Tagged With "American Life"
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"It Took Us 400 Years to Get to This Point and It's Going to Take a Long Time for Us to Make Things Right' [cleveland19.com]
By Sia Nyorkor, Cleveland 19 News, February 7, 2020 “When those folks are on the sidelines when black and brown bodies are being killed in our midst, it leaves a community feeling devalued, like they don’t matter," said licensed social worker, Habeebah Rasheed Grimes. It’s February, Black history month and 19 News has brought you a series of special reports, on-air and online, examining complementary life and the connection to slavery. We now focus on unresolved trauma in the black community...
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Japan's first severely disabled lawmakers join parliament [BBC News]
August 2, 2019 BBC News Two politicians have taken their seats in Japan's parliament as the first lawmakers with severe disabilities. Yasuhiko Funago and Eiko Kimura are both largely paralysed and rely on carers for their physical needs. Their election last month has been seen as major step for representation and the visibility of disabled people in Japan. The upper house underwent special modifications to allow for their access. After entering through the main gate of the National Diet via...
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(Learning Circle) Investing in Community Resilience: Using ACEs and Trauma Science for More Effective Practice
The spread of COVID-19 has created a myriad of challenges for communities around the globe. The science of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), trauma, toxic stress as well as healing and resilience, can provide helpful tools for supporting communities through this time of crisis. Please join us on Wednesday, May 13th from 3-4pm ET for the first Learning Circle of the Investing in Community Resilience web series. Connect with others from around the country who are integrating ACEs and...
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Life Expectancy by Zip Code: Where You Live Affects How Long You Live
Life expectancy is highly correlated with ACE scores and complex childhood trauma. Enter your address or zip code to know what the health outcomes are in your neighborhoods and communities. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Life Expectancy Calculator
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Medicaid Expansion Could Prevent Evictions [howhousingmatters.org]
By Heidi L. Allen, Erica Eliason, Naomi Zewede, and Tal Gross, How Housing Matters, October 8, 2019 As of August 2019, 37 states have adopted and implemented a Medicaid expansion that extends Medicaid eligibility to uninsured people whose incomes are at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Prior research shows that Medicaid expansion has numerous positive effects on health-related and economic outcomes, among which are reductions in uninsurance rates among people with low...
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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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Mental Health, Social Adversity, and Health-Related Outcomes in Sexual Minority Adolescents: A Contemporary National Cohort Study [thelancet.com]
By Background Sexual minority adolescents are more likely to have mental health problems, adverse social environments, and negative health outcomes compared with their heterosexual counterparts. There is a paucity of up-to-date population-level estimates of the extent of risk across these domains in the UK. We analysed outcomes across mental health, social environment, and health-related domains in sexual minority adolescents compared with their heterosexual counterparts in a large,...
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“Motherless Children Have the Hardest Time”: Epigenetic Programming and Early Life Environment [pediatrics.aappublications.org]
The Blind Willie Johnson blues song “Motherless Children” highlights the maternal bonds that we all know are critical to emotional and cognitive development. Authors of previous work looking at infant stress response have found that these bonds begin in utero and can be influenced by both maternal and paternal influences and across multiple generations. 1 The observations of Barker et al 2 on the Dutch famine birth cohort of World War II were perhaps the first published observations of this...
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Moving Equity to the Center - Part 2 (How I was inspired)
This past Friday, December 6, I attended the "Moving Equity to the Center - Part 2" forum in Fresno, CA. The morning began with the usual networking and acquiring of refreshments. The conversations were enlightening and engaging. I was able to meet several individuals who work in the Fresno community, and provided valuable insight to how issues are being confronted and addressed in Fresno County. Once we sat down we were addressed by Linda Gleason the founding Director of The Children's...
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New County Health Rankings Show Differences in Health and Opportunity by Place and Race [rwjf.org]
Princeton, N.J. and Madison, Wis .—For nearly a decade, the County Health Rankings have shown that where we live makes a difference in how well and how long we live. This year, our analysis shows that meaningful health gaps persist not only by place but also by race and ethnicity. These health gaps are largely influenced by differences in opportunities that disproportionately affect people of color, such as access to quality education, jobs, and safe, affordable housing. This year’s report...
