Tagged With "Confident Response to Trauma on the Job"
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What Do We Do Once We Realize the Prevalence of Adversities?
When people hear about the mental and physical health risks of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress, one of the first questions is, “What do we do about this?” Awareness of the prevalence of adversity and the impact of stress on the brain and body leads to the possibility for prevention and response. Whether you are acting within a family, agency, organization, business or community, the next steps should be taken knowing that we will all work together to bring about change.
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Adversities. Resilience. Gratitude.
Adversity can be a powerful word especially when you are a Trauma Counsellor aware of ACEs. This revolutionary study on the impact of our Adverse Childhood Experiences has provided us with so many answers as to why we are the way we are. At least it did for me and the people I work with every day. It has also raised many important questions. One being, how can one build resilience through past adversities? How did I do it? Having done the ACE test and getting a maximum score of 10 on it, I...
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Gabor Maté on The Wisdom of Trauma
Hi everyone, this is exciting! 🙌 In case you have not heard, The Wisdom of Trauma, the movie production around Dr. Gabor Maté and his approach to treating Trauma, is currently online. You can view the sessions "live" or the replays online between 8th and 14th June 2021 at the link below. https://wisdomoftrauma.com/hub/ The introductory video is a bit over 1 hour long but it sets the tone for the experience. The video begins with Dr. Maté speaking to the recent events in his native Canada...
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California PACEs Connection initiatives spark new connections in regional meeting
Among PACEs Connection initiatives around the country, it’s well known that our social network is something like a bustling, giant town square where people share ideas, resources and any number of conversations about how to prevent childhood adversity and promote positive childhood experiences. On May 14, PACEs Connection assembled a virtual town square gathering of PACEs initiatives in California, where we have 58 initiatives sparking action all across the state. Speakers at the gathering,...
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Wrestling Ghosts Watch Weekend on PACEs Connection (June 11-13th) & Zoom Discussion with Director Ana Joanes on June 15th at 7p.m. EST.
Wrestling Ghosts is the fourth and final film in the Transform Trauma with ACEs Science Film Festival series. The film can be watched, free of charge, on PACEs Connection from Friday, June 11th through Sunday, June 13th where it will be streamed all weekend. The streaming will be followed by a Zoom discussion with Wrestling Ghosts Director, Ana Joanes, and the co-sponsors of the Transform Trauma with ACEs Science Film Festival (CTIPP, PACEs Connection, & the Relentless School Nurse) on...
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Wellness Wednesday - Resilience Prescription
Hi everyone and welcome to another Wellness Wednesday! Today we have an account from a psychiatrist who, after many years studying trauma and the experiences of trauma victims, had the misfortune to become one himself. In a rather dramatic turn of events, Dennis S. Charney was shot by a former co-worker and survived to write about it and to grow from the experience. In his own words, he describes how the situation challenged him to dig deep and uncover the resilience he needed to take him...
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How Does Historic Trauma Impact Blacks Swimmers?
Good Monday morning everybody! It's warm weather time in the global North and the "wet season" here in the Caribbean. In times before 2020, this would have signalled a lot of beach and river bathing in Trinidad and loads of people headed to Tobago to enjoy the more attractive beaches there. Now, beach-going and sea-bathing are restricted as part of the current national State of Emergency. With those thoughts in mind, that may explain why this recent article from an African American mother...
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How to (Mentally) Prepare for Hurricane Season
Hi everyone! We are well into the Hurricane Season for 2021 and today Trinidad and Tobago was put on a Yellow Alert due to the passage of a weather system. For those interested in learning more about the possibilities of the hurricane season, try to register for the Pre-Hurricane Conference 2021 put on by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies ( IFRC ). It runs from Wednesday 23rd to Friday 25th June 2021. While there is great value in developing a Disaster Plan...
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Reclaiming the Narrative of Black Fatherhood
Fathers play a critical role in the healthy development of children and families. This is why it's important to address structural and systemic barriers that prevent Black men from being fully present in their children's lives—so that all families have a chance to thrive. My wife and I have been married since 2019, but we’ve known each other since we were 14-year-olds. We are raising a blended family. She has a daughter who is 9 and a 7-year-old son. I have a son who is 8, and together we...
