Tagged With "systems thinking"
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This 23-word sentence reveals the secret to winning with people (theladders.com)
In the book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People , Dr. Stephen Covey tells the story of being on a train one day. While on the train, there were two very noisy kids causing a disturbance to everyone around them. Covey noticed that the father was doing nothing about it, and after a period of restraint, he approached the father. Here’s Covey’s account of the situation: Living more compassionately If you treat every person you meet like they are dealing with a serious challenge, you’ll be...
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Thoughts on Trauma Work as I Say Farewell to the Alaska Resilience Initiative
The following letter went out to the list serve of the Alaska Resilience Initiative on Monday, February 24th. I am sharing it here...because the reflections on lessons learned may be useful to those in the broader ACEs movement...
Most important, perhaps: an ethic of self-reflection and of welcoming feedback creates safety, creates a trauma-informed environment. And so, it is both a tool for growth, and a way of walking the walk on trauma-informed, culturally-responsive care.
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TIC: News and Notes for the Week of July 8, 2019
ACEs, Adversity's Impact ACEs linked to higher health care costs in adulthood Beyond the ACE score: Examining the relationship between timing of developmental adversity, relational health and developmental outcomes in children Toxic stress: The other health crisis politicians should be talking about California doctors to begin screening for trauma Lupus patients with adverse childhood experiences report worse disease activity and overall health, study says Dr. Gabor Mate on childhood trauma,...
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To Zoe’s Mom: I See You
I am not even sure where to start. But, I know I need to write about this. I need to give this to the world. Perhaps to another mother who is facing the darkness and can’t see her way out. Perhaps she is watching her children caught in the cyclone that is her life. I think she is who I am writing this for. And maybe for me too. I am doing some amazing work with a community that is fast becoming dear to my heart. I look at the people who keep showing up that are trying to wrap their heads...
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Transforming Trauma Podcast: The Blind Spots of Privilege and Complex Trauma in Marginalized Communities
Transforming Trauma Podcast: The Blind Spots of Privilege and Complex Trauma in Marginalized Communities Claude Cayemitte, a clinical social worker and NARM Therapist, joins the Transforming Trauma podcast to examine how complex trauma impacts individuals from marginalized communities and how unrecognized cultural trauma can lead to misattunement in the therapeutic relationship. Using the NeuroAffective Relational Model as a foundation, and his own background as a Haitian-American male...
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Translating Trauma-Informed Values in ACTION Workshop
There are still spots available in this upcoming workshop in Boston: TIMBo for Compassionate Organizations Translating Trauma-Informed Values into ACTION Led by Suzanne Jones, creator of the TIMBo Method and innovator in building stress-responsive social networks . March 28, 2019 | 10am - 3pm The Non-Profit Center, 89 South Street, Boston MA Register Now $300 per person ** $250 Early Bird extended! Must register by 3/15/19 ** 4 CEUs for eligible professionals ($35 fee payable at event) The...
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Trauma Informed Oregon Response to COVID-19 [Trauma Informed Oregon]
Editor's Note: This excellent letter was widely circulated today across Oregon to detail the response of Trauma Informed Oregon to COVID-19 and ask the grassroots to provide feedback on needs and experience during this challenging time. Dear colleagues, partners, and neighbors across Oregon, Trauma Informed Oregon (TIO) is OPEN —don’t worry, not physically open. We are absolutely following physical distancing to flatten the curve, to protect others, and to respect the great sacrifices that...
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Trauma-Informed Social Justice: Q&A with Dr. Bukuloa Ogunkua
Cissy's Note: I work with people who challenge systems and policies, who reform or start non-profits, and who see hope and promise where others see despair or destruction. While some folks shake their heads or shrug indifferently in the face of injustice and suffering, others organize, mobilize, and channel their time and energy towards making a change. Maybe a physician hosts an annual conference bringing trauma-informed approaches to medical practice. Perhaps a woman shares ACEs 101...