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New Peer Support Group Successes and Challenges
I started a weekly peer support group for women survivors of trauma in April 2018. It took a few weeks to get any uptake on the offer. In the beginning a few people who knew me trickled in to provide some encouragement. Some people working at the center that eventually agreed to give me access to a room to host the event, told me that if people got the sense that I was in it for the long haul, they would then start taking me up on my offer. I was determined to persist, so I stuck it out even...
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New Publication in Health Promotion Practice Journal Provides a Framework for Action on ACEs
Advocates, leaders, and professionals in the child health and well-being space have identified a need for concrete steps for building resilience to prevent ACEs. Current frameworks focused on ACEs fall short of including a multilevel approach, considering the role of health equity in well-being, and providing concrete, tangible steps for implementation across the life span. The empower action model addresses childhood adversity as a root cause of disease by building resilience across...
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NOTE NEW TIME: Planning to Join Us on 5/8 for a "Better Normal" discussion about systems transformation? Join us 1:00-2:00 PT!
Note new time for Friday, May 8 Better Normal discussion on systems transformation. We will meet from 1:00-2:00 and hear from RYSE Associate Director, Kanwarpal Dhaliwal, about the rapid emergency community response initiative, West Contra Costa Covid Community Care.
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NPPC shares lessons learned and results from ACEs screening pilot sites
For Dr. Mercie Digangi, a pediatrician at Kaiser Southern California in Downey, CA, ACEs screening provided a crystal clear before-and-after in how she changed treatment plans for her pediatric patients, she explained to attendees of a December 2 webinar organized by the National Pediatric Practice Community on ACEs (NPPC) and cosponsored by ACEs Connection. Dr. Mercie Digangi One case that turned ACEs screening into a never-go-back moment for her was a three-year-old who was speech-delayed.
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Of Mice & Meetings: Bringing Our Whole Selves to Work During the Pandemic
My wife works for an educational company and her past few weeks have been busy working with schools and districts across California as they face the herculean task of adapting to distance learning for the remainder of the school year. One of my favorite stories from last week comes from a training that one of her colleagues was conducting with a school site. During the training, without skipping a beat, the trainer announced that his daughter had just handed him their pet mice and he was now doi
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Opioid Crisis Shows How Economic Inequality Kills [ineteconomics.org]
America’s growing rate of economic inequality is more than a numerical ratio that worries economists or a trendy political talking point. The phenomenon has been linked to human tragedies ranging from higher murder rates to growing gaps in life expectancy . Add death by opioids to the list. In recent years, social scientists have been debating why more people have been dying from drug overdoses. Does the increased availability of highly addictive opioids fully explain the rise? Not entirely,...
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Our best bet against burnout is self-care, just not the kind you think [mashable.com]
By Rebecca Ruiz, Mashable, June 21, 2019. When burnout comes for you, it’s not subtle. It casts an inexplicable darkness on the most mundane things: driving in traffic, showing up to work on time, filing an expense report. It feels like a weight tied to your waist, stealing any spark of energy you will into existence. You might confuse it for depression — and it very well could be — but, by reflecting on how and when it arrived, you suspect the culprit is the unraveling of your work life. At...
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Paid Leave From Work Can Help Domestic-Violence Victims Leave Abusers [theatlantic.com]
“Just leave.” It’s the advice many domestic-violence victims hear most. But leaving—the meetings with lawyers, the court appearances, the apartment hunting, the counseling sessions, the all-consuming physical and emotional path to recovery—requires time and flexibility. Dawn Dalton, the policy director at the Washington, D.C., Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said scheduling demands are consistently the largest obstacle standing between the victim and a different life: “I hear, again and...
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Parent who listens is key to helping kids overcome trauma (www.upi.com)
Excerpt from article by Dennis Thompson in United Press International. To read the rest of this article by Dennis Thompson published in United Press International, go here . Cissy's Note: it's rare to find articles on the healing impact of parents, after ACEs, or in general. There's so much advice to parents but not enough listening and learning from parents. This article shows just how parents can best support kids after trauma. Of course we need safe and supportive schools, systems, and...
