Tagged With "professional emotional support"
Blog Post
Parent Handouts updated and available In Dari, English & Spanish
The updated parent handouts are now available in Spanish as well as English and Dari. Here's the blog post with links to all three versions of each flyer. All versions of the Understanding ACEs and Parenting to Prevent & Heal ACEs parent handouts can be downloaded, distributed, and used freely. Both flyers were made with generous support from Family Hui, a Program of Lead for Tomorrow, who is responsible for making the Spanish and Dari translations available. These are updates of the...
Blog Post
Parental Depression and Its Impact on Child and Family Well-Being [CANTASD]
Parental Depression and Its Impact on Child and Family Well-Being On March 9, 2018, The National Child Abuse and Neglect Technical Assistance and Strategic Dissemination Center ( CANTASD ) hosted a Digital Dialogue with Jessica Dym Bartlett, the Deputy Program Area Director for Early Childhood Development & Child Welfare at Child Trends . The conversation focused on the impact of parental depression on child and family well-being . This [ ARTICLE ] document summarizes the conversation...
Blog Post
Parenting, Menopause & ACEs After-the-Chat Summary: Carey Sipp
Have you talked with friends, siblings or co-workers about Parenting with ACEs while going through the change? Do you have any fascinating facts to share about how your OBGYN prepared or supported you when thrown by midlife, hormonal shifts and emotional residue from traumatic stress? Me either. And it's a shame. A lot of people parent, go through menopause, and have survived a bunch of ACEs. Conversations and information shouldn't be so hard to find. But they are. T hat's the reason we...
Blog Post
Parents of premature babies face a further trauma - PTSD [BBC News]
BBC News July 28, 2018 Suzanne Ruart's son Aiden spent three months in a neonatal unit as a result of being born three months early. A year after her son came home Suzanne realised she'd been suppressing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). "After the first time I saw him resuscitated I developed a crippling anxiety that every time I walked into the neonatal unit there would be bad news, and this anxiety has never really left me since. "I manage it now because I talk a lot...
Blog Post
Peer Program Uses Writing as a Tool for Trauma Recovery
For the past several years, a small yet dedicated group of writers has gathered at Pathway’s Peer Support Program in Ashland, Ohio to explore ways to use writing for overcoming life’s challenges, healing from trauma and adversity and building social connections with others. Tapestry of Our Lives is the result of their hard work. The writings in this anthology are rooted in adverse life experiences and childhood trauma, such as physical, sexual or psychological abuse or severe neglect.
Blog Post
Petaluma Health Center leads effort to link women to services
Sonoma County was one of six sites selected nationally to participate in a CityMatCH practice collaborative to prevent substance exposed pregnancies. In 2012 Rebecca Munger CNM, PHN the Sonoma County Maternal, Child, Adolescent Health Coordinator lead a broad coalition of reproductive health champions who worked across sectors and settings to develop a trio of strategies to reduce substance exposed pregnancies. The first strategy developed with CDC and WHO technical support was a bundled...
Blog Post
Please stop saying parenting is hard for everyone & read Parenting with PTSD instead
Sometimes, we feel anxious, intrusive, or afraid when changing or bathing or own babies. Sometimes, we feel sick to our stomachs and worried while potty training, nurturing, or disciplining our toddlers. Sometimes, we feel shame-filled and ill-equipped when talking about puberty, body parts, or sexuality because of how and where we were compromised by caregivers as children as in our bodies, homes, and families. P arenting is brutally hard for some. If affection, attention and intimacy have...
Blog Post
Post-natal PTSD: 'I relived childbirth over and over again' [BBC News]
Anna Simpson says the therapy she went through has helped her recover
Blog Post
Prenatal Strategies to Support Families in Iowa
How can we build a sturdy foundation for children from the start? This updated white paper from the Iowa ACEs 360 Coalition examines the stress expecting mothers in Iowa are experiencing and prenatal strategies to create the best outcomes for the whole family.
Blog Post
Preventable trauma in childhood costs north America and Europe US$ 1.3 trillion a year [WHO]
By World Health Organization (photo by WHO/Malin Bring) The findings of a new study on the life-course health consequences and associated annual costs of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) show that preventable trauma in childhood costs north America and the European Region US$ 1.3 trillion a year. The article, published in the Lancet and co-authored by Dinesh Sethi and Jonathon Passmore, Programme Manager, Violence and Injury Prevention, WHO/Europe, looks at the legacy of ACEs and their...
