Tagged With "Toxic Stress"
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Free 2-Day Course on Community Resiliency Model
August 15-16, 2019 , 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Valencia College School of Public Safety 8600 Valencia College Lane, Room 149 Orlando, Fl., 32825 NO COST Registration Link: https://web.spcollege.edu/survey/28951 The Community Resiliency Model® (CRM) introduces participants to six wellness skills to help create “trauma-informed” and “resiliency-informed” individuals and communities that share a common understanding of the impact of trauma and chronic stress on the nervous system. Resiliency can be...
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Got Your ACE, Resilience Scores?
What's Your ACE Score? (and Your Resilience Score?) There are 10 types of childhood trauma measured in the ACE Study. Five are personal -- physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect. Five are related to other family members: a parent who's an alcoholic, a mother who's a victim of domestic violence, a family member in jail, a family member diagnosed with a mental illness, and the disappearance of a parent through divorce, death or abandonment. Each...
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How do these pediatricians do ACEs screening? Early adopters tell all.
Last week, three pediatricians — with a combined experience of 15 years integrating ACEs science into their practices — reflected on the urgency they felt several years ago that prompted them to begin screening patients for childhood adversity and resilience when there was practically no guidance at all. Along their journey , they accumulated a list of lessons learned for other pediatricians and family clinics to use. The three pediatricians participated in the ACEs Connection webinar,...
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Hurricane Dorian’s on the way. Florence taught us how to be resilient!
As we prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Dorian's effects later this week, certainly there are feelings of anxiety and confusion. Already? We haven't even finished recovering from Hurricane Florence! Let's choose to remember all the things we have learned from one another about being resilient in the face of stress over the course of the past year. We have learned about the body's response to stress and trauma, and that adding "stressors" and triggers to these can cause us to feel even...
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Hurricane Michael: Children Face Stress Of Upended Lives [health.wusf.usf.edu]
When Tiffany Harris and her two children emerged from their hotel after Hurricane Michael roared past, her 3-year-old son pointed to a sea of fallen trees and shattered buildings. "It's broken. It's broken, Mommy, fix it," she recalls her little boy Amari begging. Harris, who lives with her boyfriend, two children, plus her sister and her four children near Panama City, soon learned their town house was uninhabitable. Everything was a total loss after Michael powered inland across the...
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Integrating Healthcare and Early Childhood Systems Requires Capacity and Expertise [Chapin Hall At the University of Chicago]
Pediatric well-child visits represent a critical, often untapped opportunity to ask families about unmet social care needs and connect them with early childhood and other community services. Innovating in this space to address social determinants of health, early childhood organizations are increasingly building healthcare partnerships with the goal of increasing family access to services and preventing challenges from becoming crises. However, it can be difficult to establish shared...
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It took 3 years, 6 versions to develop ACEs screener that works for parents & providers
It’s irrefutable: Widespread research shows that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are common. That’s why researchers in a recent study insist: “It behooves pediatric providers to take an active role in preventing and identifying childhood adversity in order to reduce the health consequences of toxic stress.” In other words, if you want your kids to have a good shot at a healthy life, make sure they — and you — are educated about and screened for ACEs and resilience. In a recent study —...
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January 12th: Resilience Documentary ~ Community Film Screening & Discussion
Join us as we screen the documentary RESILIENCE: The Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope and delve into the science of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and a new movement to treat and prevent toxic stress. This will be a learning event with facilitated discussion. Register HERE! Partnership between The Winter Park Public Library, City of Winter Park Parks & Recreation, Bridging the Color Divide, Hannibal Square Heritage Center, Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education...
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Latino Students in North Philadelphia Photograph Barriers to Healthy Living [philly.com]
Photo: Philadelphia Collaborative for Health Equity Mounds of trash on the sidewalk. Used hypodermic needles strewn around parks. Memorials to kids who died from gun violence posted on streets. That’s what Latino high school students in North Philadelphia walk past in their neighborhoods every day. So when researchers asked them to take pictures of what prevents them from being healthy, the answers seemed obvious to many. “I don’t feel safe when my community is dirty,” one student wrote in a...
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ACEs Science Champions Series: Meet Florida's Johnny Appleseed. She plants seeds of ACEs science!
Dr. Mimi Graham is Florida’s Johnny Appleseed, but instead of planting apple trees, she’s been seeding hundreds of ACEs-science-informed schools, courts, juvenile detention centers, hospitals, childcare centers, home visiting programs, mental health agencies, law enforcement agencies, and drug treatment centers. Graham, who has served as director of the Florida State University Center for Prevention and Early Intervention Policy in Tallahassee since 1993, focuses on early childhood,...
