Tagged With "Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder"
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Introducing myself, Morgan Vien & NEW Practicing Resilience Community
Hello! I’m a Community Manager for the Practicing Resilience for Self-Care & Healing community. This is an introduction to me and this new community. I graduated with a B.S. in Public Health from Santa Clara University June 2017. And I’m interested in preventing chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, at the community and population level by addressing biological, psychological, and social factors that affect chronic disease outcomes. As the...
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Investments in New Hanover County’s Resiliency Paying Off During Time of Pandemic
Cliff Barnett, Wilmington city council member; pastor at Warner Temple AME Zion, and chair of the Family Faith and Community committee for the New Hanover Resiliency Task Force (RTF), shares experience in using sign language during a regularly scheduled RTF meeting. (Other photos are from recent monthly RTF meetings). With training, community’s front lines are proving resilient to and aware of trauma’s impact WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA April 7, 2020 Two years ago, the Resiliency Task Force...
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Kathryn Keller Is an Unorthodox Pioneer in Religious Trauma Therapy [dallasobserver.com]
By Eva Raggio, April 23, 2020 Thanks to Netflix series Unorthodox, religious trauma is a topic that’s fresh on people’s minds, even if we haven't identified the show's takeaway message in that exact term. The drama details a young bride's life and subsequent escape from a deeply orthodox Hasidic community in Brooklyn. The show became a hit in part for its main character’s gripping story arc — based on a true tale — and because of the profound interest in the curiously foreign ways of the...
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Linear draft plan
Here's the draft version of the Trauma-Informed Congregations Community of Practice Linear Plan that Kimberly put together. You obviously can't read this screen-grab image, so open the document (the pdf is below), and add your feedback in the...
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Mass Shootings and ACES. Spiritual Issues Require Spiritual Solutions!
The primary solution to reducing the number of ‘mass shootings‘ and ‘hate crimes’ and ‘gun violence’ that occur in our country is not another policy or law.
The solution lies in getting to and addressing the root issues that are driving people to conduct these horrific crimes.
I believe the emphasis must be placed on prevention and healing at the deepest, personal level…. getting to the root of the problem at hand. By getting to the “heart” of the issue!
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Moving Beyond Trauma-Informed
There are four levels of development in treating psychological trauma. Being trauma-informed: This is a broad stroke meaning that you recognize that trauma is a pivotal experience in your client’s lives and yours. Adopting a trauma-informed approach: Now that you have recognition of the importance of trauma in your client’s life, you should want to make some changes in the way you practice. At this level, you need to make an intentional shift in your approach from one that asks, “What’s...
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Neuroscience helps explain our growing attraction to spiritual retreats (mercurynews.com)
As Americans report feeling more stressed and interest in mindfulness meditation, adult coloring and other calming techniques grows, more people are turning to spiritual retreats as a way to unplug and reset. In the last few years, revenue for “wellness tourism,” which includes meditation and other spiritual retreats, increased by 14 percent, from $494.1 billion in 2013 to $563.2 billion in 2015, a growth rate more than twice as fast as overall tourism expenditures, according to the Global...
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New Mexico Catholic Bishops’ Open Letter: Children Come First [krwg.org]
Commentary: Yesterday, I received an open letter from some of our state legislators related to the support the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops continues to give to the NM HJR1 2018 (Land Grant Fund Distributions). Since the letter is directed to the Conference, we three undersigned Catholic bishops of New Mexico are responding today. “ ‘Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in deed and in truth’ (1 Jn 3:18). These words of the Apostle John voice an imperative that...
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New Trauma-informed curriculum for training ministries available as an instant digital download!!
I have been blessed by the response to the curriculum "Bruised Reeds and Smoldering Wicks," now having sent it out to ministries in 26 States and the District of Columbia. I have already received a little feedback and made some minor changes to content, but what I am most excited about is that t he curriculum is now available in a downloadable digital format! For those that have not seen previous posts on the curriculum, the study is for adult small groups or classes and is laid out into the...
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Notes from January 14, 2015 Trauma Informed Congregations Community of Practice conference call
Kimberly Konkel put together the notes from the call and asked me to post: 22 people participated: · Doug Ronshiem -- American Pastoral Counselors...
