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Hi Folks, The May edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php or PDF - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2020-05-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_May_2020.pdf To sign up for an e-mail copy, please write to me @ mikeskinner@comcast.net or sign up @ Website via Contact Us, Thanks! Michael . “ Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” - Helen Keller The Surviving Spirit Newsletter May 2020 – please...

Click here to view a recording of the webinar rom the NJ Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics held this week, Connecting with Families During Quarantine: Virtual Support and Telehealth. Feel free to reach out to ahovde@njaap.org with any questions at all. Stay safe and healthy! Aldina

If you’re feeling like the people YOU like, don’t like YOU -- and you don’t know why -- the first thing you want to look at is whether you are people-pleasing. People-pleasing is the act of changing yourself to make people like you -- trying to match their interests and values, flattering them, and hiding how you really think and feel in hopes that they’ll let you in, and keep you in their lives. People-pleasing is really common for people who were abused and neglected in childhood. It’s...

By Ed Young, The Atlantic, May 20, 2020 T here was supposed to be a peak. But the stark turning point, when the number of daily COVID-19 cases in the U.S. finally crested and began descending sharply, never happened. Instead, America spent much of April on a disquieting plateau , with every day bringing about 30,000 new cases and about 2,000 new deaths. The graphs were more mesa than Matterhorn—flat-topped, not sharp-peaked. Only this month has the slope started gently heading downward. This...

By Suzanne Kane, PsychCentral, May 14, 2020 Loneliness is never easy to endure, yet during times of mandatory social isolation and distancing, such as millions of Americans are experiencing during the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be particularly damaging. Among its many effects, loneliness can exacerbate and bring upon a host of mental and physical conditions. Social Isolation and Loneliness May Increase Inflammation A study by researchers at the University of Surrey and Brunel University...

By Nicholas Lemann, The New Yorker, May 18, 2020 Before the Civil War, Southern slaveholders used to claim that their labor system was more humane than “wage slavery” in the factories of the industrializing North. They didn’t win that argument, but the idea took root that the South, during and after slavery, did not have a true capitalist economy. In 1930, twelve Southern writers (all white men) published a collection of essays, titled “I’ll Take My Stand,” that opened with a declaration...

By Richard Webster and Jonathan Bullington, Center for Health Journalism, May 19, 2020 Karen Evans stood before several dozen social workers in a United Way conference room on a recent Monday. She was slightly agitated as she prepared to show them “The Children of Central City,” a documentary on how trauma impacts the long-term health, life trajectories and well-being of children growing up in one of New Orleans’ roughest neighborhoods. Upon its release 18 months earlier, the film had...

Transforming Trauma Episode 011: Spirituality in the Healing of Complex Trauma with Dr. Laurence Heller, Creator of NARM In this episode of Transforming Trauma, Dr. Laurence Heller, the Creator of the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) , is joined by host Sarah Buino to reflect on a very common question about the role spirituality plays in the healing of trauma: How does spirituality support the resolution of early trauma? Dr. Heller, a renowned clinical psychologist, author and trauma...

One of the most moving films I have seen in, well….years Cracked Up currently on Netflix, is a stunning and running commentary on what goes on in homes that we never find out about. Cracked Up tells the story of Darrell Hammond, one of Saturday Night Live’s favorite stars and the world within him that remained hidden under brilliance, talent and hurt. This courageous film illustrates, in a way that few films have so well achieved, the dynamics of post-traumatic stress disorder or how pain...

By P. Berman What hurts ? How did I get these? Larry woke up feeling exhausted. He remembered the bloody hands of his dream but that was all. His arms hurt. He looked down and saw his arms were white from clutching his prayer beads so tightly; there was no blood on them. He felt a momentary relief until he happened to look down; there was blood on the floor. Something also hurt; he looked at his arms- there were deep scratches running up and down both arms. What have I done? He looked at his...

By Berman, Hecht, & Hosack They feel so smooth. They are so small. How can they help me? It’s time to go to sleep. Larry is feeling terrified alone in the dark. He is holding his gift from the Abbott. He is trying to count them and pray, for the strength to do one good thing with each bead. He stuck on bead number 3. He prayed for the strength to stop avoiding Ted: that was his first prayer, Ted had been such a good friend to him he deserves better than what he was getting. Larry had...

Linked here is an article by Cynder Sinclair, Noozhawk Columnist, sharing how local nonprofits are adjusting and continuing to service their community amid coronavirus. Featured in the article are two of Resilient Santa Barbara County's very own community partner organizations: Isla Vista Youth Projects and the Family Service Agency of Santa Barbara County. The piece features an interview with Lori Goodman, Executive Director of Isla Vista Youth Projects (IVYP) on how they have remained...