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Mindfulness Stress Reduction Techniques for Healing [ACES Connection]
By JEN JOHNSON, LPC Whether you’re healing from illness, trauma, or other difficult times, these mindfulness stress reduction techniques can support your healing. The Congressional Prevention Coalition estimated that 90% of disease is caused or complicated by stress. People with higher ACES scores are more vulnerable to stress related illness. Therefore, reducing stress makes good sense for health from both a prevention and disease management standpoint. 5 Things You can do to reduce stress:...
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Nadine Burke Harris Prepares to Launch Universal Trauma Screenings [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
Soon after being appointed California’s first-ever surgeon general , Nadine Burke Harris took off on a barnstorming tour across the state to talk about adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress, an issue she calls “the biggest public health crisis facing California today.” Before the pediatrician was appointed to her position in January by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Harris had founded and led the Center for Youth Wellness, organization focused on addressing toxic stress and the study of...
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One state. One year. (Partial) Cost of ACEs = $5.2 billion.
In looking at the impact of childhood trauma, you can’t get much clearer than this: In 2017, ACEs among Tennessee adults led to an estimated $5.2 billion in direct medical costs and lost productivity from employees missing work. That’s just one year, according to the new report, “ The Economic Cost of ACEs in Tennessee ," released on Feb. 1, 2019 by The Sycamore Institute in Nashville, Tenn. And to provide some perspective, $5.2 billion is one-seventh of the state’s annual budget . This $5.2...
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Overview of the Community Resiliency Model, used worldwide to help trauma survivors re-regulate their central nervous system, offered in two, free 90-minute webinars.
Elaine Miller Karas , key creator of the Community Resiliency Model (CRM), will be joined by CRM trainers from Wilmington, NC, Allison Wine , behavioral specialist, and Kelly Purcell , instructional coach and multi-tiered support specialist for this free, two-part training. Register now for two, FREE 90-minute sessions May 7 from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST and May 14 from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST (The complete overview requires attendance at both sessions. Registration link below registers you...
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RESILIENCE ~ Community Film Screening & Discussion
Join us as we screen the documentary RESILIENCE and delve into the science of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and a new movement to treat and prevent toxic stress. Register Here Sunday, January 12th, 2-4 pm Winter Park Community Center 721 W New England Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789 Facilitator: Pernell Bush, MSW, CNP Key Counseling Solutions Free (registration required): Register Here 18+ Documentary Synopsis: “Researchers have recently discovered a dangerous biological syndrome caused by...
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Observing Ramadan Amid COVID-19: Respecting Silence [Peace and Justice Institute at Valencia College]
Observing Ramadan Amid COVID-19: Embracing Silence By Sofiya Asedrem Respect silence. " Silence is a rare gift in our busy world. After someone has spoken, take time to reflect without immediately filling the space with words. This applies to the speaker, as well – be comfortable leaving your words to resound in the silence, without refining or elaborating on what you have said.” For the close to 2 billion Muslims around the world, Ramadan is the month when the first verses of the Quran were...
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Sheltering in Place: ACEs-Informed Tips for Self-Care During a Pandemic
Millions of lives have been affected in unprecedented ways by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). We are all grappling with uncertainty—our daily routines interrupted, not knowing what is to come. For those of us who have Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), these times can be particularly distressing. At the Center for Youth Wellness (CYW), we know that childhood trauma can have a significant impact on an individual’s health and well-being – both physiologically and psychologically. Since the...
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Substance Use Disorder and Brain Development
The inputs a brain experiences during its developmental stages have a profound impact on whether that person will develop a substance use disorder (if they choose to drink or use other drugs). In turn, developing a substance use disorder (SUD) as a tween, teen, or young adult dramatically influences that person's brain development. And why is understanding this causality important? The risk factors for developing a substance use disorder are the result of inputs the brain experiences (or...
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The Black Community, COVID-19 & Trauma [sdvoice.com]
By Latanya West, San Diego Voice, May 15, 2020 In January 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Dr. Nadine Burke Harris as California’s first-ever Surgeon General. An award-winning physician, researcher and advocate, Dr. Burke Harris’ career has been dedicated to serving vulnerable communities and combating the root causes of health disparities. Her work is equally dedicated to changing the way our society responds to one of the most serious, expensive and widespread public health crises of...
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The Mindful Gift of the Principles [The Peace and Justice Institute]
The Mindful Gift of the Principles By Celine Kavalec-Miller This article references The Peace and Justice Institute's Principles for How We Treat Each Other , which are free available in multiple languages and free for download. Each morning I sit quietly and invite stillness into my life. This is a radical act. I meditate to open my heart to whatever arises and to free my mind from the biases that diminish me and my relationship with others. Mindfulness is an open invitation to examine our...
