Tagged With "Getting Past Your Past"
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Interview with Jason Lee, author of Living with the Dragon: Healing 15000 days of Abuse and Shame
Jason Lee is an author based out of Coquitlam BC. He’s also a mental health advocate and speaker at events across Canada. His book Living with the Dragon, Healing 15 000 Days of Abuse and Shame has received praise from counselors and comes highly recommended as a resource particularly for men in recovery from depression, anxiety and anger stemming from childhood abuse and trauma. In this interview, we talk about how his book is changing the way people are viewing mental health, depression...
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It's Not Always Depression was the Winner of the 2018 Best Book Award in the Mental Health/Psychology Category
To prevent and treat trauma, we all benefit from receiving a basic education in how emotions work in the mind and body. Sadly, we don't get this education in our formal schooling. So we must take it upon ourselves to learn.
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Jennifer Burns is the Special Guest on "Breaking the Silence" Radio Program this Sunday!
Jennifer Burns will be the special guest on "Breaking the Silence with Dr. Gregory Williams" this Sunday evening, March 15th at 8 pm Central Time. Jennifer will be sharing your personal story of trauma and pain during her childhood. Jennifer will also be sharing one of the things that helps her deal with her anxiety and stress is art. She creates beautiful works of art now and this has become a great therapy for her. "Breaking the Silence with Dr. Gregory Williams" is heard each Sunday...
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Judging Me, by Mary Elizabeth Bullock
Last week I had the pleasure of attending Day 1 of the CAMFT "Advancing the Art and Science of Psychotherapy" conference in Orange County, where I got to hear Gabor Mate and Vincent Felitti weigh in on the impact of ACEs. What a singular experience to hear this dynamic duo on stage together! (My husband remarked that I was "lit up like a Christmas tree" when I got home that night.) While discussing the meaning of "resilience," Dr. Felitti recommended the book Judging Me, by Mary Elizabeth...
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'Just Show Up': Sheryl Sandberg On How To Help Someone Who's Grieving (npr.org)
Two years ago, life was good for Sheryl Sandberg. The Facebook senior executive and mother of two had a best-selling book ( Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead ) and she and her husband, Dave Goldberg, decided to take a vacation. But on that vacation, Goldberg collapsed at the gym from heart failure and died. He was 47 years old. Sandberg went through a period of darkness after her husband's death. She turned to professionals and friends for help getting through it, and now she's...
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KPJR FILMS Presents June's Book Club Selection & Author Tweet Up!
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog: And Other Stories from a Child Psychiatrist's Notebook - What Traumatized Children Can Teach Us About Loss, Love, and Healing By Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D. What happens when a young brain is traumatized? How does terror, abuse, or disaster affect a child's mind -- and how can that mind recover? Child psychiatrist Dr. Bruce D. Perry has helped children faced with unimaginable horror: genocide survivors, murder witnesses, kidnapped teenagers, and victims of...
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LGBTQ + Youth - a book reviewed in Journal of GLBT Family Studies
LGBTQ youth are most vulnerable to the school to prison pipeline, which is a very severe ACE (Snapp et al, 2015.) To combat this problem, I wrote a clinical manual for educators and mental health clinicians. The book addresses the need for sensitive engagement with, and advocacy of, LGBTQ+ youth. LGBTQ+ Youth: A Guided Workbook to Support Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity was released in June 2018, endorsed by Jenny Finney Boylan, and #1 NEW RELEASE on Amazon in Teen and Young Adult...
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Michigan Trauma Informed Education
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
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Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself (Lissa Rankin, MD)
Dr. Lissa Rankin, New York Times bestselling author of Mind Over Medicine, The Fear Cure, and The Anatomy of a Calling, is a physician, speaker, founder of the Whole Health Medicine Institute, and mystic. She is on a mission to merge science and spirituality in a way that not only facilitates the health of the individual, but also uplifts the health of the collective.
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Mindfulness at Work: How to Avoid Stress, Achieve More, and Enjoy Life! [By Stephen McKenzie]
From the book's page on Amazon: Mindfulness isn't anything that we think; it's what we don't think. Mindfulness isn't something that other people do; it's something that we all do. Mindfulness is an ancient, life-enhancing, healing technique...