Blog Post
When Parents Fear "It's All My Fault"
Many of my colleagues in the field of early childhood mental health work with what are termed "high risk" populations. Children of drug addicted parents, victims of child abuse, and families in abject poverty. While the challenges these families face are daunting, I find myself feeling some envy for my colleagues whose clients are in such obvious distress that the need for intensive treatment of parent and infant is not in question. In my rural, small-town population things are not so clear.
Blog Post
Why Intentionally Building Empathy Is More Important Now Than Ever (kqed.org)
Those in helping professions like teaching, social work, or medicine can buffer themselves from burnout and “compassion fatigue” with self-care strategies, including meditation and social support . A study of nurses in acute mental health settings found staff support groups helped buffer the nurses, but only if they were structured to minimize negative communication and focused on talking about challenges in constructive ways. English Professor Cris Beam also studies empathy and wrote a book...
Blog Post
Why We Suck (at Self-Soothing & Self-Care): Dr. Dawn O'Malley
Without yoga and coffee, I'm kind of a jerk. These are my personal "puppy uppers and doggie downers" and prevent me from being cranky, quick to cry, and ready for conflict. Coffee and calming make life more manageable. Humans even seem tolerable. Without them I might veer into hating humans for being so needy which is not a great trait for a parent, partner or a professional. Or a self. My partner says coffee and exercise are acts of kindness, service as promote public safety. In other...
Blog Post
Women Need Professional Emotional Support During High-Risk Pregnancies, Study Finds [sciencedaily.com]
By Rutgers University, Science Daily, December 16, 2019 The study appears in the journal Psychology of Women Quarterly. About 15 percent of pregnancies worldwide are high-risk, making premature delivery, low infant birth weight and other poor outcomes more likely. In the United States, 10 percent of pregnant women require hospitalization because they have hyperemesis gravidarum, pre-eclampsia, kidney infections, gestational diabetes or are at risk for imminent delivery, among other...
Blog Post
World Premiere: Stress & Resilience: How Toxic Stress Affects Us, and What We Can Do About It [developingchild.harvard.edu]
By Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, November 13, 2019 When the stress in your life just doesn’t let up, and it feels like you have no support to get through the day—let alone do everything you need to do to be the best parent you can be—it can seem like there’s nothing that can make it better. But there are resources that can help, and this kind of stress—known as “toxic stress”—doesn’t have to define your life. In this video, learn more about what toxic stress is, how it...
Blog Post
Beyond Paper Tigers is Back!
Back for the second year, Beyond Paper Tigers conference will take place June 28th and 29th in Walla Walla, WA. Featuring Dr. Ken Ginsburg from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia as the keynote speaker, BPT builds on the story of one community and how they've learned that embracing trauma-informed care and implementing ACEs science truly takes a village. Operationalizing the latest in brain science, BPT will provide concrete strategies for intervention with youth, families, and communities...
Blog Post
Beyond The Preventing Maternal Deaths Act: Implementation And Further Policy Change [Health Affairs]
By Katy B. Kozhimannil, Elaine Hernandez, Dara D. Mendez, Theresa Chapple-McGruder. Feb 4, 2019, Health Affairs Maternal mortality is a death that occurs during pregnancy or within one year postpartum from “a pregnancy complication, a chain of events initiated by pregnancy, or the aggravation of an unrelated condition by the physiologic effects of pregnancy.” In the United States, maternal mortality is a clinical, public health, and social crisis. Between 1990 and 2013, maternal mortality...
Blog Post
Breastfeeding and COVID-19 Guidance Updated (California WIC Association)
The CDC guidelines titled " Interim Considerations for Infection Prevention and Control of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Inpatient Obstetric Healthcare Settings " have been updated to clarify considerations related to visitors and essential support persons to pregnant women who have known or suspected COVID-19 infection; prioritized testing of pregnant women with suspected COVID-19 at admission or who develop symptoms of COVID-19 during admission; testing of infants with suspected...
Blog Post
Call for Abstracts for NCHDV 2020 conference
The National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence (NCHDV) seeks submissions that highlight research reports, practice innovations, advocacy initiatives, educational advances, and/or community programs that address one or more aspects related to domestic/sexual violence, other forms of violence, and health. The Call for Abstracts (CFA) invites leaders working in the fields of health and domestic/sexual violence to present their work at the 2020 Conference. Submission Deadline: Monday,...
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
Childbirth Can be Another Source of Trauma for Women Who Were Abused [irishtimes.com]
By Arlene Harris, The Irish Times, February 7, 2020 While it may be an innate and mainly joyful event, many pregnant women feel anxious at the thought of going through labour and can suffer emotional and physical distress during the delivery itself. And there is one group of women for whom there is an extra level of trauma associated with the arrival of their unborn child – those who have been victims of sexual assault. Hazel Larkin is a sexual abuse survivor and over the coming months will...
