We are thrilled to announce the premiere of Wrestling Ghosts , a documentary about breaking the cycle of trauma, at the LA Film festival on Sept. 27th. “Incredible. Haunting and strange and beautiful and incredibly moving.” -Dan Cogan, Founder Impact Partners Wrestling Ghosts follows the epic inner journey of Kim, a young mother who, over two heartbreaking and inspiring years, battles the traumas from her past in order to create a new present and future for her and her family. In this...

This video is the “must see” for anyone currently using, or considering EMDR and EMDR-inspired modalities. EMDR and Beyond: The Trauma Power Therapies includes the world’s leading experts on traumatic stress discussing the current “power therapies”, trauma’s most effective psychotherapeutic interventions. Join Bessel van der Kolk, Peter Levine and others as they discuss EMDR, Somatic Experiencing and Brainspotting and other approaches to trauma treatment. In addition they will explore the...

We are working with PESI, a leader in professional development, to offer a full day training in trauma informed education. This content follows the content of our book on Supporting and Educating Traumatized Students. We will be in Michigan April 19, (Sterling Heights) 20, (LIvonia) and 21 (Ann Arbor) See the attached brochure If this goes well they will continue to offer this next year. Hope to see you there

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.

Teri Wellbrock offers a list of those books that had a profound impact on her life and helped her create a life filled with tranquility and joy. While she may not have agreed with every word written, she did find powerful answers, delicious little tidbits, and inspirational guidance within each book.

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...

Available as e-book. A Life Course Approach to Mental Disorders examines the interplay of social and biological factors in the production of a wide range of mental disorders throughout life, from the peri-natal period through to old age. The aging...

Quest-The Truth Always Rises" is an important film about trauma, love, and resilience. I know the film maker of Quest, and I know how passionate he is to help people understand about Adverse Childhood Experiences and what can happen when one person believes in you. Santiago Rizzo tells a compelling story of his childhood that all should see. His passion is contagious, and his willingness to speak about trauma, the power of love, and the need for honesty is powerful. I suggest folks go and...

Dr. Kristina Brinkerhoff, a consultant, keynote speaker, presenter and trainer, leverages over 20 years of experience as a teacher, principal, superintendent and adoptive mom of five foster children, to help educators gain an understanding of the effects Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and the importance of trauma informed practice in schools.

Janyne McConnaughey, Ph.D., retired from a forty-year career in education while healing from the attachment wounding and trauma she experienced as a child. During therapy, she wrote her way to healing and now is redeeming her story by helping others to understand the lifelong effects of childhood trauma and insecure attachment.

Susan- I've read your book, and my colleague and I actually used it as part of an online course we taught to graduate students a few years ago. Thanks for your great work in this area. Eric Rossen

I really believe that stories like these enable us to viscerally connect to the ACEs research in a way that reading the science alone does not. Really looking forward to seeing the movie when a screening pops up near San Diego! Jill

Excited to view it! I love the idea of following someone along their healing journey, into and through therapy. If you would like to join me on-air to discuss this project, your mission, your message, on The Healing Place Podcast , feel free to send me a private message. I am flexible with my time . . . day, evening, or weekends and we can record via Zoom or phone interview. Best wishes on your movie premiere! Peace, Teri www.teriwellbrock.com

Watched this documentary several nights ago and cannot stop thinking about it. It is haunting — because it is honest, real, and gives hope. Love it. Will write an in-depth review soon. For now? Visit the website at wrestlingghosts.com and learn more. Kim and Matt’s healing journey is epic, encouraging. Their boys are so precious. I am so glad they found hope and healing and that their story is being shared. Anyone who struggles with self-acceptance, parenting, marriage, focus, purpose, and...

This movie was SO GOOD. It was hard to watch in a good way. It was honest, realistic, and showed how / why those of us Parenting with ACEs can't always just do things differently even when we wish we could. I loved the honesty, the support group scenes, ALL THE TYPES of treatment, all the work, and though it's only one woman's story it does show parenting and I hope, will usher a REALLY overdue conversation with and by and about parents who are parenting with ACEs. Cis

> On Jan 8, 2021, at 8:01 AM, ACEsConnection < communitymanager@acesconnection.com > wrote: > > ------=_Part_23320_1207862563.1610121686867 > Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > > <!-- > VERSION: 30.b86.1b572cf > REPOSITORY_NUM: 1b572cf > SERVER: ps002 > USER: 399727599840155328 > AREA: 18046878013471099 > --> > <html><head><title>[New Blog Post] Standing Bear's...

So many people are struggling with unhealed, hidden wounds from toxic childhood stress. For some, the pain is obvious. Others might look outwardly strong, capable, and in control. However, unhealed inner wounds cause needless suffering and can lead to a dizzying array of psychological, medical, and functional problems. Fortunately, there is hope for healing—even decades after traumatic wounding from ACEs occurs—enabling us to be 100% there for ourselves, our families, and others we work and...

Please join us for our new series entitled: Trauma-Informed Criminal Justice. This monthly virtual Zoom series will feature conversations facilitated by Dr. Porter Jennings-McGarity, PhD/LCSW, PACEs Connection’s criminal justice consultant, with special guests to discuss the need for trauma-informed criminal justice system reform. Using a PACEs-science lens, this series will examine the relationship between trauma and the criminal justice system, what needs changing, and strategies being...

I am aware of some testing/treatments like QEEG, fMRI and SPECT scans to look for functional anomalies in the brain. At some point I read about childhood/adolescent abusive trauma changing the way that the brain processes life. It had something to do with suppressing dopamine and/or seratonin and/or whatever in order to emotionally survive the event. However, when the trauma is revisited multiple times over years the suppression becomes more permanent. I'm looking for whoever or whatever the...