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By Sarah Ovaska, North Carolina Health News, April 28, 2020 The spread of the novel coronavirus has meant an unprecedented retreat from our everyday lives – schools unexpectedly shut down, restaurants closed, and many jobs suddenly disappeared. Children as a whole seem to be avoiding the more serious health effects of COVID-19. But that doesn’t mean they are all safe. The closure of public schools and some child care facilities means some vulnerable children could be staying in homes that...

I feel safe around you. I never wonder what you are thinking. Is Larry going crazy? He isn’t just thinking about the plants these days, he has begun to talk to them. He finally admits his own worries- to the plants. “I know you are going to think I am crazy,” Larry said to a fern, “but your leaves seem to move toward me as I water you.” Larry was smiling at the plant and had been just about to reach out to stroke it when he saw the monk in charge of the garden come in. The monk saw Larry...

By   P. Berman, K. Hecht & A. Hosack I don’t understand who I am . I feel so torn up inside- except with the plants. I can feel comfortable around them ! Larry came back to live at the monastery last week and most of the time he feels tortured by questions about himself. Who is he? Where did he come from? Why is he here? Two months have gone by, since his accident. While his physical rehabilitation exercises have helped him regain physical strength, none of his brain exercises have...

Hello colleagues, I'm privileged to be a part of this community where we recognize the long term effects brought into a person's life as a result of trauma. Although we are all dealing with a stressful time of adaptation with COVID19, including financial changes, I figured it would not hurt to make a post in an attempt to garner support. One of the families I am connected with is going through even more significant trauma aside from the pandemic. Right before this started mid-March, the...

Elaine Miller Karas , key creator of the Community Resiliency Model (CRM), will be joined by CRM trainers from Wilmington, NC, Allison Wine , behavioral specialist, and Kelly Purcell , instructional coach and multi-tiered support specialist for this free, two-part training. Register now for two, FREE 90-minute sessions May 7 from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST and May 14 from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST (The complete overview requires attendance at both sessions. Registration link below registers you...

During this unprecedented time, we at Dovetail Learning would like to offer some simple, practical resilience skills for you and your family. Please find our four part webinar series entitled: We Are Resilient™ - Webinar for Family Resilience. We Are Resilient™: Family Series 1 We Are Resilient™: Family Series 2 We Are Resilient™: Family Series 3 We Are Resilient™: Family Series 4 Free, open educational resources for We Are Resilient™ can be downloaded from our website Dovetail Learning ,...

Blog by Michelle Hinton, Undraye Howard, and Jennifer Jones Since COVID-19 hit the United States, so many families, communities, and organizations have come together to support each other and share the universal message that we are all in this together. But the reality is, our African American neighbors are being disproportionately impacted by this virus. Inequities that are experienced through lack of access and opportunity have existed in our country for hundreds of years and have always...

Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of the bestselling book, "The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma," offers specific ways in which parents and caregivers can help children (and themselves) cope with the new (or residual) feelings of trauma that Covid-19 ignites. For more information visit Dr. van der Kolk's website at: https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/ For a calming experience with Licia Sky, (Recommended by Dr. van der Kolk in this video) you can register for...

By Lucy McBride and Roxane Cohen Silver, The Huffington Post, April 29, 2020 A patient calls in a panic. She was diagnosed a week ago with COVID-19 , and her shortness of breath has been escalating at home. She is no longer allowed to visit her mother, who is dying in a nursing home. By video conference, we determine that her breathlessness likely stems more from her anxiety than the virus itself. Instead of sending her to the ER, I practice breathing techniques with her to calm her surging...

By Genoa Barrow, The Sacramento Observer, April 29, 2020 As a pediatrician, Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris has spent years trying to get African American families in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point area to see the long term benefits of addressing their mental health. As California’s first Surgeon General, Dr. Burke-Harris is driving home the message on a larger scale. She’s done extensive research on adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress and getting to their root causes. In speaking...

From American Heart Association News, April 28, 2020 Exposure to trauma and other adverse experiences during childhood increases lifelong risk for cardiovascular disease and death, regardless of a person's health during young adulthood, new research shows. The study, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association, found children who experienced severe adversity – such as verbal, physical or emotional abuse or living with drug or alcohol abusers – were 50% more likely to...

FREE LIVE ZOOM WEBINAR AND Q+A! WITH DARRELL HAMMOND, DIRECTOR MICHELLE ESRICK and TRAUMA EXPERT, BESSEL van der KOLK, MD. MODERATED BY JANE STEVENS, FOUNDER OF ACES CONNECTION Hosted by ACES Connection Monday May 4th following opening weekend on NETFLIX at 4pm PST / 5p MT / 6p CT / 7pm EDT A virtual conversation to connect with our Cracked Up community about the lifelong impact of childhood trauma, especially now during coronavirus lockdown-social distancing-isolation which can trigger...