Blog Post
Children 'failed in first 1,000 days', says MPs [BBC News]
The Health and Social Care Committee said the first 1,000 days were critical, but not enough was done. It warned cuts to children's centres, health visiting and services to support parents had left families vulnerable. Nearly a third of children are not "school ready" by the time they reach five, because they have not developed the necessary skills and behaviours. The cross-party group wants the government to pay for extra contact with health visitors beyond the age of two-and-a-half. The...
Blog Post
CMS Issue Brief: Improving Access to Maternal Health Care in Rural Communities
In an ideal maternal health system, all women would have access to comprehensive, seamless medical care with links to behavioral, economic, and social supports. Additionally, they would be engaged with this system before, during, and after pregnancy. Across the United States, many women are not receiving care in this ideal system, and women in rural communities face unique challenges that make it harder for them to reach this ideal or any care at all in some cases. Because maternal health...
Blog Post
Come Chat with Dr. Claudia M. Gold: An ACE-Informed Pediatrician
Date: July 11th Time: 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST Location: Parenting with ACEs Group , Online Flyer: Attached below. Please share. Dr. Claudia M. Gold has practiced general and behavioral pediatrics for 25 years and specializes in early childhood mental health. She is on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts, Boston Infant-Parent Mental Health program, William James College, and the Austen Riggs Center where she is a Human Development consultant. Dr. Gold is author of the following...
Blog Post
Comics Shed Light On The 'Scary Thoughts' That Can Come With Motherhood [HuffPost]
Maternal mental health expert Karen Kleiman is tackling the stigma of postpartum depression and anxiety, one comic at a time. Kleiman has a background in psychology and social work and is the founder of The Postpartum Stress Center, an institution based in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, that’s provided support to pregnant and postpartum women for 30 years. Collaborating with illustrator Molly McIntyre , Kleiman has released comics inspired by submissions to the center’s #speakthesecret campaign ,...
Blog Post
Confronting depression, anxiety, Navy moms with new babies get help in Norfolk [Navy Times]
Kimberly Barnard-Bracey turned to a small group of women inside a room at Portsmouth Naval Medical Center on a recent weekday afternoon. "So what's the topic this week?" said Barnard-Bracey, a licensed clinical social worker. "What've you guys got going on?" Ashley Beer, holding her 7-month-old son, Travis, launched into a story of how she snapped at her husband recently — she was feeling overwhelmed as tasks like cleaning started to add up. "When my kid was that age, I couldn't even get out...
Blog Post
Consequences of Military Sexual Trauma for Perinatal Mental Health: How Do We Improve Care for Pregnant Veterans with a History of Sexual Trauma?
Sharing our recent editorial which includes a call for TIC in maternity care: "Nevertheless, there are ways in which VA may be able to augment the maternity care pregnant veterans receive to empower and facilitate more trauma-informed approaches to obstetric care. These include investing in programs to ensure peer support, possibly through use of mobile health technology; facilitating collaboration with maternity care providers through provision of handheld/electronic maternity records...
Blog Post
Deeper than the Deepest Well
We now know that babies DO feel pain, and in fact, they are even more sensitive to it than adults. The study of baby’s experiences in utero and the first two years of life have led to the rise of early developmental trauma as a reality today, especially with the acceptance of implicit memory and that the body remembers.
Blog Post
Doulas & Covid-19: A toolkit for doulas (DONA International)
Please the attached toolkit for more information. From the toolkit: Best practices when working with clients Given how new this virus is, we currently have very little data on how it might affect pregnant people and newborns. Guidelines from the CDC outline recommendations for how to support pregnant and laboring people with Coronavirus. (3) There is currently no evidence that the virus is spread from mother to baby in utero, or that it is transmitted in human milk. (4)
Blog Post
Dr. Gabor Maté & Full-Potential Parenting, Even When It Is Hard
Note: Allison Morris had dozens of experts in her summit series through Full-Potential Parenting. I took notes only on those by Donna Jackson Nakazawa , Gabe Maté and Sebern Fisher (coming later this month). Though the audios are no longer available, for free, they can be purchased for $100. or less (depending on the year), here. Forgive me for sounding like an advertisement, I don't know Allison personally. I am a huge fan of all parent-led resources and wish I discovered this series...