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Project FORECAST - Becoming a Trauma-Informed Workforce
TRAINING THE WORKFORCE BY INCREASING KNOWLEDGE AND BUILDING SKILLS Project FORECAST uses simulation-based learning experiences to develop trauma-informed critical thinking skills. Take advantage of this free opportunity to become a FORECAST facilitator and join us in developing a trauma-informed workforce. If you train students or child-serving professionals in the fields of: � Child protection � Law enforcement � Juvenile justice � Mental or behavioral health � Healthcare Join Project...
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PTSD sufferer creates service to help veterans (Richmond, VI) [Richmond.com]
http://www.richmond.com/news/special-report/making-a-difference/making-a-difference-karen-w-henderson/article_5bf01368-631d-5af5-add1-dc4ad5445e7e.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share
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Real Resilience is now a PODCAST
Women who support an incarcerated loved one finally has a place to share their stories on the Real Resilience P.W.L. Podcast.
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Rebuilding Lives while Building Homes: Tony McGuire's Resilience-Building Carpentry Class
Tony McGuire is a great carpenter. He ran his own construction business for years. Then he wanted to get into teaching. He became a Tenured Faculty member at a local community college, and landed in the state penitentiary as a Basic Skills Carpentry instructor. So how could that be connected to saving lives with a 20 buck investment? Tony got touched by CRI’s trauma-informed training. He saw himself past and present and knew somehow that, “with this information comes the responsibility to...
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Report: ACEs and trauma-informed care across 8 countries
The International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL) is a virtual international collaborative which aims to strengthen leadership and thereby improve services for people with mental health or addiction issues. Eight countries belong to IIMHL: Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden and the US. Countries’ pay a small amount to belong and in exchange there are regular communications on innovation, research and national work plus every 16 months a...
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Research roundup on ACEs and resilience
The Empower Action Model: A Framework for Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences by Promoting Health, Equity, and Well-Being Across the Life Span A Srivastav, M Strompolis, A Moseley, K Daniels - Health Promotion Practice, 2019 Postpartum depression screening in primary care K Orringer, S Kileny - Contemporary Pediatrics , 2019 Toward fostering resilience on a large scale: Connecting communities of caregivers SS Luthar, NL Kumar, R Benoit - Development and psychopathology, 2019 Mentoring...
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Resource List -- ACEs Science Videos & Documentaries
You can find videos and video clips of ACEs presentations and on-air segments listed here.
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Resource List -- Trauma-Informed Guides, Presentations, & Self-Assessment Tools
The resources listed in this blog focus on how to implement trauma-informed and resilience-building practices based on ACEs science.
These materials can be used by organizations, agencies, programs, and communities to better understand how to bring a trauma-informed lens to their work.
Resources are divided according to format type (guide/toolkit, presentations, videos, webinars) and organized alphabetically.
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Resources for Supporting Children's Emotional Well-being during the COVID-19 Pandemic [childtrends.org]
By Jessica Dym Bartlett, Jessica Griffin, Dana Thomson, Child Trends, March 19, 2020 The following guidance, recommendations, and resources are provided by child trauma experts at Child Trends and the Child Trauma Training Center at the University of Massachusetts. The Center is housed at the University of Massachusetts with Child Trends as the lead evaluating agency, with funding from SAMHSA and the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and additional support from HRSA. While the Centers...
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Road Map to Trauma Informed Care [Trauma Informed Oregon]
Programs, organizations, and systems that make a commitment to implementation will differ in many ways–from the service context, to the motivation for change, to hoped-for outcomes, and resources available. Nonetheless, in a developmental way, implementation moves through a number of common steps that we’ve tried to reflect in the Road Map below. The Trauma Informed Care Screening Tool (found below the Road Map) builds on the Road Map by delving into each phase and offering a series of...