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Gwyneth Paltrow x Nadine Burke Harris: How Does Childhood Trauma Impact Health Outcomes? [goop.com]
From Goop, June 16, 2020 “You can’t grow up Black in America and not feel outraged by the terrible health disparities that are still going on every day,” says Nadine Burke Harris, MD , the first surgeon general of California. GP got on a video call with Harris, who is an expert on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Her book, The Deepest Well , explores the connection between adversity, trauma, and toxic stress in childhood and health outcomes later in life. Much of her work focuses on...
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It's time to heal childhood trauma!
A consensus of scientific research demonstrates that cumulative adversity, especially when experienced during childhood development, is a root cause to some of the most harmful, persistent, and expensive health challenges facing our nation. But there is hope. We can take action now to change and save lives. The impacts of ACEs, trauma, and toxic stress are treatable. Start by watching the short educational video below. For more information please visit: https://aceovercomers.org/...
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Explore the Role of Culture in Healing with La Maida Project
La Maida Project is thrilled to share videos from our recent webinar series “Exploring the Role of Culture in Healing”. We had an great audience turn out and robust dialogue with our panel of guest speakers including Ken Epstein, PhD LCSW , leader in trauma-informed systems transformation, Anil Vadaparty , CEO of child-welfare agency McKinley, and Omid Naim, MD , integrative psychiatrist and founder of La Maida Project. In these webinars we discuss the role of leadership in trauma-informed...
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Building a Restorative Restart to School in the Fall
As we look towards the reopening of in-person instruction in the fall, planning and reimagining for a restorative restart to our school systems that emphasizes student and educator mental health is a priority. In addition, there is a windfall of one-time funding coming to districts from federal and local funds for just this purpose. Recently a wise educator said to me, ‘you know, if you want to get to the hearts and minds of school leaders to make changes for the fall you need to do so by...
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Trauma's epigenetic fingerprint observed in children of Holocaust survivors [www.sciencedaily.com]
Date: September 1, 2016 Source: Elsevier Science Daily The children of traumatized people have long been known to be at increased risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and mood and anxiety disorders. However, according to Rachel Yehuda from the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai who led a new study in Biological Psychiatry , there are very few opportunities to examine biologic alterations in the context of a watershed...
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Good Bye Elsa!
Hi everyone, We hope the past weekend was a fun one for the folks in the USA celebrating the Fourth of July. In the Caribbean, it was a mixed affair as the season's first Hurricane, named Elsa, tore through the region, doing considerable damage to Barbados - often untouched by these systems - and causing flooding in several other territories. As these small island states continue to grapple with fluctuating Covid-19 infection rates, disrupted economies due to border closures, internal...
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Psychologists Advocate for Improved Treatment for Developmental Trauma
Hi everybody. This article contains some good news! According to an article on the website of the American Psychological Association (APA), a growing body of research is leading many psychologists to call for the inclusion of complex childhood trauma in various classification systems. "To better serve children who faced poverty, homelessness, and severe neglect throughout his childhood, a growing group of psychologists and psychiatrists is studying complex trauma—which can refer to exposure...
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"Historical Trauma in America" series starting July 15.
Hi everyone, it's Monday! So I know, not everyone is excited about Mondays. However, this is a very good Monday as there were no serious tropical systems that impacted the Caribbean over the weekend. (We could not say that last week after Hurricane Elsa battered several of our sister and brother islands.) Climate related events are but one of the challenges our Caribbean region faces. Another huge issue is inherited trauma from the centuries of genocide, conquest, enslavement, exploitation...
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5 ways to create compelling messages about childhood trauma using data
When presented strategically, data can help tell an important story about childhood trauma. Here are a few tips for presenting numbers in ways that advance efforts to reduce adversity, promote resilience, and improve health outcomes.
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Understanding Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs) Communicating What We Know to Communities of Care [bach.health]
Keynote & Expert Panel August 12, 9am - Noon Join an interactive discussion with several nationally-recognized experts on ACEs and the field of early childhood development Learn how to communicate, screen, treat and heal trauma associated with adverse childhood experiences Receive a free social media toolkit to educate your community about screening for ACEs [ Please click here to register .]
