Tagged With "Adult Children of Alcoholics"
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The Peace Bus
Times in our community have been challenging and traumatic recently. Shining a light on how we can come together and support one another is vital during this time, and is just what Kwabi Amoah-Forson is doing with The Peace Bus. This is incredible work and reflects the importance of connectivity at this time. Please consider supporting the work Kwabi is doing, and share with others to spread the word! Per his recent Facebook post: "Fear, division, and safety have been the reoccuring themes...
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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 Tiny Cell that Connects our Physical and Mental Health, and Solves a Decades-old Mystery of Why Toxic Stress Leads to Brain Changes that Spark Depression, Anxiety
More than a decade ago, I was diagnosed with several autoimmune diseases, one after another, including Guillain-Barré syndrome , which left me paralyzed twice while raising two young children. All told I spent six years in and out of bed and hospitals, learning, between crises, to use a cane or walker to navigate life as a working-mother-with-chronic-illness. My immune system was repeatedly and mistakenly attacking my body, causing the nerves in my arms, legs, and those I needed to swallow...
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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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Thinking About Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Impacts Through a Science-Informed, Early Childhood Lens [developingchild.harvard.edu]
By Jack P. Shonkoff and David R. Williams, Center on the Developing Child, April 27, 2020 The COVID-19 virus is ruthlessly contagious and, at the same time, highly selective. Its capacity to infect is universal, but the consequences of becoming infected are not. While there are exceptions, children are less likely to show symptoms, older adults and those with pre-existing medical conditions are the most susceptible, and communities of color in the United States are experiencing dramatically...
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Today's kids are experiencing a world full of trauma. Is your church trauma-informed?
In our world today, many children experience early childhood trauma. Through a lot of research, we now know that childhood trauma can affect children for the rest of their lives. ACEs too High explains in several articles and research reviews how trauma in early childhood can affect kids’ behavior and health during childhood and cause lifelong problems. We know early trauma causes toxic stress in the brains of young children—so much so that the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a...
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Tools and how to use them is focus of second webinar on Community Resiliency Model, May 14, 2020
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:...
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Toxic stress from El Paso, Dayton, Gilroy shootings addressed in Thursday Community Resilience Model Webinar
An ACEs Connection webinar will offer helpful self-regulation tools to those rocked by recent shootings in Gilroy, CA, El Paso, TX , and Dayton, OH. The Building Resilient Communities webinar is offered by ACEs Connection this Thursday, August 9, at 10:00 AM PDT / 1 :00 PM E D and will last approximately 1 hour. Elaine Miller-Karas will teach her Community Resilienc y Mode l. Find registration details below. This webinar is free and open to the public. It serves professionals and community...
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Toxic Stress: Issue Brief on Family Separation and Child Detention [immigrationinitiative.harvard.edu]
By Jack P. Shonkoff, Immigration Initiative at Harvard, October 2019 Background The separation of children from their parents and their prolonged detention for an indefinite period of time raise profound concerns that transcend partisan politics and demand immediate resolution. Forcibly separating children from their parents is like setting a house on fire. Preventing rapid reunification is like blocking the first responders from doing their job. And subjecting children to prolonged...
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Trauma can bring about growth [NCROnline.org]
In the second article of this series, I focused on hope and healing for survivors of sexual abuse. Here, I extend the discussion beyond healing to discuss the possibility, now validated through research, that some trauma survivors actually experience post-traumatic growth. If healing can occur from the truly devastating consequences of adverse childhood experiences -- including sexual abuse by clergy -- can survivors also experience meaningful growth through their confrontation with trauma?
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Trauma-informed churches
In our world today many children are experiencing early childhood trauma. We now know through a lot of research that childhood trauma can affect a child for the rest of their lives. The website ACEs too High (Adverse Childhood Experiences)...
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Trauma-Informed Churches – Children's Ministry Conference Notes
These notes were posted about a conference led by group member Linda Ranson Jacobs by GJ Farmer, children’s pastor at First Baptist Church in Somerset, KY, on his blog, ChildrensMinistryBlog.com: Early trauma causes disorganized...
