults; however, adults can and do play, often to their own benefit. The...

I'm thrilled to announce that my book, Healing Emotional Eating for Trauma Survivors: Trauma-Informed Practices to Nurture a Peaceful Relationship with Your Emotions, Body, and Food is available. I'm honored that PACES member Donna Jackson Nakazawa, an award-winning science journalist and author of seven books, wrote the foreword. Healing Emotional Eating for Trauma Survivors is the culmination of my nearly 40-year career as a clinical social worker and holistic psychotherapist specializing...

In over 15 states, schools can still paddle students as punishment https://wapo.st/3Yu3Iol Corporal punishment remains legal, especially in the South. It still has its defenders. But the costs can be steep. By Donna St. George Washington Post 8/10/2023 Kayla Brady’s son was in fifth grade when his elementary school principal smacked him with a paddle for, as she put it, “not minding the teacher.” The incident left bright red marks on the boy’s buttocks that she said bloomed into purplish...

Advancing Parenting will be in the nonprofit space at the Camarillo, CA Farmers’ Market on Saturday, August12th. As always I will be giving away our parenting norms bumper stickers. Here’s why you should put one on your vehicle. Advancing Parenting believes there has been a general decline in the quality of parenting and it’s having a devastating impact on children, families, and communities. Reversing this decline must include parenting education. Not conventional parenting education, but...

CA Schools VEBA is recruiting for an Integrated Medicine Program Clinical Lead and a Program Lead. Want to help develop an evidence-based program that addresses ACEs in adults? Create a whole health prevention service that focuses on serving people by considering their brain, body and spirit? Move away from moral injury to deep job satisfaction? CA Schools VEBA in Southern CA is launching a whole health program designed to address root causes of poor physical and behavioral health outcomes...

EMTs help a patient in Austin, Texas, this week. The man had passed out near the state capitol and was dehydrated. Cities with few trees and areas of shade are hotter during heat waves. Brandon Bell/Getty Images By Yuki Noguchi, National Public Radio (NPR), August 10, 2023 Within the past five years, Dr. Sameed Khatana says, many of his patients in Philadelphia have realized how climate change hurts them, as they fared poorly with each wave of record heat. "Like most public health issues in...

Ten years after its inception, the Navy's deployed resiliency counselor program continues to evolve, with more counselors embedding within the crews of aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships. Sailors with the carrier George H.W. Bush are shown here in April returning to Naval Station Norfolk, Va.,, following a deployment. (Navy ) By Geoff Ziezulewicz, Military Times, August 8, 2023 Among the many takeaways that Andrew Mauldin has gleaned in his years working as one of the Navy’s...