Tagged With "family therapist"
Blog Post
My son was hospitalized and now he has PTSD
“Grant, do you remember when you were in the hospital?” “Yes… they came to take the blood and I turned into a werewolf.” Original Post It happened quickly. A year ago my three year old had a collarbone fracture, it became infected and within 24 hours the situation was emergent. A week long hospital stay, one month with a PICC line and two months on oral antibiotics. Finally, the labs finally came back normal. The X-Ray was clean. Gillette Children’s Hospital closed our case. But the healing...
Blog Post
The Hardest Part of Parenting While Post-Traumatically Stressed...
I asked parents on my Heal Write Now Facebook page for some feedback before my last talk on Parenting with PTSD. Here are some of the responses parent shared. “When I first became a parent I didn't understand that not all parents reacted or were triggered the way I was. For example, all parents go through lack of sleep but for me it brought up physical and emotional memories of the years of night terrors I suffered. It took me awhile to figure that out on my own.” Karen P. “The hardest part...
Blog Post
The Nurtured Parent Revolution: Transforming Trauma through Love, Healing, and Social Justice Activism
Many family courts across the nation routinely fail the most vulnerable in our society: mothers and their children in crisis seeking a life free from abuse. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice released the Saunders Report , a study that found the standard and required domestic violence training received by judges, lawyers, and custody evaluators, does not adequately prepare them to handle abuse cases. Inadequately trained professionals tend to believe the myth that mothers frequently...
Blog Post
The power and passion of a survivor - Cissy White (www.thetraumatherapistproject.com)
Excerpt from the Trauma Therapist Podcast hosted by Guy McPherson, PhD. In This Episode Cissy’s website Cissy published in the Elephant Journal ACEs Connection ACEs Too High Articles There Is Nothing Wrong with You: Going Beyond Self-Hate , Cheri Huber Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal , Belleruth Naparstek Cissy's note: Even before I got cancer, being on the Trauma Therapist Podcast with Guy McPherson was a bucket-list item for me. It's the podcast where I first heard...
Blog Post
The Power of Beliefs: What Babies Are Telling Us
Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology (PPN) oriented therapies have developed ways to identify and help babies, children, and families heal difficult early experiences and transform them into more life-enhancing experiences of being in the world. PPN-oriented therapeutic play is an effective way to do this and can be done in the office with a PPN professional and also at home with parents perceiving and engaging their children with this purpose in mind.
Blog Post
The Relentless School Nurse: Candida Rodriguez is Creating Community Through the Power of Conversations That Matter
Candida Rodriguez is my mentor, while she may disagree with that statement and say it is the opposite, it is the absolute truth. My respect, admiration, and amazement at the depth of her knowledge, talent, and compassion astound me every time we work together. Candida serves her complex and ever-changing community with dedication, skill and a relentless pursuit of coordinating care for her students and families. We are partners in the Community Cafe Initiative that began in 2015 after I...
Blog Post
The Relentless School Nurse: Parenting with High ACEs – Voices of Lived Expertise
Christine “Cissy” White is leading a movement to make sure that parents with high Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) scores have the resources and support they need to end the trend of generational trauma that so many have i nherited and unknowingly passed on to their children. The voice of the parent is first and foremost in Cissy’s plan of action. To reach this goal, Cissy had to first find her own voice, which she has done brilliantly through writing, speaking and leading workshops.
Blog Post
The Relentless School Nurse: The Text Message No Parent Wants to Get - An Active Shooter is at School
Many blog readers know that my niece Carly is a survivor of the Parkland shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. You may know that my father also survived a mass murder, and like Carly, hid in a closet until the police arrived. Almost 70 years separated the two tragedies. Our guest blogger this week is my sister Merri, Carly's mom. Merri shares her first-hand account of what happened the afternoon of February 14, 2018, when Carly sent this text, “Mom don’t freak out but we are on...
Blog Post
The Rise of the Trauma-Informed Mothers
The next generation is less likely to wear predisposed shackles of trauma because as trauma-informed parents we are re-wiring the traumatically stressed DNA that was passed down to us.
Blog Post
How to Connect with a Child After Trauma
Are you struggling to help a child who has been through hard times? Does the child seem unreachable, unmanageable, and unwilling to try? Are you at your at the end of your rope with explosive behavior? If so, I have a concept to share with you that might help the two of you connect and increase positive interactions within your family or classroom. I want to start by saying that it can be incredibly frustrating and anxiety-provoking to witness a child who is suffering emotionally without the...