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Trauma-Informed Churches – CMConnect Conference Notes
This blog post are notes written by GJ Farmer and taken from a workshop Linda Ranson Jacobs presented for CMConnect Conference in 2015. Early trauma causes disorganized attachment. In early attachments children feel safe. If there are attachment issues, the impulse is fight or flight. Childhood trauma affects children into adulthood. If we want a church of the future, we must become trauma-informed. “Sometimes that angry look, that stare, that inappropriate response, is a cry for help more...
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Trauma Informed Congregations Community of Practice meeting June 24 2015
Short summary of presentations and topics discuss Briefing on Welcoming Movement and Welcoming Congregations Stephanie Kreps Stephanie Kreps from ?? shared the Unitarian Universalist...
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Trauma Informed Congregations Community of Practice meeting May 27, 2015
LINK TO THE RECORDING OF THE MEETING: https://hrsa.connectsolutions.com/p1zlsjfmfww/ Short summary of presentations and topics discuss Northeast Michigan Trauma-Informed Community Action : With the goal of making Northeast...
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Unconditional Love: Faith Leaders as Agents of Change in the ACEs and Resilience Movement
The Rev. Sanghoon Yoo learned about the ACE Study, saw the film Paper Tigers and understood that there might be a way to bridge the chasm between faith-based views of wellness and traditional approaches to mental health. “When I heard from the science and Paper Tigers that one of the most important factors for resilience is unconditional love, I thought: That’s not medical. That’s my language. That was an ‘aha’ moment for me; I never thought mental health and faith would go together.” Yoo,...
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"Warriors of HOPE" Series Continues This Sunday on "Breaking the Silence" Radio Program with Special Guest, Judge Steven Teske!
The fourth week of the 6-week "Warriors of Hope" event will continue this Sunday night at 8 pm Central Time on "Breaking the Silence with Dr. Gregory Williams" radio program. This 6-week event features six very special guests that will offer their insight on the power of HOPE in their lives and provide encouragement, wisdom and insight on the need for resilience in lives today. This series has resulted in praise from around the world from the listeners that have tuned in. This week's guest...
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Was Jesus' ministry "trauma-informed?" [part 1]
I have written before about a growing trend in education, mental health, social services, and health care that has now extended to ministry settings: becoming trauma-informed . Trauma results when we experience something as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening. A traumatic event, circumstance or series of events leaves a lasting effect on our ability to experience “life to the full” as Jesus intended (John 10:10). Adversity, and particularly traumatic stress in childhood,...
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Was Jesus' ministry "trauma-informed?" [part 2]
Was Jesus’ ministry trauma-informed, part 2: recognizing the signs and symptoms of trauma There is a movement that is beginning to take shape across the country when it comes to ministry settings: becoming trauma-informed . The topic concerns churches that are interested in missional engagement with the culture because there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that if we can break the cycle of adversity in childhood we can help everyone experience “life to the full” as Jesus intended...
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Webinar: Cultivating Our Best Selves in Response to COVID-19 | Tuesday, March 17 at Noon PDT
How to use the skills of the Community Resiliency Model (CRM) for self and others to be the calm in the storm as we face the unknown. Free Webinar Tuesday, March 17 at Noon PDT Speakers: Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW Linda Grabbe, PhD, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC Zoom Webinar Registration Link: https://zoom.us/j/715837300 Additional ways to join are listed at the bottom of this post. About the webinar leaders: Elaine Miller-Karas is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Trauma Resource Institute and...
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Webinar Oct. 17 — Integrating ACEs science in pediatrics: Early adopters share lessons from the field
An ACEs Connection webinar co-sponsored with 4 CA In 2017, California became the first state in the country to pass a law supporting universal screening for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the 5.3 million children in the state’s Medicaid program. As clinicians around California await the state’s announcement of what this new policy will entail, many are wondering what it takes to integrate ACEs science in a pediatric practice. Meet Drs. Deirdre Bernard-Pearl, R.J. Gillespie and...