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Nurturing relationships in childhood boost adult mental health, relationships
We're proud to announce major research that suggests that positive childhood experiences — such as supportive family interactions, caring relationships with friends, and connections in the community — are associated with reductions in chances of adult depression and poor mental health, and increases in the chances of having healthy relationships in adulthood. This association was true even among those with a history of adverse childhood experiences.
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Over 100 pastoral education students trained in trauma at regional meeting in Baltimore
The theme of trauma was selected for this year’s annual summer Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Day because “clergy responses to trauma an have a significant impact on our own healing and in healing our communities,” as described in the planning committee welcome letter. Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore hosted the gathering of over 100 pastoral students from the Maryland, Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia region. Planning Committee Chair Ty Crowe, director of the Hospital’s Spiritual...
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Over 100 pastoral education students trained in trauma at regional meeting in Baltimore
The theme of trauma was selected for this year’s annual summer Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Day because “clergy responses to trauma an have a significant impact on our own healing and in healing our communities,” as described in the planning committee welcome letter. Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore hosted the gathering of over 100 pastoral students from the Maryland, Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia region. Planning Committee Chair Ty Crowe, director of the Hospital’s Spiritual...
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Overcoming a Difficult Childhood: FREE 12 Lesson DVDs with American Sign Language
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) affect how a person develops physically, emotionally, cognitively, and spiritually. The ACE Overcomers series provides answers to many difficult questions. Through a combination of Biblical principles and sound science, these 12 powerful sessions will begin to retrain your brain and reset your nervous system. This course has helped many to overcome the effects of stress and adversity, and to ultimately trust God with every detail of life. ACE Overcomers:...
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Overview of the Community Resiliency Model, used worldwide to help trauma survivors re-regulate their central nervous system, offered in two, free 90-minute webinars.
Elaine Miller Karas , key creator of the Community Resiliency Model (CRM), will be joined by CRM trainers from Wilmington, NC, Allison Wine , behavioral specialist, and Kelly Purcell , instructional coach and multi-tiered support specialist for this free, two-part training. Register now for two, FREE 90-minute sessions May 7 from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST and May 14 from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST (The complete overview requires attendance at both sessions. Registration link below registers you...
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Peek Inside a Classroom: Jasmine
© Elliot Gilfix/Flickr . What happened to Jasmine? . Photo © Jinx!/Flickr When you look...
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Peek Inside a Classroom: Jose
Photo credit Max Klingensmith at flickr . Jose was one of the calmest, quietest, most peaceful boys in the classroom. The kind of boy everybody loves. ...
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Personal stories from witnesses, U.S. representatives provided an emotional wallop to House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing on childhood trauma
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...
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Question of the week: Do elementary age children seriously consider suicide?
Recently I was chatting online with a group of children’s ministers when someone brought up the subject of suicide in children. No one wants to think that children as young as eight or nine years of age would be at risk for suicide or even...
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Red zones in schools and churches—when kids don’t feel safe!
Ever heard of the “Red Zone?” Many of us understand that when something enters the red zone, it can prove to be a daunting situation. For example, if your car overheats, and the temperature gauge moves into the red zone, it’s important to check the engine to see what’s going on. Otherwise, the car may overheat or cause a fire, and you may find yourself stranded and standing on the side of the road. Wikipedia has a few examples of the Red Zone: Unsafe areas in Iraq after the 2003 invasion A...
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Sheltering in Place: ACEs-Informed Tips for Self-Care During a Pandemic
Millions of lives have been affected in unprecedented ways by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). We are all grappling with uncertainty—our daily routines interrupted, not knowing what is to come. For those of us who have Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), these times can be particularly distressing. At the Center for Youth Wellness (CYW), we know that childhood trauma can have a significant impact on an individual’s health and well-being – both physiologically and psychologically. Since the...
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Some 350 Florida Leaders Expected to Attend Think Tank with Dr. Vincent Felitti, Co-Principal Investigator of the ACE Study; Expert on ACEs Science
Leaders from across the Sunshine State will take part in a “Think Tank” in Naples, FL, on Monday, August 6, to help create a more trauma-informed Florida. The estimated 350 attendees will include policy makers and community teams made up of school superintendents, law enforcement officers, judges, hospital administrators, mayors, PTA presidents, child welfare experts, mental health and substance abuse treatment providers, philanthropists, university researchers, state agency heads, and...