Blog Post
How to Help Kids Grieve When Adult Relationships End (kqed.org)
As a psychotherapist, I’m no stranger to grief—adult grief, that is. I know what it’s like to sit with adults who are reeling from the loss of a parent or child or partner or best friend. But I knew from my training that just as depression often looks different in children, so does loss. I didn’t have my therapist hat on when my son went through his grief—I was just his mom, muddling through it alongside him. But I did know to look out for certain signs that he might be suffering: being...
Blog Post
How to Support Someone (Like Me!) Who Has Experienced Trauma
This blog post and infographic is dedicated to the wonderful man (too shy to want to be named) who has had the patience and sheer tenacity to stick around for six years while we have figured out what I needed as a trauma survivor to be able to tolerate a relationship with a romantic partner. (And for him to tolerate me!) If you didn't have a safe, stable nurturing relationship with your primary caregiver as a child, you need and yearn for that kind of connection as you go through life. And...
Blog Post
How Trauma Therapy Cultivated My Recovery
I was 5 years old when I had my first encounter with trauma. Too young to comprehend the magnitude of the situation, my first grade class participated in a “Good Touch/Bad Touch” workshop,centered around educating and recognizing signs of sexual abuse. I found relief in finding a safe place to lay down the burden I had been carrying. I went straight to the school counselor and told her, in vivid description, the intimate details of my unwarranted molestation. I remember the grueling...
Blog Post
Imagine living inside a box buried inside a box buried inside a box...
That's how Dr. Kent Hoffman, Co-Originator of Circle of Security International began his comments about this incredible new resource for parents! See his full statement below. A short six years ago, ChildWise Institute was founded by Intermountain , a nationally-recognized organization specializing in helping and healing children from emotional and mental health disorders. Intermountain are also experts in helping families of distressed children create a nurturing environment of stability...
Blog Post
Intermountain Video Podcast: How Kids Navigate a Pandemic
Meegan Bryce, MSW, began her work at Intermountain with children and families as a Direct Care Counselor in 2004. She has since been a Cottage Supervisor, Child and Family Therapist, the Residential Manager and now serves as the Residential Director. Meegan is a Montana native and enjoys all the outdoor activities that Montana has to offer, especially river rafting. In this video podcast, she speaks with Development Officer Tyler Zimmer about how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting the...
Blog Post
Introducing NEW Becoming Trauma-Informed & Beyond Community
Earlier this year @Dawn Daum wrote to us when she was ready to share ACEs science with people in the organization she works in to make a case for moving towards more trauma-informed care for the benefit of the staff and those they serve. She was frustrated because almost all the training and resources she found were geared towards schools, clinical staff or to organizations working with children and families rather than ACE-impacted adults in the workplace and who are...
Blog Post
It's Not Always Depression, Sometimes It's the Holidays
There are many myths and “shoulds” about how families and holidays should be: Families should love each other. Families should get along. Holidays should be fun. Reality, however, does not reflect these “shoulds.” The facts are: many people do not have happy families, happy family memories or happy holidays. Therefore, holidays and families can trigger us into states of anxiety, shame, and misery. Perhaps your parent or child is mean to you, or you have an active alcoholic uncle that makes...
Blog Post
When Your Child Is Your PTSD Trigger
One-third of children experience childhood abuse, and yet the question is never asked: what happens when those children grow up and have families of their own?
Blog Post
Who Decides if ACEs Science is Shared? We Do!
Hi Parenting with ACEs Community: There's always a lot of discussion about if, how, when and where the ACEs survey should be shared with people and it's an important topic. I get that it's sensitive. How medical providers share, is of course, an important discussion for medical providers to have (and ideally WITH patients, staff and medical providers guiding each other about what works best and is trauma-informed for all). IF medical providers share about the ACEs study and research, on the...
Blog Post
Why Do Family Estrangements Happen?
Family estrangement is a very grief-ridden and personal experience that family members face when someone leaves or driven away from their family of origin. It occurs in families of all different demographic situations, including all races, religions, and cultures. But why do family estrangements happen? In this article, we shall focus on some of the most common reasons why family estrangements occur including: Abuse Neglect Mismatched expectations about family roles and relationships Clash...