Blog Post
Employer Behavioral Health Programs Need Opioid, Suicide Focus [Health Payer Intelligence]
Most employers plan to highlight behavioral and mental health in the future, but they will need to address opioid abuse and suicide to succeed. April 02, 2019 - Seventy percent of employers are either currently addressing or plan to address behavioral health over the next few years, according to a recent survey from Willis Towers Watson, but many of these initiatives fail to focus strongly on opioid abuse and suicide prevention. Programs that do not offer enough support for employees at risk...
Blog Post
Exploring State-Level Strategies to Improve Maternal Health and Birth Outcomes [nichq.org]
This initiative will develop four case studies on the successes and barriers of individual state efforts to address preterm births. This work is part of a larger initiative to gain insights and perspective on how maternal health and well-being can help support optimum child health outcomes. Who: The case studies will be developed in partnership with four states that participated with NICHQ on the Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network to Reduce Infant Mortality (Infant Mortality...
Blog Post
Facing Postpartum Depression: The Honesty, Courage and Support It Takes to Seek Help for PPD
“Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able” – Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the Yellow Wallpaper, 1892 It is wonderful to see the birth of a child greeted with warm enthusiasm and support. We celebrate the joy of a growing family, and the excitement of a new life. Relatives and friends often provide gifts and extra help. But for some new moms, motherhood brings on many complex emotions besides the happy ones. While we may greet a new baby with happiness and delight –...
Blog Post
Family First Scholarships for 21st Annual Families and Fathers Conference
21st Annual Families and Fathers National Conference February 24-27, 2020 Hilton Los Angeles Airport 5711 West Century Boulevard Los Angeles, California 90045 I am honored to announce The Family First Scholarship supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation as a Title Sponsor and State of California First 5 as a Co-Sponsor for the 21 st Annual Families and Fathers Conference, Next Level 2020! the terms "putting family first" and "it takes a village to raise a child" parallels with why we have...
Blog Post
Family-Friendly Legislation Package Introduced [CWA Flash E Newsletter]
Senator Tammy Duckworth has introduced a package of bills to make workplaces more family-friendly, improve childcare services, make it easier for low-income and middle-class families to obtain diapers for their children and close loopholes that prevent many educational support staff from being able to take medical leave through the Family Medical Leave Act . The package includes four pieces of legislation: the End Diaper Need Act , the ESP Family Leave Act , the Honoring Family-Friendly...
Blog Post
Fathers affected by birthing process can get help on the NHS now [Daily Echo - UK]
CAMPAIGNING Bournemouth University academic Dr Andy Mayers is celebrating after learning that fathers who have experienced stress or mental health issues as a result of the birthing process are to be provided with mental health support through the NHS for the first time. Speaking after the NHS announcement Dr Andrew Mayers, Principal Academic in Psychology at Bournemouth University, said, “Until this announcement, fathers were not formally considered for needing support for ‘perinatal’...
Blog Post
Fathers & ACEs with Trauma Dad & Father's Uplift CEO: Tuesday, September 12th
What supports exist to "uplift" fathers who have survived abandonment, abuse or torture as children? Where can men go to discuss the joys, struggles and issues of being a father with ACEs? Where are the men who face hard, heavy and complicated realities to make life easier and lighter for all who come after? We found two of them and they will be the featured guests in the next Parenting with ACEs chat . Meet Charles Clayton Daniels, Jr. of Father's Uplift and "Trauma Dad" Byron Hamel. Both...
Blog Post
Fathers: Powerful Allies for Maternal and Child Health [nichq.org]
NICHQ . “Maternal and child health programs and professionals have become increasingly more cognizant of how fathers, specifically, affect their children’s health and development,” says NICHQ President and CEO Scott D. Berns, MD, MPH, FAAP. “Moving this conversation forward, and highlighting strategies that support father engagement and involvement, is a critical opportunity to improve children’s health outcomes in the decades to come. This is not because fathers matter more than any other...
Blog Post
First 5 CA 2018 Child Health, Education, and Care Summit - Call for Presentations Now Open!
Share Your Knowledge, Ideas, and Experience! SUBMIT PROPOSAL HERE First 5 California is now accepting proposals for its 2018 Child Health, Education, and Care Summit on April 10-12, 2018, at the Hilton Los Angeles North/Glendale. Participants are eager to attend unique sessions that are innovative, interactive, and engaging . We are seeking sessions that delve into the Summit focus areas and goals with specific learning objectives. We hope you will consider submitting a proposal. Summit...
Blog Post
First Round of Grants Awarded from Preventing Maternal Deaths Act [ACOG]
August 16, 2019 Washington, DC -- Ted L. Anderson, MD, PhD, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), released the following statement regarding the announcement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that 24 awards, supporting 25 states, were made for the Enhancing Reviews and Surveillance to Eliminate Maternal Mortality (ERASE MM) Program: Legislation signed into law in December 2018 funds maternal mortality review committees “The...
