Tagged With "Chrismon Tree"

When it comes to being trauma-informed in ministry settings, one of the joys I find in the process is that “everything old is new again,” in the sense that many of the structures and patterns that are a part of traditional worship styles can be very grounding and helpful for those working through past trauma. For instance, the reassurance of the liturgical calendar and its various seasons is very comforting to my family, and each of us have trauma or adversity in our past. Knowing that every...

At Intermountain's residential services, we have spent a lot of time this past month focusing on thankfulness, gratitude, and recognizing how richly we have been blessed. This has allowed me, as their chaplain, to encourage empathetic responses to the needs of others while also building a positive self-image as each child recognizes that they have something to give others. Woven into this narrative was a recognition of our interdependence and that it is not a sign of weakness to acknowledge...

Room erupts in applause for the grandmother of witness William Kellibrew during July 11 House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing. The power of personal stories from witnesses and committee members fueled the July 11 hearing on childhood trauma in the House Oversight and Reform Committee* throughout the nearly four hours of often emotional and searing testimony and member questions and statements (Click here for 3:47 hour video). The hearing was organized into a two panels—testimony from...

The second of two free Community Resiliency (CRM) webinars with Elaine Miller-Karas , key creator of the CRM, will be held Thursday, May 14, from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET, (10 a.m. CT; 9 a.m. MT, and 8 a.m. PT) and will include the practical application of tools of the model. CRM is an ACEs science-based biological model for helping individuals become emotionally regulated during natural disasters and other dysregulating times. Miller-Karas will be joined by CRM trainers from Wilmington, NC:...

By Tom Szaroleta, December 25, 2020, Florida Times-Union. JACKSONVILLE, Fla — While most trees are losing their foliage for the winter, a live oak in Riverside is blooming with messages of hope, grief and love. The Community Tree is in the front yard of the Yellow House art gallery at 577 King St. in Jacksonville. For the next few months, people are invited to stop by, jot a message on one of the 3-inch-by-4-foot ribbons and hang it in the tree. The idea for the project came from cultures...

Does thinking about Advent planning already just stress you out? Concerned that as a trauma-informed congregation that whatever "pre-packaged materials" you might get haven't been appropriately vetted and will require you to add yet another "to-do" to an already full to-do list? If thinking about preparing for Advent already has you stressed out, don’t fear… Chaplain Sami Pack-Toner and Rev. Chris Haughee are here to help! Materials created in a trauma-sensitive setting and for...

Join us next Wednesday for two excellent CTIPP CAN presentations to begin our 2022 lineup. Baltimore Councilman Zeke Cohen will discuss the work, started by the late Congressman Elijah Cummings, that is making the city of Baltimore trauma-informed. Claudia Remington will describe new trauma informed initiatives by the State of Maryland, including legislation that created a Commission to develop a comprehensive strategy to make the State trauma informed. We will also report on the first...

This is the third of three stunning illustrations showing how PACEs (positive and adverse childhood experiences) affected the family of Cendie Stanford, graphic artist and founder of the nonprofit ACEs Matter. This one looks at her positive childhood experiences. The day before her 16th birthday, Cendie Stanford’s older brother was shot and killed by a young man who, just two years earlier, had been her boyfriend. “I was heartbroken that two people I loved were out of my life forever,” says...

Adverse childhood experiences understandably can numb feelings, including feelings of joy, happiness, and pleasure. Making time to be joyful rewires the wounded brain. Once healing has progressed, the capacity for joy can usually be expanded through the repeated application of proven joy strategies.