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Two studies shed light on state legislators’ views on ACEs science and trauma policy
New and returning lawmakers take the oath of office on day one of Washington state's 2017 legislative session. — Jeanie Lindsay/Northwest News Network As advocates prepare to see how ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) science, trauma, and resilience play out in the 2020 state legislative sessions — many beginning in January — they are undoubtedly asking: “What does a legislator want?" It may be a stretch to play on Freud’s question: “What does a women want?", but the query captures how...
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We Need the WHOLE to Create Trauma-Informed Systems
Sometimes I think I have PTSD from failed change efforts. I am not kidding. I have developed symptoms from living through nearly twenty years of failed education reform efforts. When I reflect on the many change efforts I participated in, I shudder. I try to block it out. I avoid discussing it. There is an "activating" body memory (SE™ talk) for me that is associated with prescriptive change efforts. When I encounter a stimulus or trigger, like someone talking about a new protocol intended...
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Webinar recording available: Making Meaningful Change—Addressing ACEs through Public Policy
On February 18, 2020, nationally recognized experts discussed policy and advocacy strategies on local, state, and national levels using evidence from studies they have conducted with legislators and the general public. Speakers shared advocacy and messaging "how to’s" including communicating the effects of structural racism as an ACE, fostering equity as an essential component of resilience, and leveraging the power of community-based ACE, trauma and resilience networks to inform policy.
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Webinar Slides and Recording: Building Resilient Communities with Elaine Miller-Karas
Recorded live August 8, 2019. Find the slides attached below. The 1 hour video recording can be found on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/BUyY0FMjv8s Speaker: Elaine Miller-Karas, MSW, LCSW, Executive Director and Co-founder, Trauma Resource Institute. Host: Carey Sipp, Southeast Community Facilitator, ACEs Connection. Webinar Description: This webinar will explore integrating a biological based model to reduce the impacts of toxic stress for children and adults. It is a model both for...
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What Does the Public Think About Cross-sector Collaboration? (SSIR.org) & Note
Cissy's note: I don't have a public health background and am constantly learning about sectors and cross-sector work as relates to work related to all things ACEs and ACEs science. I found it heartening that most of the public is as confused as I was about what cross-sector work is and how and why it can be innovative and effective. Like most people, I assumed this working together was already happening some or most of the time. So, when I heard about cross-sector models as innovative I...
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When the Cross is On the Table
Susan Traylor says “When they see the cross on the table, they know someone has died.” The ‘they’ she is talking about are the many folks experiencing homelessness in our small community of Tarpon Springs, Florida. A few weeks ago, the cross was on the table for Terry. I knew him by sight but never knew his name. I observed him over the past few years quite often in a state that makes most people not only uncomfortable, but anxious and fearful as he argued with someone only he could see. He...
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Why Mandating Mental Health Education in Schools is a Band-Aid on a Gaping Wound
Don’t get me wrong: of course I care deeply about the mental and physical health of children, including my own son’s. I don’t want students to suffer in silence and shame. But I am very concerned about just how this topic will be taught in schools.
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Why Resilience is Harmful and How to Improve it
Resilience is awesome, but also poses some risks and challenges. In 2012 a special edition of the Social Justice Studies academic research journal explored some of the risks. An intro and 5 academic research articles go very deeply into the topic of the "Dangers of Resilience Promotion." All the articles can be downloaded free at this link. https://journals.library.brocku.ca/index.php/SSJ/issue/view/70 I will attempt to summarize those 6 articles here in common language, cuz the articles are...
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Re: Environment Matters: It's More Than Just Common Sense
Dawn: I'm a hardcore fan as well. Her work and style are great and she makes it safe (even for introverts)! And her workshop made it so we got to meet in person so I have extra great feelings about it because of that! Cis
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Re: To Zoe’s Mom: I See You
Wow, Rebecca. Incredibly moving piece. I think I understand you when you say you "lost it" after viewing the ReMoved doc. I did too...in a room full of my co-workers. I felt so ashamed that now everyone knew I was Zoe. Of course there was no shame thrown at me, only comfort, but it still stung to be so vulnerable. As a mom now, my kids have definitely been caught up in my "fecal hurricane" (love that!) that is recovering from trauma. Parenting has triggered me more than anything I've ever...