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The Tiny Cell that Connects our Physical and Mental Health, and Solves a Decades-old Mystery of Why Toxic Stress Leads to Brain Changes that Spark Depression, Anxiety
More than a decade ago, I was diagnosed with several autoimmune diseases, one after another, including Guillain-Barré syndrome , which left me paralyzed twice while raising two young children. All told I spent six years in and out of bed and hospitals, learning, between crises, to use a cane or walker to navigate life as a working-mother-with-chronic-illness. My immune system was repeatedly and mistakenly attacking my body, causing the nerves in my arms, legs, and those I needed to swallow...
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Tools and how to use them is focus of second webinar on Community Resiliency Model, May 14, 2020
The second of two free Community Resiliency (CRM) webinars with Elaine Miller-Karas , key creator of the CRM, will be held Thursday, May 14, from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET, (10 a.m. CT; 9 a.m. MT, and 8 a.m. PT) and will include the practical application of tools of the model. CRM is an ACEs science-based biological model for helping individuals become emotionally regulated during natural disasters and other dysregulating times. Miller-Karas will be joined by CRM trainers from Wilmington, NC:...
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Toxic stress from El Paso, Dayton, Gilroy shootings addressed in Thursday Community Resilience Model Webinar
An ACEs Connection webinar will offer helpful self-regulation tools to those rocked by recent shootings in Gilroy, CA, El Paso, TX , and Dayton, OH. The Building Resilient Communities webinar is offered by ACEs Connection this Thursday, August 9, at 10:00 AM PDT / 1 :00 PM E D and will last approximately 1 hour. Elaine Miller-Karas will teach her Community Resilienc y Mode l. Find registration details below. This webinar is free and open to the public. It serves professionals and community...
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Trauma-Informed Care: Free Public Course with CME Available
This free Trauma-Informed Care case-based virtual course is offered by Aquifer and the Office of Women's Health. Here is the website: https://www.aquifer.org/courses/trauma-informed-care/ Overview Trauma-informed Care provides a training tool for a broad range of healthcare providers and their staff to learn about the prevalence and impact of trauma and how to integrate the principles of trauma-informed care into clinical practice. By understanding the behavioral, neurological, and health...
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‘Trauma Informed’ county is goal of Rappahannock courts, schools [rappnews.com]
School, mental health, court, government, law enforcement and other professionals huddled this past week at the Little Washington Theatre at the urging of the Rappahannock County Juvenile Court to learn about “Trauma Informed Care” for children and adults. “This Trauma Informed Care is a huge wave that is going to crash over the whole Commonwealth of Virginia,” predicted Rappahannock Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Melissa Cupp, describing how entire court, school and hospital...
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Trauma is Messy
I will always remember the day that, as a student teacher, I watched as a student entered my second-grade room covered in blood. After quickly establishing that he was not injured, we learned that the blood was that of his brother who had been shot the night before. No parents were around that night, so this second grader became the sole caregiver of his bleeding brother. My student would never be the same. We didn’t care about grades or test scores. We just knew that this moment would...
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"Turning big waves into small ripples" campaign
My “turn big waves into small ripples” campaign focuses on creating a supportive high school culture with norms and social constructs that encourage students to cope with stressors and positively expressing their emotions. By encouraging a trauma-informed community within the school setting, students will be better prepared to cope with traumas and stressors post-graduation. They will also be capable of passing on this information to their parents, siblings, peers, and future generations.
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Upates, good news, recommendation and link to register for Making Meaningful Change: Addressing ACEs through Public Policy Webinar February 18
The World Health Organization has compiled a recent meta-analysis about how much ACEs cost us Millions of adults across Europe and north America live with a legacy of ACEs. Their findings suggest that a 10% reduction in ACE prevalence could equate to annual savings of $105 billion. Programs to prevent ACEs and moderate their effects are available. Rebalancing expenditure towards ensuring safe and nurturing childhoods would be economically beneficial and relieve pressures on health-care...
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Recap of April 25th Virginia Summit On Childhood Trauma And Resilience With Dr. Nadine Burke Harris as Keynote Speaker
On Thursday April 25, 2019 Voices hosted over 950 attendees at the Virginia Summit on Childhood Trauma and Resilience . The goal of the Summit was to connect child-serving professionals and advocates across the Commonwealth to best practices to prevent, and better address, the impacts of childhood adversity. California’s first Surgeon General and well-known ACEs expert, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, provided the keynote address. Both Governor Northam and First Lady Pamela Northam addressed the...
