Happy New Year, group! I have finally come back online after a few weeks off for break. I hope everyone here had a fantastic and rejuvenating holiday, free from trauma and drama! If not, let me know how I can help you and/or your clients deal with...

I hope I don't seem annoying but, with the first chapter as "You were born Resilient." I don't agree. First: One of the Videos from the AVA (Academy on Violence and Abuse) ACEs DVD from Dr. Frank Putman, MD "ACEs Changed the Landscape" shows slides demonstrating that as ACEs increase "you overwhelm the child's capacity for resilience.". http://vimeo.com/66692132 But he also points toward "Angels" or positive predictive factors (The way Strengthening Families works on the "Protective...

Great points Tina Marie. I will check out the workbook, but this discussion helps validate why I've been struggling to find a resilience measure that I like to compliment the ACE screen. All the measures are either over clients heads (too clinical) or somehow invalidating or not trauma-informed to some degree. I love the concept of empowering ourselves with an awareness of our own protective factors and strengths, but I think the struggle in finding universal screens and tools is that our...

I have used and frequently recommend this book and find it to be a useful resource in combination with other training related to ACES and trauma-responsive strategies

As author of this book, I relied on the research findings of Dr. Emmy Werner, called "the grandmother of resiliency." She is the co-researcher on the Kauai study, the seminal resiliency research conducted for several decades on the island of Kauai. Her best book about this research is "Overcoming the Odds: High Risk Children from Birth to Adulthood." Dr. Werner states that everyone is born with "an innate self-righting tendency." That is what I meant when I said in this book, "You were born...

Thank you, Chris for initiating a discussion about this very important topic. I have pre-ordered the book from Amazon and it should be released soon. The very system that was established to help people heal from trauma often times re-traumatizes consumers and becomes part of the problem rather than a solution. We have much to talk about here! Another book that we may want to add to our discussion group is Saving Normal by Allen Frances. Many important conversations about the nature of mental...

OK I see all the books now. Thanks for the information and link about war trauma. I appreciate this discussion about mental health care and look forward to getting into the book. The very system that has been established to foster healing and recovery often becomes a source of re-traumatization and we must continue to work towards a trauma-informed mental health system. Ohio, like many other states, claims to be a trauma-informed system, yet practices are tolerated and promoted that are...

Yes, there are states/communities that claim to be trauma-informed but are not practicing it. They have documents up on their websites touting how trauma-informed they are and then when it comes down to a consumer’s experience they just retraumatize sufferers over and over again. There are no words for this great disappointment. And then people wonder why people with mental health challenges don’t seek treatment. The challenge with the trauma-informed movement is to change people’s hearts, a...

Book review: The concept of resilience emerged about 40 years ago when psychologists considered the differing life trajectories of children exposed to similar traumatic life events and asked why some developed psychosocial pathology and some did not. It has since expanded to describe the adaptive responses to trauma across the human life span that usually maintain function but that can fail and result in conditions such as post–traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). [ source ] Brown, LM. (2013).

This is a good book. I have it and it is good. So is her book for Adults "Treating Survivors of Childhood Abuse". Marylene Cloitre, Lisa Cohen, Karestan Koenen.

Book Review - Becoming Trauma Informed http://www.cwhn.ca/en/networkmagazine/becomingtraumainformed

I'd like to join this group, and recommend Susan Lawrence, M.D.'s book: "Creating A Healing Society:...", about ACEs, along with another text on Consumer-Run Trauma-Informed Intentional Peer Support which I believe was co-authored by Shery Mead and Mary Ellen Copeland. Thank You. Robert Olcott

Hello Chris, Thank you so very much for posting this. And all of your many thoughtful findings posted everywhere! " The way out of pain is through it." You said it, and how. I had a similar experience to that which Epstein describes when I did the somatic exercises in Peter A. Levine's book "Healing Trauma." My whole body exploded and I spent the six months or so punching my way out of deep infant brain-stem level survival grief [ at the gym :) ]. Then as the anxiety embedded in my cells got...

Thank you Chris I will post Levine as soon as I come up for air. I have read Scaer , he's great, and as you know, Levine was the one who sprang him out of trauma....

Hello, I am a survivor-THRIVER, married for 27 years, Christian mom of both bio and foster/adopted children as well as author/advocate for prevention of child sexual abuse. My husband and I were trained as facilitators for Darkness to Light's Stewards of Children Training as well as foster parent and trauma trainings. I understand the high risk and vulnerability especially of children with high ACE scores. My activity book, Raising PEARLS:Prepared, Empowered, Armored, Restored,...

Greetings everyone, I'm wondering if you might be able to help me. I'm the author and creator of an early chapter book series. The first book, "Milo and the Wisdom of the Sea" has been published and on the market, while the other four books are in varying stages of production. I'm curious if you would have ideas for greater distribution: radio shows, email distribution lists, publishers etc. I have a social media presence including Twitter , a blog , YouTube channel etc. But, the work and...

Hello, my trauma-informed colleagues, The good news is after seven years, with a five-year break (AKA stall-out), I have finally finished my new book and have titled it: It's Not About Food, Drugs, or Alcohol: It's About Healing Complex PTSD Although my book won't be available to the general public until its launch date on Feb 21 st , 2023, I am offering FREE advance reader copies to a limited amount of trauma-informed professionals this week. Below is a summary of what my book's about and...

Hi everyone, I’m a documentary filmmaker. I’m wrapping up post-production on a remarkable story of resilience, and my co-producer and I are looking for opportunities to use it for good (education, awareness, training, etc.). We hope this community can help us brainstorm some ideas . Fashioning Charel follows Charel (my co-producer), a single mother of two striving to break the cycle of her family losing children to foster care, as she follows a dream of becoming a fashion designer. Woven...