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Re: Shasta County, CA using videos to educate, activate & celebrate
Hi Karen, It's great to see videos that so succinctly capture how collaboration around ACEs initiatives works in a community. I think other communities would benefit from watching these videos!
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Re: Revolutionizing the Way We Care: Building a Trauma Informed System
I'm currently in the beginning stages of implementing TIC into the agency I work for so this definitely caught my eye. Just submitted a training request to my employer! I'm curious if you have worked with care managers and/or adult mental health residential services to implement TI practices. Identifying TI training opportunities for those working with adults has been very difficult.
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Workplace Changes We’re Hoping to See in Our Next Normal (thriveglobal.com)
From a greater emphasis on mental health to a shift toward more compassion and empathy, here's what we're predicting will change about culture once we return to work. As we start to think about what our offices and businesses will look like once we begin the re-entry to work (our “next normal”), it’s becoming clear that we won’t return to business as usual, not after what we’ve been through and learned as a result of COVID-19. “The pandemic has made it all too clear that we cannot continue...
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Voter suppression and the impact of COVID-19 on people of color [pbs.org]
By PBS News Hour, May 17, 2020 The Rev. William J. Barber has long tackled the issues of race, poverty and hatred. His Poor People’s Campaign in June will hold a digital assembly and march on Washington to draw attention to civil rights issues. Hari Sreenivasan spoke with the reverend about the impacts of COVID-19 on communities of color for our on-going initiative "Chasing the Dream: Poverty and Opportunity in America." Hari Sreenivasan: Reverend William Barber, thanks so much for joining...
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Prioritizing Physician Mental Health as COVID-19 Marches On [jamanetwork.com]
By Jennifer Abbasi, JAMA Network, May 20, 2020 I n the spring of 2013, Eileen Barrett, MD, MPH, lost a colleague to suicide. The two worked at the Indian Health Service’s Gallup Indian Medical Center in New Mexico, where Barrett was the deputy chief of medicine. Even before the tragic event, she saw workers struggle under administrative burdens and hold themselves personally responsible for problems outside of their control. With her coworker’s death it became painfully clear that clinician...
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How we make decisions during a pandemic (knowablemagazine.org)
From mask wearing to physical distancing, individuals wield a lot of power in how the coronavirus outbreak plays out. Behavioral experts reveal what might be prompting people to act — or not. With many states and towns lifting strict stay-at-home orders, people are faced with a growing number of new decisions. Mundane logistical questions — Should I go get my hair cut? When can I picnic with friends? What should I wear to the hardware store? — during the Covid-19 pandemic carry implications...
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Transforming Trauma Podcast: Post-Traumatic Growth in Communities of Color and NARM in the Classroom
Transforming Trauma Episode 015: Post-Traumatic Growth in Communities of Color and NARM in the Classroom with Giancarlo Simpson Transforming Trauma host Sarah Buino and guest Giancarlo A. Simpson, MS, reconnect in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the nationwide protests against racial violence and systemic oppression, providing real-time context to their previously-recorded conversation about NARM’s ability to address complex trauma and support post-traumatic growth in communities of...
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Why We're All Suffering from Racial Trauma (Even White People) -- and How to Handle It | Resmaa Menakem (www.www.tenpercent.com)
I listened to this great conversation between Dan Harris and Resmaa Menakem last night. Here's more information about this conversation from the 10% Happier podcast notes:
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This wasn't the first time
Going out to buy groceries, going out for a walk, driving your kid back home from school. For most people these activities are normal, everyday things with little to no excitement, as they should be. Unfortunately, getting food, exercising, and supporting my son’s education have been a little more out of the ordinary for me. You see, I am a Mexican Indigenous man, brown skin, shaved head. My ethnicity and physical appearance are by no means unusual, especially in the part of the country...