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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 Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others [Book review, PsychotherapyNetworker.com]
Review: The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others. By Tali Sharot. Henry Holt. 231 pages. 978-1627792653 Facts alone don’t change people’s minds or behavior. Emotions do. That’s the basic takeaway from cognitive neuroscientist Tali Sharot’s highly accessible exploration of why and how we succeed, or fail, in our quest to influence, persuade, or alter the opinions and actions of others. Understand how the brain works, she argues in The Influential Mind:...
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The Insight Cure: Change Your Story, Transform Your Life, by John Sharp
John Sharp is a psychiatrist and professor at Harvard Medical School. In his book Insight Cure , Sharp includes ACEs science in his exploration of how traumatic events from childhood may turn into what he calls a "false truth" (such as "I am unlovable") that then turns into a maladaptation that can plague an individual for life. His book outlines an 8-step program to help readers shine the light of awareness on these false truths that so many of us harbor based on early childhood...
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The King of Average is a Children's Fantasy Adventure to Find a Way out of Childhood Neglect
“This delightful, pun-filled allegory tells the story of a neglected boy who is convinced that he has no worth. ...the book is fast-moving and funny, with a touch of sadness. It will appeal to adults as much as YA readers, reminding all that average is not easy since everyone is special in his or her own way.” —BookLife Prize for Fiction
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The Language of Flowers
The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red r oses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating mistrust and solitude. After a...
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The New Science of Empathy and Empath (soundstrue.com)
Empathy doesn't make you a sentimental softy without discernment. It allows you to keep your heart open to foster tolerance and understanding. In my new book The Empath's Survival Guide , I discuss the following intriguing scientific explanations of empathy and empaths. These will help us more deeply understand the power of empathy so we can utilize and honor it in our lives. The Mirror Neuron System Researchers have discovered a specialized group of brain cells that are responsible for...
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The Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook
Schiraldi, G. R. (2016). The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook: A Guide to Healing, Recovery and Growth . New York, McGraw-Hill. Clearly describes the nature and treatment of this complex disorder. Scores of self, group, and therapist-directed treatments clearly explained. Many skills taught. “The most valuable, user-friendly manual on PTSD I have ever seen. Must reading for victims, their families, and their therapists.” (Dr. George Everly, Executive Editor, International Journal of...
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The Relentless School Nurse: The Angel and the Assassin by Donna Jackson Nakazawa
Author, journalist, researcher, science detective are just a few of the descriptors I can use to depict Donna Jackson Nakazawa. You may recognize her name from prior books, notably, Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology And How You Can Heal . Donna is a gifted science storyteller. She translates complex biological processes seamlessly and describes them in relatable terms that are memorable. The Angel and the Assassin is the story of how neuroscience has been turned on...
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The Relentless School Nurse: "Unless Someone Like you Cares a Whole Awful Lot, Nothing is Going to get Better. It's Not." - Dr. Seuss
The opening quote in Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha's gripping book, What The Eyes Don't See, struck me right in the heart: "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." so says Dr. Suess. Caring is something that may be in short supply during our current political climate. Grappling with caring, too much or too little is worth a moment of self-reflection. We have to know what we care about, and lead with our "why," in order to make an impact. Dr. Mona...
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The Resilience Workbook: Essential Skills to Recover from Stress, Trauma, and Adversity
What is resilience, and how can you build it? In The Resilience Workbook , Dr. Glenn Schiraldi—author of The Self-Esteem Workbook —offers invaluable insight and outlines essential skills to help you bounce back from setbacks and cultivate a growth mindset. Why do some people sail through life’s storms, while others are knocked down? Resilience is the key. Resilience is the ability to recover from difficult experiences, such as death of loved one, job loss, serious illness, terrorist attacks,...
