Trauma-Informed Parenting

By Dwayne Curry, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, June 16, 2021 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 have a 2-year-old son. The pandemic has profoundly shaped my parenting experience in numerous ways. I had to transform my house into a combined virtual school, daycare, and work setting. The last year has...

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN, June 28, 2021 Physical punishment does not appear to improve a child's positive behavior or social competence over time, according to a review of 69 studies from the US, Canada, China, Colombia, Greece, Japan, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom. The review, published Monday in the journal Lancet , found physical punishment such as spanking is "harmful to children's development and well-being," said senior author Elizabeth Gershoff, a professor in human...

Do your child’s public tantrums leave you hesitant to go to the grocery store? You’ve probably noticed by now that the words “calm down” do little to relax an overwrought toddler. If you want a less stressful parenting experience, teaching your children to identify and manage their feelings is vital. Here are eight smart ways to teach your children emotional regulation and help them succeed in life. 1. Work It Out People often talk about the fight-or-flight response to stress, but in...

At the outset of a Zoom visit with 7-week-old son James in my behavioral pediatrics practice, his mother Sondra explained to me that he is “stiff because of my medication.” While feeding him a bottle she told me she was unable to breastfeed due to the effects of MAT (medicated assisted treatment, now called medication for opioid use disorder, or MOUD.) It was not concern about her current use of methadone, which is widely considered to be safe for breastfeeding, but rather the in-utero...

Katie and Jason came to me at their wits’ end over four-year-old Mabel’s frequent meltdowns. “She’s been like this from birth,” Katie explained at our first visit. She described needing to nurse Mabel as an infant in a dark, quiet room because she was so easily distracted by sights and sounds. When I asked them to tell me about a recent specific moment of disruption, they described a visit to a county fair. Mabel was clearly so hungry that she was falling apart, yet despite the abundance of...

On June 15th, 2021 we recorded the last discussion of the Transform Trauma with ACEs Science Film Festival series. Our special guest was the Wrestling Ghosts documentary producer and director, Ana Joanes, who spoke about the film and parenting with ACEs. Here is our Zoom discussion which was recorded and uploaded to YouTube. Resources Shared via Chat: CTIPP (The Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy & Practice) First-Person Narratives PACEs Connection Parenting with ACEs Community on PACEs...

From The NYT Parenting Newsletter I don’t know how else to put it, but lately it seems like my brain is broken. I’m not functioning with the mental quickness I’m used to. I find myself struggling to locate words I want to use, like “vigilant” (it took me a full day to remember it). Sometimes when I’m especially tired in the evenings, I will trail off midsentence, and when my husband asks a follow-up question I will have completely lost my train of thought — it drives him bonkers. I’m not the...

This resource o ffers strategies to help parents/caregivers cope with collective traumas. This fact sheet also provides guidance on what parents/caregivers can do to care for their children as they cope. To access this resource, click here.

Mei, mother of four-month-old Amy, called to make an appointment in my behavioral pediatrics practice. Her thick accent made it difficult for me to understand her concern over the phone. She arrived at my office with her husband, Yuan, who spoke little English. I learned that they had recently immigrated from China. Although I had a blanket on the floor covered with toys, Mei stood tentatively, her movements awkward and hesitant, until I suggested she put Amy down. Immediately Amy gave me a...

Great essay by Monica Hesse in the Washington Post. Here are the first few paragraphs: To read the rest of this essay in the Washington Post by Monica Hesse , go here.

From Mount Sinai Parenting Center, June 16, 2021 The Science of Fatherhood As we approach Father's Day, we want to take a moment to acknowledge the role that fathers play and how important they are to their child's development. Beyond general praise, here are a few fun facts you can share with the (newest) fathers in your practice! 1. Similar to the hormonal changes that a mother experiences after childbirth, fathers experience an increase in oxytocin after interacting with their children. [...

Join Wrestling Ghosts Director, Ana Joanes, and the Transform Trauma with ACEs Science Film Festival co0sponsors for a discussion about Parenting with ACEs on Tuesday, June 15, 2021, at 7 p.m. EST. Please go here to pre-register for the Zoom follow-up film discussion. Here's one of my favorite scenes from Wrestling Ghosts where the author of Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology and How You Can Heal, Donna Jackson Nakazawa, explains how and why early trauma impacts...