October 2022

When we consider the high numbers of children that are sexually abused it is disappointing how little is out there to support parents in prevention efforts. Although Erin’s Law has brought Sexual Abuse Prevention to many children in the school setting, parents are still often at a loss as to how to talk to their children about this difficult topic. As a therapist who has specialized in treating child sexual abuse for twenty years, I have crossed paths with thousands of children and families...

By Elaine Miller-Karas MSW, LCSW Building Resiliency to Trauma Psychology Today, September 30, 2022 Mental health can suffer after extreme climate events. KEY POINTS Mental health conditions exacerbated by natural disasters include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. After a disaster, the number of people needing assistance from the mental health systems strains or exceeds community capacity. There are simple strategies helpers can use to help survivors restore...

Hi again, we hope you are enjoying your week. A research article by Yingying Su and colleagues on adverse childhood experiences published in the National Library of Medicine links childhood maltreatment with mental health challenges such as major depressive episode, generalized anxiety disorder and suicide ideation. From the abstract, the researchers found that both coping strategies and social support mediated the link between childhood maltreatment and the aforementioned mental health...

Hi everyone, with the recent devastation faced in the Caribbean and parts of the USA from Hurricane Ian, it's timely for us to highlight that extreme climate events can negatively impact the mental health of survivors. The article linked to below was written by Elaine Miller-Karas MSW, LCSW and published in Psychology Today on 30 September 2022. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/building-resiliency-trauma/202209/how-help-survivors-extreme-climate-events For us in the Caribbean, in...