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San Bruno, CA, police reduce stress, burn-out with mindfulness
When Officer John Hampton of the San Bruno Police Department in San Bruno, CA, first heard that mindfulness training was being offered to him and his fellow cops, he had two reactions. John Hampton “I think my major reaction was: ‘Oh, there’s some hippy thing that they’re trying to get cops to do,’” he said. “When I say that, it’s funny because that’s not my voice. It’s the caricature of a police officer-like voice. In the back of my mind, I was interested and open to it, but that police...
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Social policies to prevent adversity -- see Open Access link (until July 1) to “A Critical Assessment of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study at 20 Years”— in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine
The ACEs research by Drs. Felitti, Anda and colleagues focused attention on the important consequences of childhood adversity for adult health. Of course, as many in the resilience-building movement recognize, adversities affect children’s health and life trajectories as well. When we recognize the powerful impacts of harsh life circumstances for children and families, it becomes clearer that social policies to strengthen household and community resources are needed as well as...
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Spotlight: An ACEs Connection community, Resilient Sacramento, tackles the issue of the traumatic impacts of racism and oppression
Resilient Sacramento has recently made explicit, their commitment to doing trauma-informed education & engagement that centers race, and other forms of structural oppression, as sources of trauma. The resources shared in a recent Resilient Sacramento meeting are described here for the entire ACEs Connection community. Please add your resources to the comments!
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Starting & Growing Resilient Communities: Launching an ACEs Initiative GRC 2.0 Educate [VIDEO]
The third session of the Starting & Growing Resilient Communities: Online & IRL (In Real Life) was a success. Thank you to all who attended the live webinar. And, thank you to our guests, Linda Manaugh of Raising Resilient Oklahomans! and Kate Reed of Kankakee Iroquois Cares . We were also joined by ACEs Connection's Northeast Community Facilitator, Cissy White . I have embedded the video in this post. I invite every ACEs Connection member to also follow our YouTube Channel to view...
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Starting & Growing Resilient Communities: Series Overview [Video]
The first session of the Starting & Growing Resilient Communities: Online & IRL (In Real Life) was a success. Over 100 ACEs Connection members tuned in despite some issues with registration. I have embedded the video in this post. You have also find the video on the ACEs Connection site here . If you have any questions about the series, please contact Ingrid Cockhren , TN & Midwest Community Facilitator.
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The Absence of Punishment in Our Schools
Where to begin... My heart is full of hope and joy as I watch the trauma-informed schools movement swell across our nation and planet. The science of ACEs is mind-bending to say the least and we are now able to open up a much deeper dialogue about human behavior and health. Ultimately this work is about healing… All. Of. Us. A new consciousness is taking root around ending the “us vs them” construct. The idea is growing that we’re all on this journey together and that no matter where our...
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The ACEs Wave: Cautions and Considerations
The Public Health Agency of Canada broadcast a presentation in January 2019: The ACEs Wave: Cautions and Considerations. The presentation was given by two of Canada's leading experts on child maltreatment, Dr. Andrea Gonzales and Dr. Harriet MacMillan. They explore cautions and considerations regarding use of ACEs across clinical, policy and research contexts. Below are links to the audio recording and to the Power Point slides in English and French. "In recent years increasing attention has...
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The Greatest White Privilege Is Life Itself [theatlantic.com]
By Ibram X. Kendi, The Atlantic, October 24, 2019 I had a 30-minute ride to the train station. I nestled into my seat, opened my phone, and saw that Representative Elijah Cummings had passed away. I gasped and covered my mouth. The driver peeked at me in his rear-view mirror. He saw me shaking my head and whispering what many Americans whispered last Thursday: He was only 68. My mind turned to my father, whom I had just left at a hotel in Princeton, New Jersey. Dread burned in my chest. To...
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The implicit bias of, “Mental Illness” and “mentally ill”, a lexicon of hurt.
How can we heal from the implicit bias of “ Mental Illness ” and “ mentally ill ”? I hear these words and it sounds like fingernails scraping down the chalkboard. “ The stain of dehumanization colors the mind, body and spirit and it is not so easily washed away.” - Michael Skinner Recently I read a blog post at the ACEsConnection website, “Erasing My ACES” by Sirena Wheeler. It was posted on April, 19, 2020. It struck a chord with me, many in fact and it put me on a spiral down memory lane.