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Webinar: The Human Impact of Climate Change
The Community Resiliency Model Disaster Relief Program Climate change emergencies are real and the human toll during and in the aftermath impact children, teens and adults. This webinar will hear from Kelly Doty, a survivor, who lost her home in Paradise and is working in a community-based program to help the children and their parents in the aftermath. Elaine Miller-Karas, the key developer of the Community Resiliency Model Disaster Relief Program, will explain the program and how it helps...
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What does it mean for a ministry to be "trauma-informed?"
There is a growing trend in education, mental health, social services, and health care: becoming trauma-informed. For those in ministry, “trauma informed” can be a confusing phrase, bringing up images we might not naturally associate with the church and its mission and ministry. Trauma results from something that occurs in a person’s life that is experienced as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening. An event, circumstance or series of events that are traumatic leaves lasting...
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When Hidden Grief Gets Triggered During COVID-19 Confinement
first published by The Meadows 4/15/20 Our sense of loss during the current COVID-19 crisis can trigger hidden emotions from when we experienced a sense of loss before. Whatever early losses you have had in your life — whether they be your own divorce, your parents, or both, or the abandonment of one parent, a childhood or parental illness or death, financial upheaval, constant moving around, or growing up with parental addiction or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) — they are likely to...
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Whole People Series & Study Guide (www.pbs.org)
There's a fantastic five-part series, Whole People , done by PBS, " spotlighting the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) through personal and community stories. It explores the long-term costs to personal well-being and our society. While much work needs to be done, there are many innovative developments to prevent and treat ACES. We all play a role in becoming a whole people." It's amazing. The five topics covered are as follows: Childhood Trauma Healing Communities A New...
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Why be "trauma-informed?" - a training for churches by Chaplain Chris Haughee, DMin
As I wrap up my doctoral studies, I am excited to see how the concept of becoming “trauma-informed” in ministry is starting to pick up steam across the country. A large part of the credit for furthering that conversation goes to you--my friends and colleagues here on ACEsConnection! It's been humbling to see how our relatively small ministry in Montana has something to add to the conversation. In fact, far from being behind the curve here in Montana, we are on the cutting edge in terms of...
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Why do kids of divorce ask, “Who am I?”
Posted on August 13, 2015 by Linda Jacobs Imagine looking like your father and being proud of that fact. Perhaps at some point in your young life your grandmother proudly said to her friends,...
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Why we need both God and medicine to overcome trauma [America Jesuit Review]
As part of the Ignatian Colleagues Program , a leadership opportunity for lay administrators and faculty at Jesuit institutions, I read the Rev. Bryan Massingale’s Racial Justice and the Catholic Church . Father Massingale writes that if Catholics see systems or processes that are unfair to certain populations, God calls us to change them to be more equitable. To do anything less is a sin. After reading it, I felt God calling me to use my position as the president of Marquette University to...
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Why you faith community should know about ACEs - from Helenair.com
As I begin to share with faith communities throughout Montana why adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) matter and how they can help build more resilient children and healthier communities, I sometimes hear something like this: "But why does it matter? What difference should it make in ministry?” The ACE survey measured the prevalence of ten stress-inducing factors in childhood including abuse, neglect, and substance abuse in the home, and these factors definitely influence ministries...
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With VBS coming up, attitudes and conversations can make a difference when you have a rambunctious group of kids
Summer is here, and recently I’ve been doing my early morning walk on the beach. In our part of the country we have a beach restoration project going on. This project involves ships, pipes 4 feet in diameter, tractors, backhoes, and other equipment needed to dredge the sand off the bottom of the ocean and pump it up onto the beach. It’s quite interesting to watch the sand pour out of those very large pipes onto the beach and then observe the large earthmoving equipment move all the sand...
Ask the Community
Worth Forwarding - "Caught between the Amygdala and a Hard Place" - by Karyn Purvis, Ph.D. & David Cross, Ph.D.