Blog Post
WHY FAMILY SUPPORT MATTERS? (Its Importance for Strengthening Resilience from Adverse Childhood Experiences-ACEs)
Graduation day - a picture of my mother and me after I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice (Corrections) studies from Kent State University in June 1977. This was seven years after that fateful summer of 1970 when my mother and I realized that our family needed some help. When I look back at that time, I marvel at the love of GOD and the love from both parents as they began to realize that the harmful consequences of their domestic violence squabbles and of my father’s...
Blog Post
Why it makes more sense to care for kids and parents at the same time [centerforhealthjournalism.org]
It’s the flu season, and David, a 4-month-old baby with a chronic lung disease, is with his pediatrician for a flu shot. David’s condition leaves him particularly vulnerable to respiratory illnesses like the flu. During the visit, David’s parents, Clare and Dave, discover that they need to make separate appointments to receive their own flu shots, which only complicates their already overwhelmed daily routine. Now imagine a place where David and his parents can receive a flu shot at the same...
Blog Post
Wrestling Ghosts is Building a Trauma-Informed Resource List!
Hi ACEs community! The Wrestling Ghosts team is building a list of trauma-informed resources for those looking for anything from therapy, to parenting classes, to groups with like-minded people. If you are a therapist or counselor, or you know of an organization or other resource that may fit the bill, please fill out this form on the Wrestling Ghosts website. We are looking to create an extensive document that can be of help to anyone who doesn’t know where to start! This list will be...
Blog Post
Writing to Heal, Yoga to Feel & Survivor-Led Resources Online
I love yoga and writing. I need yoga and writing. Both are relatively affordable and can be done alone and at home or in community. Both have been central to my survival, recovery and growth which I write about below. I also love sharing and supporting survivor-led resources created for survivors and others. Here are two links to those if you want to get to those right away. There are more details about each following the essay: Write Your Story, Heal Your Life Summit: Alaura O'Dell...
Blog Post
Young Parents Speak Out: Barriers, Bias, and Broken Systems [aecf.org]
By National Crittenton and Katcher Consulting, Annie E. Casey Foundation, March 2020 Founded in 1883 as a social justice advocacy organization, National Crittenton has been dedicated to the needs and potential of girls, young women and women facing violence, poverty and injustice across the country for more than a century. Additionally, National Crittenton convenes the 26 Yet, systems have turned a blind eye to the ways in which the “safety net” designed for adults is a “trap” for young...
Blog Post
New Toolkit Issued to Help Providers Measure Trauma With ACES Survey [youthtoday.org]
A new toolkit is out that aims to help services providers give a survey about traumatic childhood experiences that are linked to negative effects on health and well-being. The toolkit, developed by The National Crittenton Foundation , offers recommendations about the Adverse Childhood Experiences survey, including how to talk to children and parents about the survey, track results and use the data for public education and policy advocacy. The toolkit also includes a sample protocol, case...
Blog Post
Next "A Better Normal" community discussion series: April 7, 2020 — Tian Dayton
Therapist and author Dr. Tian Dayton, who first started writing about ACEs science more than 20 years ago, will address grief and maintaining emotional sobriety during COVID-19. Carey Sipp, Southeast community facilitator for ACEs Connection, will host this community conversation, and Alison Cebula, Northeastern regional community facilitator, will moderate.
Blog Post
Opinion: To End Intimate Partner Violence, We Must Focus on Racial Justice and Healing [calhealthreport.org]
By Marc Philpart and Jacquie Marroquin, California Health Report, November 13, 2019 Like millions of Californians, the crisis of intimate partner violence has had a profound impact on our lives. The violence our family members experienced has created a ripple effect, setting us each on a unique journey for healing—as individuals, as families and as a community. While our journeys have been distinct, they have led to a similar understanding: Ending domestic violence is possible, but only if...
Blog Post
Our Most Vulnerable Population - Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
Before the pandemic, grandparents raising grandchildren were already in a precarious situation. They were struggling to meet the needs of children exposed to maltreatment and trauma while also supporting the family financially. But now, we fear, things have made a critical turn for the worse while those grandparents become unemployed, sick, or in the worst-case scenario, die due to Corona Virus.