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When Self-Care Doesn't "Work"
You can't fail at self-care. If something isn't helpful, maybe you haven't yet found your own way.
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"Machete" Star Talks About His Childhood Experiences
Hello everyone. If you are into corny action-comedy movies, then you know the person whose picture adorns the cover image for this post. None other than Mexican-American actor, Danny Trejo, the star of the "Machete" series. Back in the day, I had read that Trejo was a former gang-banger, former drug addict and was formerly incarcerated. However, I never heard his story until recently. He has written a book detailing some of his highlighted experiences but shares how, after giving the...
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Connecting the Dots between Overdose Prevention and Adverse Childhood Experiences
Hi everybody. As you may know there have been many persons who have sought to dull the pain of childhood trauma through the use of narcotics, some becoming addicted in the process. In an effort to explore solutions to this dilemma, we are happy to share with you an upcoming webinar on ACEs and Addiction. "Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, are shown to increase the risk of chronic health conditions including substance use disorder. These ACES, frequently experienced as “trauma” in early...
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Racism as an Adverse Community Experience
By Christina Velez, The Relationship Foundation July 15, 2021 Have you ever questioned the ways that racism and trauma intersect? As a person of color, I know I have. Racism is a core determinant of health which often leads to social inequities. From watching PBS’s video on “Mental Fitness for Resilience-The Trauma of Racism” it was interesting to learn how racism and trauma, often converge in inseparable ways. Dr. Terri D. McFadden, a general pediatrician, and professor at Emory University...
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Free Webinar: Trauma and Nutrition
Proper nutrition is a key ingredient in rewiring your client's traumatized neural pathways. Research shows that nutrition is often not part of trauma treatment. Nutrition and trauma are on two different planets. This free webinar training by Dr. Sells is for professionals who want to understand why nutrition and trauma are not typically linked in treatment and how to bridge this gap with step-by-step tools, case examples, and handouts. Wednesday, July 21 12 - 1 pm EDT Click HERE to register...
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World Day Against Trafficking in Persons Coming Up on 30 July
Good Sunday morning everyone. We hope you are enjoying the weekend. While we seldom post on the weekend, today is different. Why? Well, because it's the 25th of the month and, as promised, we want to bring you a post that highlights the issue of slavery and human trafficking. This week will mark the United Nations observance of World Day Against Trafficking In Persons on 30th July. The commemoration of the Day was proclaimed in December 2013 by the United Nations General Assembly, in its...
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Trauma and COVID-19: Addressing Mental Health Among Racial/Ethnic Minority Populations Webinar
The Office of Minority Health (OMH) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cordially invites you to join a national audience of mental health professionals, health advocates and educators, health care providers, public health professionals, and OMH partners and stakeholders for an upcoming webinar: Trauma and COVID-19: Addressing Mental Health Among Racial/Ethnic Minority Populations July 29, 2021 | 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. ET As part of the OMH observance of National...
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PACEs Champion Dwana Young navigates community-driven ACEs healing centers in New Jersey
In 2020, New Jersey, a state with about 9 million people spread over the rural countryside and dense urban areas like Newark, launched a new entity: the NJ Office of Resilience (NJOR). The NJOR is unusual because it is a public-private partnership. It brings together three private foundations as well as the NJ Department of Children and Families to provide community-driven strategies for preventing, treating, and healing from ACEs. Like a ship’s navigator laying out a course on charts, Dwana...
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How Art Therapy Can Help Children Heal from Trauma [salud-america.org]
By Julia Weis, ¡Salud America!, July 20, 2021 A new method is emerging to help children heal from trauma – art therapy. More mental health clinics, like the Children’s Bereavement Center of South Texas , are beginning to use art to help children with the healing process. Mental health professionals hope that art therapy can help children process adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which is growing to be a public health crisis . “Art therapy helps one process emotions and feelings that one...