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The Soulful Journey of Recovery: A Guide to Healing from a Traumatic Past for ACAs, Codependents, or Those with Adverse Childhood Experiences
A groundbreaking new book from Tian Dayton, PhD, and the publisher of the New York Times bestseller Adult Children of Alcoholics …The book that started it all! T ian Dayton picks up where Janet Woititz author of Adult Children of Alcoholics left off…..for those who have grown up in a family with addiction, mental illness, or other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), the heartache and pain doesn’t end when they grow up and leave home. The legacy can last a lifetime and spread to generations...
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The Soulful Journey of Recovery is out TODAY!!!
A groundbreaking new book from the publisher of the New York Times bestseller Adult Children of Alcoholics …The book that started it all! "Tian Dayton picks up where Janet Woititz author of Adult Children of Alcoholics left off…..for those who have grown up in a family with addiction, mental illness, or other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), the heartache and pain doesn’t end when they grow up and leave home. The legacy can last a lifetime and spread to generations unseen. In The...
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The Surviving Spirit Newsletter December 2019
Hi Folks, The latest edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2019-12-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_December_2019.pdf To sign up for an e-mail copy, please write to me @ mikeskinner@comcast.net or sign up @ Website via Contact Us, Thanks! Michael. Contents List: 1] A neuroscientist's advice for combating stress this holiday season by Dr. Patrick K. Porter 2] Peer...
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The Surviving Spirit Newsletter March 2020
Hi Folks, The March edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php To sign up for an e-mail copy, please write to me @ mikeskinner@comcast.net or sign up @ Website via Contact Us. PDF - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2020-03The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_March_2020.pdf Thanks! Michael. Healing the Heart Through the Creative Arts, Education & Advocacy Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse &...
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The Surviving Spirit Newsletter May 2020
Hi Folks, The May edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php or PDF - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2020-05-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_May_2020.pdf To sign up for an e-mail copy, please write to me @ mikeskinner@comcast.net or sign up @ Website via Contact Us, Thanks! Michael . “ Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” - Helen Keller The Surviving Spirit Newsletter May 2020 – please...
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The Ten Books That Changed My Life - Healing ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and Building Resilience
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.
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The TurnAround Mom: How an Abuse and Addiction Survivor Stopped the Toxic Cycle for Her Family--and How You Can, Too! by Carey Sipp
I'm so looking forward to reading this book and then interviewing the author, ACEs Connection SE Regional Facilitator Carey Sipp! From Amazon: If you grew up in a dysfunctional, abusive, or addictive home, you are intimately familiar with violence, uncertainty, and suppressing your feelings. What you may not know, though, is how to create a sane, structured, and serene home for your own family when you never experienced these things yourself. Now you can. Part courageous memoir, part...
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The upside of epigenetics - Change your genes, Change Your Life October 2018 release.
Hi all, Too often in our work we deal with the negative impact of epigenetics. Dr Ken Pelletier has written the book listed below, to help us address those negative impacts. (Full disclosure, I worked for Dr. Pelletier many years ago. I have the utmost respect for his work.) I am looking forward to reading it and learning new tools that can enhance resiliency and mitigate the impact of ACES. I have included the blurb about the book below, but you can check out his website and reviews for...
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The wealthy suffer from an ‘empathy gap’ with the poor that is feeding a rise in inequality
Hey everyone, I'm sharing this article here because it reminded me of some great books I read recently in my Masters of Public Health program. I'll be posting the books throughout the week, so stay tuned! Wealth and income inequality have many causes,...
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Thich Nhat Hanh answers children’s questions. "Is Nothing Something?" (lionsroar.com)
Children have a special place in the Plum Village tradition of Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. There are special practices, vows, and programs designed especially for children and teens, and Thich Nhat Hanh often fashions the first part of his dharma talks with them in mind. He regularly takes questions from children, and by and large adults can identify with what they ask. Children may be smaller and younger and they may have a funny way with words, but their questions reveal that they,...