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Back-to-School in a Pandemic? Questions, Concerns, and Discussion with School Nurse, Robin Cogan
Robin is a brilliant, passionate, and vocal school nurse with almost two decades of experience as a New Jersey school nurse in the Camden City School District. She is the Legislative Co-Chair for the New Jersey State School Nurses Association and she joined us last week for A Better Normal community discussion about back-to-school (or not) plans families are facing this school year. Robin serves as faculty in the School Nurse Certificate Program at Rutgers University-Camden School of Nursing...
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Vanessa Lohf integrates ACEs science throughout Kansas communities, organizations and systems
A Kansas-licensed social worker, Vanessa Lohf was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, where she still lives and works in public health by facilitating the Trauma-Informed Systems of Care Initiatives (TISC) team at the Wichita State University Community Engagement Institute. She also manages the Kansas ACEsConnection network , where she regularly posts about news and resources for communities and organizations throughout the state. Lohf says that Wichita is known as the “Aircraft Capital of...
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The Health Care System Has the Black Community in a Choke Hold [chcf.org]
By Vanessa Grubbs, California Health Care Foundation, August 4, 2020 It was the Black woman’s third trip to the emergency department because she was feeling short of breath. She was starting to panic. She knew the COVID-19 death toll was climbing and that it was far worse for Black people than white people , and yet the doctors told her to go home again. But this time she pleaded, “If you all don’t admit me to the hospital, I’m going to die. I can’t breathe.” This is the story told by Sheila...
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When Bad Things Happen to Good People
Bad things happen to good people. I know. My six-year-old son was murdered by a former student in his first grade classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School alongside 19 of his classmates and six educators. We read about those who die in countless natural disasters all over the world. Thousands of good people perished in the 9/11 attacks. The media shares headlines of brutality and destruction on a daily basis. The labeling of good versus evil has helped us to categorize unspeakable horror in...
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The Neuroscience of Shame
What happens in the brain to make shame benign or toxic? What parts of our brains are injured by chronically being shamed by our caregivers, and how does that change who we are?
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COVID, ACES, and Radical Self-Care
COVID, ACES and Radical Self-Care Dr. LateshIa Woodley, LPC, NCC & Alexis Kelly, MPA COVID Thursday, March 13, 2020, I woke up thinking I love my life, I have the best job in the world, I get to wake up every day and strive to make a difference in the lives of students and families. Little did I know that a few hours later my life, the lives of my family, and the lives of the families that I serve would forever be changed due to the COVID pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, I was leading...
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Trauma-responsive school thinks outside-the-box to engage students during pandemic
Before the pandemic, Sara Buckley, an 8 th grade science teacher at Park Middle School in Antioch, California, could handle students who were acting out during class. Understanding that trauma lies beneath disruptive behavior, she didn’t send kids to the principal for punishment. Instead, she’d talk with them to find out what was going on at home or outside of school—and then work out a plan for how to respond differently the next time they were triggered. They could visit the school’s...
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Maternal Mental Health
Like many of you, I’m a bit out of sorts and somewhat disoriented right now. Our collective mental health is deteriorating during Covid-19. Recent stats report an increase from 20-40% of adults struggling with mental illness since the advent of the pandemic. Maternal mental health is particularly at risk. Helping children with distance learning, navigating exposure to the news, trying to keep life a bit “normal”, keeping family members fed and supplied, juggling career and income loss, all...
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Help Your Organization Make Trauma-Informed Decisions
Many may think that self-awareness can only occur at the individual level. However, for companies to be successful, they must have self-awareness throughout the individual and the organizational levels. As you read through this article, thinkabout how you can apply these concepts to your business as well as your personal life. Remember, self-awareness is a journey that starts with yourself. For corporations to truly embrace diversity and inclusion, they must examine their mission, values,and...
