Blog

With Covid 19 keeping most of us at home, now's the time to let our lives catch up to us and envision a new future.

An opportunity to participate in the development of a Trauma-informed Toolkit for Legal Professionals is now open. This is a Canadian initiative. The developers are actively seeking input from law students, lawyers, judges and court users. Engage with them at https://traumainformedlaw.ca/

Our Canadian ACEs and Trauma-Informed Network has grown significantly over the last couple months. We're now 100 + strong. #ACEsAwareCanada #TraumaInformedCanada #ResilientCanada here we come!

I remember last year on Mother’s Day, I was researching articles about complicated mother-daughter relationships and did not seem to find any that described my experience. What sparked this Google search? All the beautiful messages I saw on social media from daughters to their mothers. These messages described a relationship I did not know of. I wondered why instead of honoring my mom I was very angry at her, this time a type of anger that I could not hide, ruminate in silence as I had done...

By Kurt Sandstrom, The Lawyer's Daily, February 26, 2020 Family Day is an opportunity to pause and reflect on the changing context for families and the ongoing need for family justice systems to grow and develop. We are fortunate to live in a time of greater acceptance and diversity in what families look like and how they are formed. Of course, we hope that all families can enjoy loving and supportive relationships, though our work in the justice system often shows us difficult, challenging...

Once again the power of Twitter has expanded my circle of wonderful humans working across sectors to counter-balance the negativity in our world. Elizabeth Perry is a member of the #TwitterFamily that grows each day. Elizabeth lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia and brings an international flavor to the discussion of ACEs. She is also a fierce advocate that the trauma-informed movement must include the voice of trauma survivors. As our mutual friend Cissy White often says, "It is not...

Welcome new members of Canadian ACEs and TI Network. Please share what's happening re ACEs in your region. Here's an update on what I've been up to.

I recently became aware of these two reports: How are Canadians REALLY doing? The 2016 Cdn Index of Well-being National Report https://uwaterloo.ca/canadian-index-wellbeing/ Where Does Canada Stand? The Canadian Index of Child and Youth Well-being (2019 Baseline Report) "One of the key ingredients in the recipe for a happy child is a happy parent. When parents do better, kids do better – and vice versa. And, as for the recipe for a happy parent, the key ingredient in that recipe is good...

By Katie Willis, University of Alberta, December 20, 2019 New research from University of Alberta neuroscientists shows that the brains of adolescents struggling with mental-health issues may be wired differently from those of their healthy peers. This collaborative research, led by Anthony Singhal, professor and chair in the Department of Psychology, involved adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 who had a history of mental-health problems, including depression, anxiety, and ADHD. This...

War is most certainly Hell. It is also a source of #ACEs for the children of veterans. Here's a little insight into my story.

I just finished reading Great Expectations for the second time. I could relate to it much easier this reading as I used an ACEs lens to understand Pip's experiences and challenges. Dickens knew in 1860 the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences. It seems strange to see humanity hasn't really evolved emotionally and socially that much in 160 years. Hopefully the ACEs movement will help propel our consciousness raising.

We developed ACEs Connection's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Tool — called the Inclusion Tool, for short — to ensure that ACEs initiatives across the world focus on being inclusive when forming a steering committee, recruiting leaders, providing education about ACEs science, recruiting members, or providing resources and services within their communities. The more inclusive your ACEs initiative is, the more diverse it will be, giving your initiative a real shot at achieving equity and...