Blog Post
From the CDC: National Black Maternal Health Week
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the maternal mortality rate has more than doubled in the United States since 1987 , and approximately 700 women in the U.S. die each year of complications related to pregnancy. In addition, data shows that considerable racial and ethnic disparities in pregnancy-related mortality exist in the U.S. which disproportionately impact black women . We know that about 60% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable , and...
Blog Post
From the moms, partners and kids of all ages - Happy Father's Day!
While it should not just be today that we take time to honor, respect, remember and thank the Fathers of all generations (greats, grands, immediate, adopted, foster, neighbors and all), it is a day to say thank you to all the dads, uncles, foster dads, adopted dads, grand dads, favorite neighbors, and just cool and awesome men in our lives who support the mothers and women in their challenging transitions into and throughout motherhood. We salute all the dads in all generations! And we love...
Blog Post
From Treatment to Healing: Inquiry and Response to Recent and Past Trauma in Adult Health Care [Institute of Women's Health]
Abstract: In 2015, a national working group developed and published a conceptual framework for trauma-informed primary care (Machtinger, Cuca, Khanna, Dawson-Rose, & Kimberg, 2015). Since that publication, there has been increasing recognition that childhood and adult trauma underlie and perpetuate many physical and behavioral health conditions seen in health care settings and that addressing trauma could fundamentally improve the experience and efficacy of care for both patients and...
Blog Post
H.R. 4215 Excellence in Maternal 5 Health Act of 2019
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Introduced in House (08/30/2019) Mr. Bucshon (for himself, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Burgess , Mr. Bilirakis , Mrs. Brooks of Indiana, Ms. Herrera Beutler , Mr. Long , Mrs. McBath , and Mr. Walden ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To improve maternal health care quality, to improve the training of health care professionals to reduce or prevent discrimination in certain health care services, to...
Blog Post
Healthy Spaces December 2019 Webinars
Healthy Spaces: Promoting Healthy and Resilient Communities December 2019 Webinars Funding provided by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families The New Jersey Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics (NJAAP) believes that all children deserve to feel safe and secure in their home, at school, and while at play. The Healthy Spaces program aims to address adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) through partnerships with pediatric/family healthcare teams, schools and communities.
Blog Post
Healthy Spaces December 2019 Webinars
Healthy Spaces: Promoting Healthy and Resilient Communities December 2019 Webinars Funding provided by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families The New Jersey Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics (NJAAP) believes that all children deserve to feel safe and secure in their home, at school, and while at play. The Healthy Spaces program aims to address adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) through partnerships with pediatric/family healthcare teams, schools and communities.
Blog Post
Helping New Parents Make Room for Uncertainty
A new program for parents and infants, thanks to generous support from Mill Town Capital , is coming to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The Hello It’s Me Project shines a spotlight on these tender new relationships, investing resources around the birth of a baby with the long-term goal of building a healthy community from the bottom up. When world-renowned child development researcher Dr. Ed Tronick spoke in the spring of 2018 for an audience of a wide variety of practitioners in Berkshire County...
Blog Post
Helping Someone with PTSD: Helping a Loved One While Taking Care of Yourself (www.helpguide.org/)
"PTSD can take a heavy toll on relationships. It can be hard to understand your loved one’s behavior—why they are less affectionate and more volatile. You may feel like you’re walking on eggshells or living with a stranger. You may have to take on a bigger share of household tasks, deal with the frustration of a loved one who won’t open up, or even deal with anger or disturbing behavior. The symptoms of PTSD can also lead to job loss, substance abuse, and other problems that affect the whole...
Blog Post
Helping Women, Babies and Families with a Trauma Sensitive Approach
At the Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health (APPPAH), a celebration of support for the Mother-Baby Dyad and Trauma Healing is happening. All month, there have been lectures by esteemed experts in trauma sensitive and trauma healing approaches. From midwives who are trauma sensitive to baby bodyworkers, from family therapists who know how help you recognize trauma attachment to cultural competencies with marginal communities, you will find it in this free lecture...
Blog Post
Helping women have a better birth and breastfeeding experience during COVID
We at Better Beginnings are actively working to help women have a better birth and breastfeeding experience. Our virtual doulas are available everyday to support women one-to-one through their cell phones. This service is free to the mother call 415-663-6852. We also have taken the Breastfeeding Cafes virtual and continue to see women one on one for serious problems on Mondays by appointment (this requires pre-screening for risk factors). Women need to know their rights during this pandemic...