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Watch Out For Wine Mom
“Surviving Motherhood – One sip at a time.” “Liquid Therapy.” “I wine because they whine.” A popular meme this past Mother's Day read: "If you aren't screaming 'BARTENDER' at your husband all day, you're doing it wrong!" The “wine mom” sayings go on and on. They are mounted on glasses, t-shirts, cell phone cases, key chains, etc. You’ll find them on chalkboards outside of restaurants and bars, posters on store windows, or signage on end-caps in grocery stores that sell wine and beer. Social...
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We must respond to the health crisis of adverse childhood experiences [Bangor Daily News]
By Joyce Schelling, opinion guest columnist • December 16, 2019 4:05 pm Maine has the nation’s highest rate of anxiety and the third highest rate of depression among children ages 3-7. It is above the national rate for behavior problems and children diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Attention Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD). The average number of suicides per year by youth under age 20 is well above the national average and has risen by 50 percent in just five years. It’s time to ask if...
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Webinar: Cultivating Our Best Selves in Response to COVID-19 | Tuesday, March 17 at Noon PDT
How to use the skills of the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) for self and others to be the calm in the storm as we face the unknown. Free Webinar Tuesday, March 17 at Noon PDT Speakers: Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW Linda Grabbe, PhD, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC Zoom Webinar Registration Link: https://zoom.us/j/715837300 Additional ways to join are listed at the bottom of this post. About the webinar leaders: Elaine Miller-Karas is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Trauma Resource Institute and...
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Whole Child Assessment found to effectively screen children for Adverse Childhood Experiences [Loma Linda University Health]
New research demonstrates that using the Whole Child Assessment (WCA), which was developed at Loma Linda University Health, improves identification of child-adverse childhood experiences (Child-ACEs) during a routine well-child doctor visit versus not using a screening tool. Ariane Marie-Mitchell , MD, PhD, MPH, lead author of the study and a preventive medicine physician at Loma Linda University Health, said ACEs are a growing public health issue. “There is strong literature showing that...
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Yes, Stress Really is Making You Sick [newsweek.com]
By Adam Piore, Newsweek, March 2, 2020 In the mid-2000s, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris opened a children's medical clinic in the Bayview section of San Francisco, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. She quickly began to suspect something was making many of her young patients sick. She noticed the first clues in the unusually large population of kids referred to her clinic for symptoms associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder—an inability to focus, impulsivity, extreme...
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12 Myths of the Science of ACEs
The two biggest myths about ACEs science are: MYTH #1 — That it’s just about the 10 ACEs in the ACE Study — the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study . It’s about sooooo much more than that. MYTH #2 — And that it’s just about ACEs…adverse childhood experiences. These two myths are intertwined. The ACE Study issued the first of its 70+ publications in 1998, and for many people it was the lightning bolt, the grand “aha” moment, the unexpected doorway into a blazing new...
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ACEs Aware Website
Check out this newly launched website led by the Office of the the California Surgeon General (Nadine Burke Harris!) and the Department of Health Care Services. This could be a nice model for Florida. https://www.acesaware.org/about-aces-aware/ The ACEs Aware initiative is a first-in-the-nation statewide effort to screen for childhood trauma and treat the impacts of toxic stress. The aim of ACEs Aware is to give Medi-Cal providers training, clinical protocols, and payment for screening...
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ACEs Connection Central Florida Launches at First Annual Conference
Photo by James Encinas Raising yellow “Visions & Commitments” cards, 550 attendees at yesterday’s Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing Conference pledged their enthusiastic support to create a more resilient Central Florida. The standing-room-only crowd heard Dr. Vincent Felitti deliver a morning keynote address detailing the findings of the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study) . He also shared moving testimonials of people who are...
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ACEs Connection “Map the Movement” now includes an up-to-date section on laws and resolutions
Photo credit: Texasarchitects.org An updated map of laws and resolutions addressing ACEs science and trauma-informed policies is now available in the “Laws and Resolutions” section of Map the Movement (you can also find "Map the Movement" on the navigation bar on the ACEs Connection home page). The earliest law on the map was passed in the state of Washington in 2011, creating an ACEs science public-private partnership. The data base of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is...
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ACEs Connection Overview
ACES CONNECTION NETWORK OVERVIEW ACEs = Adverse Childhood Experiences 2 SITES ACEsTooHigh.com A solutions-oriented news site for the general public that covers stories on ACEs, trauma, and resilience. ACEsConnection.com An action-based...
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ACES Strategic Planning Meeting Notes (6-18-2019)
Hi everyone! After the success of the Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing conference in April, there has been enormous interest in keeping the momentum going. With this in mind, strategic planning meetings have been held since the conference and the most recent one happened on 6/18/19 at Valencia College. You can read the notes from our most recent meeting here (attached) and see what amazing things people are working on in our community. For example, ACEs tracking...