As so many disturbing and traumatic events involving children have been covered by the media recently - it caused me to reflect on my own journey of becoming trauma-informed. Now that I know what I know, I cannot view such stories in a trauma- un informed way. I've found myself in discussions with others who may, or may not be, trauma-informed. It turns out this one factor predictably correlates with the type of conversation that ensues around any topic covered by the media where children...
Ask the Community
Examples of churches, temples, synagogues, mosques, and other faith communities practicing child trauma prevention and intervention?
Hello, I just joined this group because, as the coordinator for a statewide trauma-prevention, resilience-promoting coalition in Alaska, I am working with the Governor's Office to organize a forum for faith leaders on the topic of "Safe Children, Healthy Families." I am going to give a presentation to the faith leaders and others assembled and then they will engage in a conversation about what they can do -- with children and youth, with parents and caregivers, with leadership and...
Ask the Community
from my blog... Creating Communities of Hope for those with ACEs
Before coming to Intermountain, I spent a little over 15 years in children’s and youth ministry in the local church setting. For 8 years I was the youth minister at a small church in Southwest Washington, and most recently spent 7 ½ years...
Ask the Community
On the job training isn't enough!
GRACE recently convened a team of Christian theologians, pastors, counselors, educators, and child protection professionals who have each demonstrated a commitment to protecting children and serving survivors. This historic committee has embraced the...
Ask the Community
Systemic Abuse Within Mission Communities/Organizations
The mission community, on both an agency-level and as a collective community, functions as a closed family system. Closed family systems have some inherent characteristics which have allowed abuse to go unchecked in many settings. The followings...
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Re: Linear draft plan
My suggestions to the linear plan from Kimberly for tomorrows discussion from our most recent email: A. Under mission and Values: Create trauma-informed congregations that are able to address the co-occurring epidemics of Violence Against Children (ACEs) , adult violence, untreated mental illness... etc.... VALUES Prevention as Young as Possible ( T h ere needs to be a statement here somewhere as to preventing ACEs --- it needs to be specific.... such as our values are to protect the rights...
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Re: You know I really believe!!!
Heather thanks so much for your comment! I really appreciate it but I am truly going beyond a place of this is what happened to me thanks for helping! I use my story to give a valid example of a real life person who shows us clearly that this is an area for those of us with faith should engage! Engagement is soooooo consistent with what folk with faith are charged by God to do??? I know this to be true!!!! I believe I am a boddisatva (a person born to bring compassion to the world). I was...
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Re: You know I really believe!!!
Originally Posted by Tina Marie Hahn, MD: Heather thanks so much for your comment! I really appreciate it but I am truly going beyond a place of this is what happened to me thanks for helping! I use my story to give a valid example of a real life person who shows us clearly that this is an area for those of us with faith should engage! Engagement is soooooo consistent with what folk with faith are charged by God to do??? I know this to be true!!!! I believe I am a boddisatva (a person born...
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Re: Something to Consider... for the next time you teach or preach on worry
Thanks, Linda. Blunt? Ha ha... Here at Intermountain we teach the children to "be direct" and we try and do the same. "Tell me what you need so I can do my best to help you," "Use your words..." etc. etc. So, while I was always a pretty direct person who didn't shy away from confrontation in ministry, I have shed almost all inhibition when it comes to addressing issues head on! Also, Linda, you know better than I do from your time in ministry, these issues don't go away with niceties. This...
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Re: Something to Consider... for the next time you teach or preach on worry
Perhaps it's time for the faith-based community to step back awhile and *listen to* those who sit in their pews (and those who leave). Start by asking those with lived experiences' of emotional distress to share their stories of the memories and events that served as the kindling for later depression, substance abuse and PTSD. Just... LISTEN. Take notes because the ten items on that ACEs list do not comprise the totality of adversities that children experience. Children may be bullied...
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Re: Confused
Hello, Ed! I became homeless due to mental illness that was related to the severity of my ACEs, and have been unable to return to a local church community since that happened. Many churches don't understand the complexities of trauma recovery, so my goal is to try to help answer the questions I had when I was first diagnosed with several mental health disorders. I'm working on creating my own resources for sharing with anyone interested in understanding the conflict of our religious beliefs...