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The Journey From Me to We: The Walla Walla Way
“We’re all humans and we’re all going through the same things,” Kelsey Sisavath explains. “It’s important for everyone to know. It can change your perspective on how you see yourself, how you see others, and how you see the world.” The “it” Kelsey is talking about is trauma-informed and resilience-building practices based on the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) . She has a unique perspective on the topic given her range of experiences throughout her 19 years of life. The story...
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The path from trauma to hope
It’s important to remember: There is no intrinsic difference between the psychological resilience of African Americans and white Americans. We unfortunately experience more stressors. Socioeconomic pressures, racism and microaggressions in the workplace are significant stressors that have been shown to increase the risk of mental illness in African Americans.
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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...
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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.
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The Role of the Authentic Self in Trauma-Informed Care
As awareness of trauma-informed care has grown in recent years, we’ve stressed the importance offering an authentic healing relationship in our role as therapists. But another core concept deserves more attention: helping clients become aware of, and nurture their authentic self. At this year’s Psychotherapy Networker conference (which I’ve attended almost annually for about the last 22 years) the amazing Brené Brown spoke about her work on authenticity and shame. She beautifully explained...
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The teacher: Childhood trauma informed senator’s legislative success [NMPolitics.net]
She was 3 years old when her father died in a car crash and 17 when her mother committed suicide. In between those bookends of loss, she lived with the man she refers to as “my evil stepfather. ” He demeaned her, her two older sisters and her younger brother, and punished them with a belt when they didn’t meet his exacting standards. To read the full story - click the blue link at the bottom of the post - As the sun fades and her office on the fourth floor of the state Capitol darkens –...
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The Trauma-Informed Supervisor Training Tool
That is the question that so many of us champions of change are asking ourselves right now. Luckily, the information is and logistics of how to make this happen are becoming clearer. Thank you to @Christina Cunningham, Prevention Coordination Specialist for the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services for allowing me to share this resource with our community. (see attached PDF file) It has been a valuable tool in helping me coordinate an agency training on the...
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The Trauma Resiliency Model: A “Bottom-Up” Intervention for Trauma Psychotherapy (Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association)
Grabbe L, Miller-Karas E. The Trauma Resiliency Model: A “Bottom-Up” Intervention for Trauma Psychotherapy. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. 2017; 24 (1): 76-84.
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The Trauma-Sensitive Parenting Summit & Commentary
"Having a history of trauma or loss does not by itself predispose you to have a child with disorganization. It is the lack of resolution that is the essential risk factor. It is never too late to move toward making sense of your experiences and healing your past. Not only you but also your child will benefit." That's a quote from the book Parenting from the Inside Out: How A Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive, which was published fifteen freaking years ago. It's...
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This Survivor is Helping Doctor's Patients Not Die 20 Years Too Young
Earlier this year I shared one piece of my trauma history with my family doctor... it’s finally out in the open, but I really wish I didn’t have to be the one to start that conversation every time.
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TIC: News and Notes for March 2020
ACEs, Adversity's Impact Lessons learned integrating ACEs science into health clinics: Staff first, THEN patients Launching a revolution Stress is a key to understanding many social determinants of health Is trauma driving some eating disorders? Adverse childhood experiences: What we know, what we don't know, and what should happen next Childhood maltreatment initiates a developmental cascade that leads to relationship dysfunction in emerging adulthood Report reveals link between poverty,...
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TIC: News and Notes for November 2019
ACEs, Adversity's Impact Podcast: Dr. Nadine Burke Harris Vital Signs: Estimated proportion of adult health problems attributable to adverse childhood experiences and implications for prevention - 25 states, 2015-2017 Animal study shows how stress and mother's abuse affects infant brain LGBTQ, traumatized homeless youth more vulnerable to being trafficked: Report How do these pediatricians do ACEs screening?Early adopters tell all When family relationships become toxic: The trauma of...