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This Is a Poem That Heals Fish: An Almost Unbearably Wonderful Picture-Book About How Poetry Works Its Magic [BrainPickings.org]
“Poetry can break open locked chambers of possibility, restore numbed zones to feeling, recharge desire,” Adrienne Rich wrote in contemplating the cultural power of poetry . But what is a poem, really, and what exactly is its use? Every once in a while, you stumble upon something so lovely, so unpretentiously beautiful and quietly profound, that you feel like the lungs of your soul have been pumped with a mighty gasp of Alpine air. This Is a Poem That Heals Fish ( public library ) is one...
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This veteran found a creative way to talk about his PTSD with his child. (upworthy.com)
Kastle created the children's book titled, "Why Is Dad So Mad?" to help explain to his 6-year-old daughter his struggles with PTSD. And when it was published, he read it to his daughter for the first time "There’s a section in the book where I describe the anger and things associated with PTSD as a fire inside my chest," he says. "After I first read the book to my daughter, I remember her saying, 'I'm sorry you have a fire in your chest now, Dad." According to the PTSD Foundation of America...
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Tiffany Haddish: "I Know What I'm Supposed To Do Here On This Earth" [npr.org]
Laura's note: I have not read this memoir ( The Last Black Unicorn , by Tiffany Haddish), so this post is not a book review. When I heard this author interviewed on NPR, though, I immediately recognized what she was describing as the theme of her new book: growing up with ACEs--and overcoming them through positive thinking to succeed as an actress, comedian, and now, an author. In the interview with David Greene, Haddish says it best: I hope a little girl or little boy reads this and be...
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Toxic Childhood? 5 Spiritual Exercises to Heal the Soul (psychologytoday.com)
How to bolster and support recovery with simple steps Some soul work can support and aid the healing process, and the following are suggestions for exercises you may want to incorporate into your recovery. 5 spiritual exercises to smooth the way Give up your affirmations and ask questions instead Create a blessing bowl Become a gardener of spirit Take a real look at the child you were Create a letting go ritual The ideas in this post are drawn from my books, most notably Daughter Detox:...
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Trauma and Addiction: Ending the Cycle of Pain Through Emotional Literacy, by Tian Dayton, PhD
From Amazon: For the past decade, author Tian Dayton has been researching trauma and addiction, and how psychodrama (or sociometry group psychotherapy) can be used in their treatment. Since trauma responses are stored in the body, a method of therapy that engages the body through role play can be more effective in accessing the full complement of trauma-related memories. This latest book identifies the interconnection of trauma and addictive behavior, and shows why they can become an...
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Trauma and Attachment with Bessel A. van der Kolk, M.D.: Expert, International Speaker & Author (dvd video) 1 hour, 27 minutes
Join the world’s leading expert on trauma Bessel A. van der Kolk, M.D. and understand the latest on how our brains, minds and bodies respond to traumatic experiences. Dr. van der Kolk will explain how affect modulation techniques, EMDR, yoga and neurofeedback are used in overcoming the destabilization and disintegration caused by trauma. Listen to this seminar recording and take home an understanding of how these experiences are processed by unconscious interpretations (subcortical) that...
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Trauma and Memory: Brain and Body in a Search for the Living Past: A Practical Guide for Understanding and Working with Traumatic Memory, by Peter A. Levine, PhD
Although I haven't read this book, I took a sneak peek of the foreword, written by Bessel van der Kolk in 2015. Although I'm familiar with Levine's Somatic Experiencing approach to healing trauma, some of what I read here was new to me. Here's what van der Kolk had to say about this latest book from Peter Levine: "One of the most brilliant and original discussions in this book is Peter's explanation of how, in order to meet extreme adversity, one needs to engage both the brain's motivation...
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Trauma-informed Healthcare Approaches: A Guide for Primary Care
Our recently published book, Trauma-informed Healthcare Approaches was written to share basic principles of trauma-informed care and ACEs science with general medical practitioners and administrators. As the recent #METOO movement has demonstrated, interpersonal trauma is widespread. A growing literature has demonstrated the impact of traumatic experiences on mental, physical health and wellbeing. Trauma survivors commonly access healthcare but their histories and needs are commonly...
