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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...

Health policymakers and practitioners increasingly recognize trauma as an important factor that influences health throughout the lifespan. By incorporating trauma-informed approaches to care into their practice settings, provider organizations can more effectively care for patients and support efforts to improve health outcomes, reduce avoidable hospital utilization, and curb excess costs. This two-part CHCS webinar series will explore innovative strategies for implementing a trauma-informed...

Sponsored by CFHA's Families and Health Special Interest Group Presented by Ruth Nutting, Phd, Amy Seery, MD and Vanessa Lohf, LBSW Thursday, September 21, 2017 at 2:00 PM EST REGISTER HERE Summary: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are common within our population. Studies have shown that greater numbers of ACEs are strongly related to negative long-term physical and mental health outcomes. Recognizing that children often experience a gradual accumulation of ACEs, periodic screening...

Of the 74.5 million children in the United States, an estimated 17.1 million have or have had a mental health disorder — more than the number of children with cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined. Half of all mental illness occurs before the age of 14, and 75 percent by the age of 24. In spite of the magnitude of the problem, lack of awareness and entrenched stigma keep the majority of these young people from getting help. Children and adolescents struggling with these disorders are at risk...

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.

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...

The United States is on the threshold of advancing much needed improvements in child and population well-being by addressing the epidemic of adverse childhood experiences and finding ways to come together, use what we know, and heal and catalyze a new epidemic of child and family flourishing. A special issue of Academic Pediatrics highlights new national research with inspiring commentaries across a wide range of leaders, each of whom calls out the critical importance of an immediate, strong...

I keep thinking the best way to change our current problems with ACE issues is to make a national MANDATORY use of the ACE Survey at all pediatric practices. Yet, someone today said..."Is there any follow-up to the Portland pediatric story?" Are parents following through on getting counseling, etc. after sharing their ACE results? " Does anyone have that information? Because I was getting push back today from the CEO of a big, respected Corporate Wellness coaching firm. He found the ACEs...

The 6th Annual Making a Difference Conference for SESPs, Foster/Adoptive and Kinship Caregivers and their Professional Partners will be held in Marlborough, MA on November 14, 2017. The theme is A Community Approach to Trauma Sensitivity. There will be at least two talks will be about ACEs! Speakers/Topics: Keynote: Managing the Hearts and Souls of Many, Dana Royster-Buefort, M.Ed., C.A.G.S. Workshops Tackling ACEs by Building Resilient Communities , Renee D Boynton-Jarrett, MD, ScD . Note:...

A review of Myrna Martin's short and direct pamphlet about the importance and approach to "co-creating secure attachment". The book is available in four languages and can be found at www.myrnamartin.net/books

One day, when she was 14 and feeling ill, Daylesha Brown’s mother took her to a Baltimore hospital and did not return for her. Child Protective Services (CPS) placed her in a group home and she was forced to move to other homes for the next three years. “My mother, she pushed me away,” Brown, now 23, said softly. “I was always getting in trouble with my mother.” So last year when Brown discovered her daughter, Sa-Maji, had lead poisoning, a lingering problem in Baltimore where the rate of...

Seated at a kitchen table in a cramped apartment, Rosendo Gil asks the parents sitting across from him what they should do if their daughter catches a cold. Blas Lopez, 29, and his fiancée, Lluvia Padilla, 28, are quick with the answer: Check her temperature and call the doctor if she has a fever they can't control. "I'm very proud of both of you knowing what to do," Gil says, as 3-year-old Leilanie Lopez plays with a pretend kitchen nearby. Padilla says that's not a question they could have...