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Action needed today by trauma advocates to urge Congress to address mental health and trauma in current COVID-19 legislation
The follow is a message from Dan Press, Legal Advisor to the Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice ), about the need to contact Congress regarding a COVID 19 funding bill being considered this weekend. He is urging ACEs science/trauma advocates and leaders to send emails to their U.S. Senators and Representatives immediately to address the mental health and trauma implications of this pandemic. All – I hate to bother you on a Sunday, but we urgently need you to contact Congress to...
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All Over the Map: A Baseline Analysis of the incidence of Childhood Trauma and the Implementation of Trauma-Informed Care in Florida [UF Lastinger Center for Learning]
All Over the Map "... In summary, the State of Florida is at an inflection point. “All over the map” is a phrase that comes to mind in describing the disparate picture across counties both in the incidence of adverse childhood events as well as the implementation of trauma-informed care programming. The analysis and recommendations within this report were developed to inform discussions on effective policy and practice considerations that will ultimately reduce the incidence of these...
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An Early Childhood Development Expert Explains How Trauma and Stress Can Derail a Kid’s Life [sarasotamagazine.com]
By Cooper Levey-Baker, Sarasota, December 19, 2019 Mimi Graham has spent her life fighting for kids. She began her career in the late 1970s as a Head Start administrator before moving into the world of academia to study child development and advocate for public policies that improve the health of mothers and children. Today, she’s the director of Florida State University’s Center for Prevention & Early Intervention Policy, a position in which she advises government agencies and...
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Being Present for All That Arises: An Essential Tool of Mindfulness [The Grove]
By Celine Cavalec, Professor, English, and PJI Academic Coordinator, Valencia College COVID-19 has been testing us — asking whether or not we can be present with fear, overwork, upheaval, uncertainty, distractedness, sickness, isolation and loss. I’d love to say that I have met all the challenges of this pandemic with a steady mind and a generous heart, full of grace and fortitude. I have not. But, that’s okay. I have felt deep anxiety, worrying about my 87-year-old mom in New Jersey where...
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Community Resilience Model - Orlando, FL - May 16-17, 2019
The Community Resiliency Model ® (CRM) introduces participants to six wellness skills to help create “trauma-informed” and “resiliency-informed” individuals and communities that share a common understanding of the impact of trauma and chronic stress on the nervous system. Resiliency can be restored or increased using this skills-based approach. CRM ® is an effective tool to be used for self-care and is especially helpful for those community members who are the front-line workers, responding...
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Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing
Welcome to ACEs Connection Central Florida! For a copy of the program for our conference, Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing, please check the resources below.
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Creating A Resilient Community: Panel Comments From Orlando Pediatrician, Dr. Candice Jones
Panelist Dr. Candice Jones at the Creating a Resilient Community: From Trauma to Healing Conference in Orlando, Florida on April 3rd, 2019. When I was asked to be a panelist for the community conference on healing from ACES and give my vision as a pediatrician on how to create a trauma-informed and resilient Central Florida, I was both honored and nervous. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t know about the science of toxic stress or the word, ACES until about 4 years ago. No, I didn’t learn...
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Cultivating Deliberate Resilience During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic [jamanetwork.com]
By Abby R. Rosenberg, JAMA Pediatrics, April 14, 2020 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is affecting our health care community in unprecedented ways. As a pediatric oncologist who studies resilience in the context of illness, I started thinking about what this pandemic means for our professional resilience a few weeks ago, when the first US patient with fatal COVID-19 died in my home city of Seattle, Washington. Promoting resilience among health care workers and organizations starts with...
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DACA Cancellation Could Impact 7,200 Florida Children [Health News Florida]
By DAYLINA MILLER Immigration advocates say 7,200 Florida children could be harmed if their parents lose Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – or DACA - benefits that allow them to stay in the country. The United States Supreme Court will consider oral arguments Nov. 12 in a case brought by the Trump Administration that would take away those benefits. The Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics recently joined nearly three dozen organizations and leaders in asking the U.S.
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Donna Jackson Nakazawa on bringing down the stress-threat response
Cissy's note: Donna Jackson Nakazawa has graciously allowed me to cross-post some of her current and future Facebook page posts here in the Practicing Resilience for Self-Care and Healing community on ACEs Connection . Hello Friends. As a SciComm journalist with 30 years of reporting and 6 books under my belt, which focus on how our stress response governs our immune health, I’ve been thinking about what I have learned, and how I might help you quiet your body and mind during this # pandemic...