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If you have a chronic illness, research showing that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase risk for chronic illness may help begin to make sense of your symptoms. They explain why it's not your fault. And why it's not in your head. What Are Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)? ACEs refer specifically to 10 types of trauma examined in an initial 1998 study conducted by Dr. Vincent Felitti, an internist at Kaiser Permanent in San Diego, and Dr. Robert Anda, an epidmiologist with the...

The latest gift from @ACEAwareNation #ACEsToAssets conference. @DrGaborMate talking about self-regulation, self-acceptance, self-healing, forgiveness, my favourite #AliceMiller, and good ways to intervene for child welfare. Gems of wisdom. So thankful for the access generously provided for those of us unable to attend in person. My biggest take aways: encouragement to "Keep doing what you're doing..." and validation that historical "evil is an emanation of the traumatized human unconscious."

By Rebecca Stoner, Pacific Standard, July 15, 2019. According to labor historian E.P. Thompson , pre-industrial societies measured time by task and season. "In Madagascar time might be measured by 'a rice-cooking' (about half an hour) or 'the frying of a locust' (a moment)," Thompson writes. In 15th-century England, people spoke of a pater noster wyle, the minute or so required to recite the Lord's Prayer. With the advent of wage labor, time became money, and was therefore regimented,...

By Caroline Ghisolfi, The Sacramento Bee, July 17, 2019. Video games often come under fire for their violent and potentially addictive properties. But a new study from a UC Davis researcher and a Swiss colleague has found that they can have their benefits. UC Davis researcher Seth Frey and Swiss scholar Robert W. Sumner studied users of the online game “Minecraft,” in which players build structures, creations and artwork by breaking three-dimensional blocks. The game has nearly 65 million...

Sugar is something we as humans all have indulged in and enjoyed. For the most part, it is usually viewed as a treat or reward for something, maybe something you have after a nice dinner for dessert, it's a very enjoyable experience. There is also the well known fact that too much sugar is bad, our moms would tell us it would rot our teeth while she made us ration our halloween candy but how bad is sugar for us? What if I told you it is very possible to become addicted to sugar ? Let's take...

When it comes to finding tools to help you properly address trauma within the family system, what is the single greatest challenge or frustration you’ve been struggling with?

Whether you're healing from illness, trauma, or other difficult times, these mindfulness stress reduction techniques can support your healing.

Nearly 700 members of our community gathered in Blountville, Tennessee last week for the inaugural Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) Summit.This call to action provided inspiration and education for professionals to take the next steps toward implementing trauma informed programming in their specific service areas. Keynote speakers Liz Murray “Homeless to Harvard”, Dr. Stephanie Covington, Dr. Andi Clements and Becky Haas. #balladhealth #addressingaces #East Tennessee State...

By the Center on the Developing Child Harvard University. As adults, experiencing toxic stress that just doesn’t let up—caused by things like violence or poverty, not being able to find a job, or not having enough to eat or a place to live—can feel overwhelming, like a heavy burden. Much like a truck that’s been loaded down with too much weight so it can’t move forward, these difficult circumstances can make it challenging to get through life. It can make you feel like you can only plan one...

By Ginger Thompson, ProPublica, July 16, 2019. The Border Patrol agent, a veteran with 13 years on the job, had been assigned to the agency’s detention center in McAllen, Texas, for close to a month when the team of court-appointed lawyers and doctors showed up one day at the end of June. Taking in the squalor, the stench of unwashed bodies, and the poor health and vacant eyes of the hundreds of children held there, the group members appeared stunned. Then, their outrage rolled through the...

By the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, July 11, 2019. Purpose The purpose of this call for proposals is to identify grantees who can lead an effort to provide: Part I: Clear Principles that set a high standard for the health care sector to provide equitable care that fully addresses people’s physical, emotional, and social needs; and Part II: Guidance for implementing care delivery that is fully responsive to patients’ goals, needs, and life circumstances, using maternal morbidity and...

By Scott Higham , Sari Horwitz, and Steven Rich, The Washington Post, July 16, 2019. America’s largest drug companies saturated the country with 76 billion oxycodone and hydrocodone pain pills from 2006 through 2012 as the nation’s deadliest drug epidemic spun out of control, according to previously undisclosed company data released as part of the largest civil action in U.S. history. The information comes from a database maintained by the Drug Enforcement Administration that tracks the path...