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TUGG closes its doors. Here's how to order Resilience, Paper Tigers, and Cracked Up
TUGG , a distribution platform for independent filmmakers, closed its doors at the end of January. This left the filmmakers who used TUGG to distribute three extremely popular documentaries with the ACEs community — Resilience : The Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope , Paper Tigers and Cracked Up — scrambling to figure out a way to meet the demand. Lynn Waymer, of KPJR Films, sent this information: TUGG is continuing to deliver Paper Tigers and Resilience to all organizations who...
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UPCOMING RELEASE!! Classroom180: A Framework for Creating, Sustaining, and Addressing the Trauma-Informed Classroom [beyondconsequences.com]
Due to be released March 27, 2020, Classroom180: A Framework for Creating, Sustaining, and Assessing the Trauma-Informed Classroom , by Heather T. Forbes, LCSW is a comprehensive roadmap of what it means to fully create, implement, and sustain a trauma-informed classroom from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. Additionally, Classroom180 includes an assessment tool, the Classroom180 Rubric, that can be used by administrators and others specialists who support teachers on the journey of...
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UPDATED Information Regarding Broken Places, Cracked Up, Paper Tigers & Resilience: Hosting a Film Screening to Start or Grow an ACEs Initiative: How-to Guide
Movie screenings of documentaries, such as Paper Tigers or Resilience are popular ways to introduce communities to ACEs science. Cissy White provides details about how to put on a screening event.
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Updating Our Resources - Will You Help?
When it comes to finding tools to help you properly address trauma within the family system, what is the single greatest challenge or frustration you’ve been struggling with?
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What Happens When Old and Young Connect (dailygood.org)
This year, for the first time ever, the U.S. has more people over 60 than under 18. That milestone has brought with it little celebration. Indeed, there are abundant concerns that America will soon be awash in a gray wave, spelling increased health care costs for an aging population, greater housing and transportation needs, and fewer young workers contributing to Social Security. Some fear a generational conflict over shrinking resources, a looming tension between kids and “canes.” As I...
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What Happens When Old and Young Connect (dailygood.org)
This year, for the first time ever, the U.S. has more people over 60 than under 18. That milestone has brought with it little celebration. Indeed, there are abundant concerns that America will soon be awash in a gray wave, spelling increased health care costs for an aging population, greater housing and transportation needs, and fewer young workers contributing to Social Security. Some fear a generational conflict over shrinking resources, a looming tension between kids and “canes.” As I...
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What Our Children Need Us to Know, Right Now
Teaching children how to better navigate crisis, right now.
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Wheeling to Healing and the guide Your Own Wheeling to Healing
Both of my books are available on Amazon and you can reach me at info@jamesencinas.com - ACE science informed and provided me with the knowledge and tools to transform my life and are featured prominently in my writing.
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Why I believe Gregory Williams, and his book, Shattered By The Darkness, will help save lives and revolutionize healthcare.
When you first hear about it, it sounds unlikely, fact that something that happened to someone in utero, at the age of two months, or four years, or any time in childhood, is what is killing them as an adult, or making them want to die, or making them want to hurt themselves or others. Yet the connection between childhood trauma and adult disease, mental illness, addiction, suicide, violence – most all of society’s ills – is as irrefutable as the myriad truths revealed about it in the...
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Why Intentionally Building Empathy Is More Important Now Than Ever (kqed.org)
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...
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Young Adult Novels That Teach a Growth Mindset [edutopia.org]
Use these novesl to teach learning from loss and overcoming adversity to your middle schoolers and high school freshmen. [For more of this story by Robert Ward, go to https://www.edutopia.org/article/young-adult-novels-teach-growth-mindset-robert-ward?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow]
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Your Survival Instinct Is Killing You: Retrain Your Brain to Conquer Fear and Build Resilience
Jane Stevens posted a descriptive blurb about this title, How Your Survival Instinct Is Killing You , back in January, and I thought, “Why the heck not?” After all, I read everything I can get my hands on, searching for that magic elixir that will fix the feeling that I’ve called by many names over the years: Despair. Fear. Hole in the soul. Nameless dread. Whatever you want to call it, some of you with a high ACE score might know what I’m talking about. (I also experienced a very traumatic...