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Back to School Readiness for Caribbean Children
Good Monday morning everyone. As we are passing the half way mark for the month of August, traditionally, children would be getting restless as their return to school would be a fortnight away. In many of our Caribbean and CARICOM jurisdictions 2020 and perhaps 2021 will be remembered as periods of great diversity. While some territories barely interrupted the education cycle during their relatively moderate Covid-19 fight, others with more alarming infection and death rates closed schools...
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How to Nourish Your Resilience in a Time of Trauma (yesmagazine.org)
We are in a historic moment of trauma in the United States. How do we face these things fully, let in the devastation, and then both heal and act? Can we navigate through this toward healing? Toward racial, economic, and gender justice? Can we use this moment to alter the trajectory of climate change toward sustainability? Somatics and neuroscience reveal that we have inherent needs as humans—safety, belonging and dignity. We have essential material needs too, like healthy food and clean...
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When Cyclones Party In Your Backyard
Happy "Fri-yay" to everyone! Over the past week ago, the world was shocked out of its focus on evolving virus strains when the media launched an all-out assault on our sensibilities with headlines that screamed " Code RED for humanity !" What they were referring to was not an alien invasion or zombie apocalypse but the report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) that the climate crisis was propelling us to a point where, even with our best efforts, we would not be able...
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Six Months and Counting!
Happy birthday to us! Happy birthday to us! Well, sort of. This week marks just over 6 months since ACEs Caribbean Community (ACEs) was formed here on the PACEs Connection platform. Actually, the platform name change from ACEs Connection occurred during our first month here. In that time, we have been pleased to see a coming together of like-minded individuals from within and outside of CARICOM (the Caribbean Community), all with a passion for helping people thrive after childhood adversity.
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PACEs Connection is Taking a Week of Rest
The PACEs Connection team will be taking a week of rest following the Labor Day holiday on September 6. We will be out of the office from September 7-10. We will not be checking or responding to emails or calls. We will not be publishing the Daily Digests and Weekly Roundup during this time. Although the field of Adverse Child Experiences and child trauma has always been a stressful one in which to work, we have been feeling especially overwhelmed lately. Our capacity for feeling, both...
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10 Questions every trauma survivor should ask themselves
I was thinking about the most important questions I have asked myself in this child abuse healing journey, and I thought it might be beneficial to share those with you because when I started asking myself these questions, I felt a massive shift. I believe that one of the hardest things (this was my experience) in healing is to reflect on what is happening in our lives at this moment. Healing trauma is so much about clarity and intention. I think about this - if we can figure out how we got...
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Slavery was the ultimate labor distortion – empowering workers today would be a form of reparations [Yahoo! article]
Good morning everyone. We hope you are remaining safe and healthy amidst all that is happening in your country. Tomorrow is the 25th of the month and we're continuing our series of posts that address the interconnection between trauma and historical labour and sexual exploitation and modern slavery. Earlier this month, there was an article in Yahoo! that focused on possible solutions to the pervasive problem of labour relations disparity and historic racial inequality in the labour market.
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Overcoming Emotional Flashbacks with Self-Compassion
Emotional flashbacks take a horrendous toll on those who experience them. To feel like you are in danger with all the emotions that accompany it, fear, anxiety, startle, and a myriad of other feelings without understanding where they are coming from is both frightening and debilitating.
This piece will delve deeper into emotional flashbacks and methods to defeat them.
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Path to a Just Society: Our new infographic shares common language and an aspirational path.
Our version of a “Path to a Just Society” is our first attempt at creating a common language and identifying points along the path to a just society. The Race and Equity workgroup of PACEs Connection started the project in early 2021, following a staff meeting where we realized that we, our organization and the movement needed this. We think it can help all of us gauge where we are, where we want to be, and what’s needed to get to the next level of integrating practices and policies based on...
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Substance misuse linked to risk profiles, study finds - Jeff Grabmeier
The study found that scores assessing childhood trauma exposure among adults with substance misuse issues were 24% higher than previous estimates for other adults in the child welfare system, and 108% higher than the general population. While many parents and caregivers involved in the child welfare system suffered trauma as children, new research suggests that those with substance misuse issues as adults may have had particularly difficult childhoods. Not surprisingly, children in these...