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Resilient Georgia Brief: The Case for ACEs Prevention
In their latest brief, Resilient Georgia makes a compelling evidence-based 'Case for ACEs Prevention' and an urgent call to action to invest in building resilience now – early intervention is more effective, less expensive, and imperative to averting the next pandemic: mental and behavioral health.
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Most Teaching On Leadership Misses This Important Point
When reading an article on LinkedIn about leadership, I realized that Simon Sinek was right...but not for the reasons leaders assume. For a few years now, I've been trying to harmonize the various writings by authors whom I like. For example, how do Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People , Susan Cain's Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking , and Simon Sinek's Start With Why compliment each other? In addition, how does Bruce Perry's The Boy Who Was...
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Resources Every Leader Needs for Becoming Trauma Informed
While serving as a Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Mississippi, I first learned about the concept of "adverse childhood experiences" through a newspaper article. But when I wanted to learn more, I wasn't sure where to turn. After lots of research and trial and error, I found these resources to be some of the best. (Yes, ACESConnection is on the list!) I'm convinced EVERY leader needs to be trauma informed. While there is significant focus on helping children overcome their adversity,...
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What if the Earth was Really Flat?
Do you know anyone who thinks the Earth is actually flat? I'm not sure why that question occurred to me. Perhaps, I was looking for a unique or different way to talk about trauma-informed leadership. Don't laugh too hard! Stay with me for a minute, please. If you asked a random person if they had ever heard that centuries ago people thought the Earth was flat, I'm going to guess they will say, "Yes." In fact, some people still do! Not sure about that? Ever heard that people thought...
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Healthcare providers learn skills to prevent burnout, build resilience
It’s an enormous understatement to say that healthcare workers today are suffering. Every day, you hear interviews with nurses, physicians, social workers, and others in healthcare saying they’re pushed to the breaking point and beyond. But, by using skills taught in the Community Resiliency Mode l (CRM), even people under severe stress can weather the onslaught, do their work, and get along with colleagues. CRM is an evidence-based training program that’s being used by millions of people in...
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Faculty Expert Team for Pilot Trauma-Informed Care Learning Collaborative for IDD Organizations
In Spring 2021, the Traumatic Stress Institute will convene a 12- to 16-month Pilot Learning Collaborative for organizations serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) that are interested in implementing trauma-informed care (TIC). TSI is uniquely positioned to convene this Learning Collaborative having helped more than 70 organizations across North America embed TIC into the fabric of their organizations. For detailed information about the Learning...
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Not just another webinar series!
"The Resilience Champion Certificate was great! I liked the background info provided in The Basics and the "assignments" were great because it was all things we need to think about and should be doing anyway."
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Trauma-Informed Care Toolkit
Becoming Trauma-Informed "As we come together facing this global pandemic, we are all experiencing heightened levels of stress which could be viewed as a collective trauma. The purpose of this toolkit is to build a better understanding of what trauma is and how trauma affects the thoughts, actions and behaviours of people affected by it so that we can come together in solidarity and hope. As we come together facing this global pandemic, we are all experiencing heightened levels of stress...
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Why The Future Of Work Prioritizes Mental Health (thriveglobal.com)
Companies that support mental health —meaning, they talk about it, they work differently, they offer resources and normalize people using them, they train their leaders and managers to know how to support employees, and they hold people accountable for prioritizing mental health—see a 5:1 return on investment . Some of these companies might even (gasp) work fewer hours, but they are working better, smarter, more sustainably. In other words, they are more productive and higher performing.
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The Surviving Spirit Newsletter April 2021
Hi Folks, The latest edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php Once again I've tried to create a mix of articles, videos, music, books, podcasts, resources, etc, that offer Hope, Healing & Help. As the saying goes, “ Take what you like and leave the rest. ” or here's the PDF - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2021-04-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_April_2021.pdf To sign up for an e-mail copy, please...