Blog Post
Paid leave for parents during COVID-19 Emergency
For employed parents trying to work from home (if your kids are usually in cc or school): there is paid leave now available - The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act, part of the COVID-19 Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Here's an explanation from the Proskauer law firm (Twitter: @proskauer ): Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Paid leave for parents during the emergency
Blog Post
Paid leave for parents during COVID-19 Emergency
Paid leave for parents during COVID-19 emergency
Blog Post
Parent-Child Therapy Helps Young Children With Depression (scienceblog.com)
Children as young as 3 can be clinically depressed, and often that depression recurs as kids get older and go to school. It also can reappear during adolescence and throughout life. But new research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis demonstrates that an interactive therapy involving parents and their depressed children can reduce rates of depression and lower the severity of children’s symptoms. The findings are published June 20 in The American Journal of...
Blog Post
Parenting Matters: Supporting Parents of Children Ages 0-8 (The National Academies Press 2016)
A study published by The National Academies of Sciences in 2016 resulting in 10 Recommendations to build support for parents... "Over the past several decades, researchers have identified parenting- related knowledge, attitudes, and practices that are associated with improved developmental outcomes for children and around which parenting- related programs, policies, and messaging initiatives can be designed. However, consensus is lacking on the elements of parenting that are most important...
Blog Post
Power of Family Resilience to Protect Children From Bullying [sciencedaily.com]
By American Academy of Pediatrics, Science Daily, October 25, 2019 Studies show that children exposed to childhood trauma known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are at increased risk of being bullied or bullying others. New research being presented at the American American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2019 National Conference & Exhibition suggests that family resilience -- the ability to work together to overcome problems, for example -- reduces this risk. The research abstract,...
Blog Post
Protecting Our Children's Mental Health During the Pandemic
Our physical health is not the only form of health that is in jeopardy right now. The emotional health of our families is also at risk, and it can help to take proactive steps now to mitigate psychological damage to your children and prevent a silent aftermath of this outbreak.
Blog Post
Puzzle Pieces
A 5000 piece puzzle that was thrown up in the air and scattered amongst the fall leaves. That is how I imagined my life looked liked 6+ years ago. I was struggling with flashbacks, body memories, brain fog, panic attacks, insomnia and dissociation. My trauma history was coming crashing in on me and impacting EVERY area of my life. I no longer could pull myself up, dusting myself off and with head down barreling though life. I had to face my past and put together the pieces of that puzzle one...
Blog Post
A Trauma-Informed Approach to Supporting Families Impacted by Addiction
RFQ ANNOUNCEMENT: Celebrating Families! California Expansion Project Update: Due to the expanding ACEs response in California, and subsequent interest in Celebrating Families! we are extending the due date for proposals to May 24 th. Invitation to Expand Celebrating Families!™ Statewide The California State Office of Child Abuse Prevention (OCAP) recognizing the effectiveness of Celebrating Families! (CF!), has awarded Prevention Partnership International (PPI) a $100,000, 2-year challenge...
Blog Post
ACEs Science and Racism
This is a collection of resources regarding structural racism and trauma. This list aims to give a broad overview and is not all-inclusive. We welcome suggestions; if you have any, please comment below! The titles below and the PDFs in attachments are in alphabetical order. BSC Full Report Trauma Resilient Informed City Baltimore: This is the full report of the work, data, lessons, and direct quotes from several teams of people from various backgrounds in the Baltimore community as they...
Blog Post
After the Chat Review & Additional Resources: Talking Tough Topics with Kids
We had our first Parenting with ACEs Group chat a few weeks ago. The full chat transcript is saved online. For those who want highlights only and follow-up from our featured guest, Beth O'Malley, please find the following: Beth O'Malley: Talking Tough Topics as Social Worker, Parent & Adoptee How Lived Experience Can Be a Professional Asset Sharing Our Questions, Issues & Experiences How to Start Having Hard Conversations How to Talk with Teens ACEs as an AHA or Conversation Starter...
Blog Post
Apps for Quarantined Families [nytimes.com]
By Warren Buckleitner, The New York Times, March 31, 2020 Dear Readers, As the novelty of being holed up with kids wears off, it can help to have some new experiences on hand to keep them busy, happy and maybe even learning. Here’s a short list of recommended tried-and-true apps for school-age children that are $3.99 or less, compiled from reviews by Warren Buckleitner, an educational psychologist who reviews children’s interactive media. He is the founding editor of Children’s Technology...