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Brain scans of Black women who experience racism show trauma-like effects, putting them at higher risk for future health problems [theconversation.com]
By Sierra Carter , Georgia State University , the Conversation, September 15, 2021 Black women who have experienced more racism throughout their lives have stronger brain responses to threat , which may hurt their long-term health, according to a new study I conducted with clinical neuropsychologist Negar Fani and other colleagues. I am part of a research team that for more than 15 years has studied the ways stress related to trauma exposure can affect the mind and body. In our recent study...
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FREE WEBINAR - The Impact of Mind Matters: Preliminary Evidence of Effectiveness in a Community-Based Sample
Becky Antle, Ph.D., Professor of Social Work and esteemed University Scholar at the University of Louisville, won The Dibble Institute’s national competition to evaluate Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience in 2019. As a result, Dr. Antle and her colleagues have conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the impact of Mind Matters on a host of outcomes related to trauma symptoms, emotional regulation, coping and resiliency, and interpersonal skills for at-risk...
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ACEs, Food Addiction, and What Most Weight Loss Programs Get Wrong According to Dr. Felitti and Dr. Alman
We know a high ACE score is connected to a higher likelihood of “substance-related disorders.” However, sometimes it’s overlooked that food can be that substance of choice, too—not just drugs or alcohol. Learn about food addiction and ACEs, and a weight loss solution that heals from the inside out endorsed by Dr. Felitti, the CO-Principal Investigator of the ACE Study.
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How to Help Yourself if you’re On a Waiting List for Therapy
One of the positive outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it has increased mental health awareness. Limiting our activities and contact with others has led to so much talk about fear, loneliness, disconnection and mental health. These experiences have made people notice their needs and feel more comfortable seeking help. More people now seek therapy For some, actually getting help has been easier because they could reach out from their living rooms and receive virtual therapy. Yet for...
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The Wisdom of Trauma Part 2
Happy Sunday, everybody! If you missed the first screening of the documentary, The Wisdom of Trauma, featuring Dr. Gabor Mate, that aired a couple months ago, there is a Part 2 happening from October 4 to 10. Feel free to register at the following link and enjoy the remainder of your weekend. As always, stay safe and healthy in spirit, body and mind. https://wisdomoftrauma.com/
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Re: The Wisdom of Trauma Part 2
You are doing a great job of keeping your community informed. Thank you!
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Juleus Ghunta aims to make the Caribbean nations PACEs-informed
If Jamaican poet, children’s book author, and appointee to the nation’s Task Force on Character Education, Juleus Ghunta had his way, all 44 million people living in the Caribbean—from Barbados to Guyana to Grenada—would become PACEs-informed in the near future. To start off, everyone—including children, parents, teachers, social workers, doctors, and policymakers—needs to read his new book, Rohan Bullkin and the Shadows: A Story about ACEs and Hope , due out this December, just in time for...
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Now is the time for community schools for all
Community schools have been an effective school improvement strategy for over a century, implemented in both urban and rural areas across the country — yet many people have never heard of this dynamic approach to school design. Whole districts have invested in this model over the past several decades, from Oakland to New York City, from Duluth, Minnesota to Tulsa, Oklahoma. California recently approved $2.8 billion in the 2022 fiscal year budget for the implementation of community schools...
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NJ ACEs Collaborative ACEs Screening Position Release - 10/14/2021
Trenton – New Jersey’s ACEs Collaborative today announced that screening for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) by care providers should be used as a means to provide assistance and referrals to children and families, not as a diagnostic or treatment tool. In a position paper released today, the Collaborative – a coalition of state-based foundations, the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, and its Office of Resilience – advised that ACE screening results are an opportunity for...
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Join us October 27, 2021 for the inaugural event in our Trauma-Informed Criminal Justice System series, “The Relationship between PACEs and the Criminal Justice System”
Please join us for a new series entitled: Trauma-Informed Criminal Justice. This monthly series will feature conversations facilitated by Porter Jennings-McGarity, PACEs Connection Midwest and Tennessee community facilitator and criminal justice consultant, with special guests to discuss the need for trauma-informed criminal justice system reform. Using a PACEs-science lens, this series will examine the relationship between trauma and the criminal justice system, what needs changing, and...