For most of my career, I was taught that social change occurs from mobilization, collective action, and deep community engagement. The challenge with this view of change is that it doesn’t require reflection on one’s own individual trauma. So instead of taking time for ourselves when we’re exhausted, many of us hide our trauma, bury our exhaustion, and push our worries beneath a thin veneer of optimism. This leads to burnout and ineffective leadership. No one told me that rest was...

Michael Skinner has represented male child abuse survivors on Oprah, spoken to the National Press Club, and been a keynote speaker at a conference presented by the United Nations and the State Department at Georgetown University on the sexual exploitation and trafficking of children and adults. He’s also been the advisor/consultant to SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) at the national level, helping to implement trauma informed care. Skinner’s professional...

Healing the Mind, Body & Spirit Through the Creative Arts, Education & Advocacy Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health “ Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars”. Kahlil Gibran The Surviving Spirit Newsletter March 2022 Hi Folks, The latest edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter - sharing Hope and Healing Resources for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health is posted at the website -...

By Anne Branigin, Photo: Bill Kalina/The York Dispatch, The Washington Post, February 24, 2022 Edha Gupta can count on her fingers the number of times she’s learned about Asian Americans in history class — lessons so meager she refers to them as “slivers.” “It was mostly to do with the California gold rush,” recalls Gupta, a senior at Central York High School in Pennsylvania. She didn’t learn about how India’s history intersected with the United States' until AP World History, and even then,...