Blog Post
Breaking the Cycle: Parenting After Being Raised in Hell (www.thefix.com)
Parenting with ACEs & Parenting After Trauma: If you write or read any essays or articles about parenting with ACEs, please share them. I'll make sure to do the same. Resources are welcome as well. The only abuser left in your life,” a yoga therapist said to me once, “is you.” When I talked about what a lazy, gruesome idiot I was another therapist would say, “Your self hears you.” She would look at me and wince at the way I was slicing and dicing myself on my own dime. I didn’t even...
Blog Post
Can Trained, Paid Peer Support Help New York City Keep Foster Parents? [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
By Megan Conn, The Chronicle of Social Change, December 2, 2019 When Roxanne Williams became a foster parent four years ago, she started in the deep end of the parenting pool. New York City child welfare workers brought her a boy with limited English on a Friday afternoon and left after confirming her home was safe, leaving Williams to muddle through their first days together on her own. “It was rough – you weren’t getting the calls back [from her foster care agency] as fast as you wanted...
Blog Post
Childhood Trauma and Adult Pain: Is There a Connection? (NationalPainReport.com)
I found this article (from 2014) about women with chronic illness/pain and how many take offense at doctors stating that their pain is due to childhood trauma. I was surprised and not so surprised by this, since the offense they take is related to them feeling like their doctor thinks their pain is “all in their head” and they need a therapist and is therefore not a legitimate medical issue. Only 22% think their pain is linked to childhood trauma. Article: Seven out of 10 women with chronic...
Blog Post
Children & Families COVID19 Resilience Brief 5: Music For Healing
Click on the pdf link for the full child-friendly article.
Blog Post
Children & Families COVID19 Resilience Brief 6: Problem Solving
Problem Solving is extremely important in the resilience process. It can help move us beyond our fear brain and begin working toward healing from trauma. In the resilience narratives I have collected (e.g. Madsen Thompson, 2010) people from very young children in foster care group homes and hospitals to parents living in poverty have told me that taking time to think about a problem helps them through really hard times. Feel free to distribute these as you see fit, but please do not alter...
Blog Post
Children & Family COVID19 Resilience Brief 3: Overcoming Fear
Here is the latest infosheet on Resilience for Children & their Families. It takes cutting edge neurological PTSD and fear research, explaining it at a second-grade reading level. That was not easy! Please feel free to use and distribute as you see fit for professional or online resources. Stay Safe! Dr. Machelle
Blog Post
Creating a Plan for Your Child After a Suicide Attempt (socialjusticesolutions.org)
During the last decade, the number of emergency room and hospital visits linked to suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts among children nearly doubled, according to a study in Pediatrics . This was especially true among youth 15 to 17 years of age. Experts say that bullying, trauma, and abuse are often underlying factors. Fortunately, with the right type of support from health care providers and others, children and their parents can find the resources they need to heal and prevent mental...
Blog Post
Donna Jackson Nakazawa Chats Live with Jane Stevens & You: Nov. 14th
Featured Guest: @Donna Jackson Nakazawa Topic: Well-Being, Self-Care & ACEs Date: November 14th, 2017 Time: 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST Where: Here / Chats Donna Jackson Nakazawa is an winning researcher, writer and public speaker on health and family issues. She explores the intersection between neuroscience, immunology, and the deepest inner workings of the human heart. Her most recent book, Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology, and How You Can Heal , examines...
Blog Post
Donna Jackson Nakazawa Talks Parenting with ACEs on The Trauma Therapist Podcast
I'm planning to give my parenting with PTSD talk and have been listening lots to the brilliant author of Childhood Disrupted, Donna Jackson Nakazawa. Here's a podcast that talked about parenting with ACEs. She was speaking with Guy MacPherson at the time. Some of the words she spoke that resonated and remind me that self-care is central to my parenting are as follows: "And the best thing we can do for our own kids is manage our own stuff. Good parents make safe kids." She wrote: "If we are...
Blog Post
Dorothy and Steven Halley will this week's Special Guests on "Breaking the Silence" Radio Show
This Sunday evening's "Breaking the Silence with Dr. Gregory Williams" special guests will be Dorothy and Steven Halley from 8:00 to 9:00 PM CST. Their over 25 years of professional life together will be discussed including the River of Cruelty model explaining how cruelty is passed from person to person and generation to generation. This model helps expand the Adverse Childhood Experiences conversation. Many other topics including their work with domestic violence and helping bring...