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Re: Confused
Hi Ed, I have found the SAMSHA principles helpful to understand what it means to be trauma informed. What Does it Mean to be a Trauma Informed Church? There is a growing trend in education, mental health, social services, and health care: becoming trauma-informed. For those in ministry, “trauma informed” can be a confusing phrase, bringing up images we might not naturally associate with the church and its mission and ministry. Trauma results from something that occurs in a person’s life that...
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Re: Anyone working on Jewish approaches to ACEs and Resilience?
Hi LauraLee and thanks for reaching out. From years of study and application from my own personal journey and battles, I use the holy scriptures from their Hebraic root interpretation according to Yah commands to teach about healing and resiliency; which is not a Jewish or any other religious message but simple a divine truth for all of His creation - it's for everyone who believes. The heavenly Father doesn't hide His plan to recovery from past hurts from His children, learning to trust in...
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Re: Anyone working on Jewish approaches to ACEs and Resilience?
Thank you for your prompt reply. I have my own journey that took me to the Hebraic Roots of His Word. I have worked as a substance abuse counselor and have attended 12 step meetings for many years due to my own addictions. I found the ACE study through working as a TRIAD Women's Project case manager. I would love to converse further with you on how to reach the Messianic Community. Yah has put me on Hebrew Nations Radio Online. My program is called Healing for the Nations with A Modern Day...
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Re: Religion, faith and trauma
One of the Therapists of the Children Kidnapped in their Schoolbus in Chowchilla, California, wrote a text that I can't recall the title of, or the therapists' name. Public Television recently interviewed many of the then kidnapped schoolchildren. I believe Faith shattering was indexed in her book, and that public television may also have cited more recent works and/or data... (Lenore Terr-was the therapists' name)
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Re: Call me by my true names (thick nhat hanh)
Years ago, I had a job interview [for a Community Organizer position in Manchester] in Berlin, N.H., and the first question I was asked was: "Have You ever shaved a Buddhist Monk's Head?"... at my second interview, in Jefferson, NH, that evening, I had an opportunity to meet the Monk-who was visiting Cambodian [war] Orphans (children). The Monk was scheduled to testify before the United Nations in NYC, the following day, on the status of the children...Thich Nhat Hanh and his Orange-robed...
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Re: Worth Forwarding - "Caught between the Amygdala and a Hard Place" - by Karyn Purvis, Ph.D. & David Cross, Ph.D.
Steve I have wanted to ask you this and it is a serious question. In one of your posts you stated something like in a strange twist of fate it is us without high aces scores that can make the difference in the area of awareness of aces... I hadn't responded but had wanted to--I think you are right and you are wrong. In other words there are two sides to this coin. And there is the middle for those with a moderate numbers of ACES. I think when my thinking brain goes off line as is often the...
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Re: Trauma-informed churches
Thanks. I think it sums it up. Docs need to be involved (but there are definitely times when we aren't going to see the kids in the most danger). Kids who are being traumatized have generally speaking two places where they will be seen -- at school and in the church. They may not come to the church but the church can always come to them. My family did not go to church except when I went to catholic mass with my grandpa. My siblings and I were also sent to bible study at a small local...
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Re: They Break, You Know
I hesitated to "like" such a tragic story.....but this is exactly the sort of story that needs to be kept at the forefront of our minds. Tragic. It reminded me of a quote that I use to start an online course I developed on Creating Compassionate Schools. "The heart knows today what the head knows tomorrow." Conversely, if the heart knows ache, loss, and/or abandonment today - it experiences things that do impact the mind's ability to function in the future. To modify the quote, "The mind's...
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Re: They Break, You Know
Yes we are when we cannot see the innocence of children and that Jesus loves the children.... I am not a religious person (I am spiritual) but I love Jesus... Jesus loves the little children.. All the children of the world.... Red and Yellow.... Black and White... they're all precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world!!!!!!