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Something to Consider... for the next time you teach or preach on worry
As I start to talk with pastors about why ACEs matter and why they should inform themselves and their congregations, I regularly hear something like this: "But why does it matter? What difference should it make in ministry? Can't I simply preach and teach the Bible and leave the results up to God?" By way of answer to these questions, I am starting to put together a training called "10 things that kid with ACEs would like you to know: moving your church toward greater empathy." The following...
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The Black Community, COVID-19 & Trauma [sdvoice.com]
By Latanya West, San Diego Voice, May 15, 2020 In January 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Dr. Nadine Burke Harris as California’s first-ever Surgeon General. An award-winning physician, researcher and advocate, Dr. Burke Harris’ career has been dedicated to serving vulnerable communities and combating the root causes of health disparities. Her work is equally dedicated to changing the way our society responds to one of the most serious, expensive and widespread public health crises of...
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The Need for Trauma-informed Education During Seminary
Don't know how many of you may have watched the new Resilience film on Sunday, April 10 but I did and it brought to my mind several ideas on how to further the work and awareness on the ACES issue. In a previous blog post here, Linda Jacobs appropriately addressed the importance of having trauma-informed churches . Reverend Streets has written a piece about the importance of engaging in trauma-informed ministry . So, I got to thinking that since so many, perhaps all, of the ACEs are trauma...
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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 Power of a Trauma-Informed Ministry
ACE Overcomers: The Center for Resiliency and Trauma-Informed Training The Valley Dream Center of Fresno, California hosted a 2-day training, conducted by ACE Overcomers. 40 individuals gathered for the 2-day training on The Power of a Trauma-Informed Ministry. Most participants were from California's Central Valley, along with attendees from San Diego, Oregon and New Mexico. The primary goal was to increase an understanding of trauma and adverse childhood experiences and introduce a...
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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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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 – 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 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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Trauma-Informed Ministry curriculum, "Bruised Reeds and Smoldering Wicks," now available on Amazon as an e-book!
Bruised Reeds and Smoldering Wicks is a study on the intersections between the science of adversity in childhood (ACEs), trauma, and ministry. Suitable for individuals exploring how their faith and the science of brain development, toxic stress, and spiritual formation are connected, this study is best explored by small groups that want to being trauma-informed ministry interventions and outreach within their faith communities. This e-book version doesn't have the videos that are part of the...
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Trauma-Informed Ministry study, "Bruised Reeds and Smoldering Wicks" now an Amazon ebook!
Bruised Reeds and Smoldering Wicks is a study on the intersections between the science of adversity in childhood (ACEs), trauma, and ministry. Suitable for individuals exploring how their faith and the science of brain development, toxic stress, and spiritual formation are connected, this study is best explored by small groups that want to being trauma-informed ministry interventions and outreach within their faith communities. This e-book version doesn't have the videos that are part of the...
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USD Kroc Insight newsletter - Look Both Ways: Religous Leaders and the Challenge of Engaging Community and Police
Across the United States, including in San Diego where the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (Kroc IPJ) launched the Building Trust Partnership (BTP), relationships between communities and law enforcement are strained and plagued by mistrust. To build relationships and restore trust between police and communities while confronting difficult, emotionally and politically charged issues, religious leaders must engage with both sides and remain neutral, even when speaking to one may be...
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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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Was Jesus' ministry "trauma-informed?" [part 3]: recognizing the signs and symptoms of trauma
Perhaps you have heard about it by now? There’s a movement spreading 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 (John 10:10). In the first post in the series , I focused only the first...
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Was Jesus’ ministry “trauma-informed?” [part 4]: Responding to trauma within the compassionate Kingdom of God
There is a movement taking shape across the country when it comes to ministry settings: becoming trauma-informed . I am personally invested in this movement and I am intrigued by the ways I see connections between Jesus’ teachings and trauma-informed ministry principles. In the first post in the series, I focused only the first identifier of a trauma-informed ministry: the realization of the widespread impact of trauma and potential paths for recovery. In the second and third posts, I...
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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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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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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 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...
Ask the Community
Building Resilient Communities Through Trauma-Informed Congregations
Please join us for the Building Resilient Communities Through Trauma-Informed Congregations 2 nd Annual Meeting of the Trauma Informed Congregations Community of Practice Harmonizing the intelligence of science and the wisdom of community ~ Thursday, October 1, 2015 9:15AM (EST) –Registration & Light Fare Breakfast 10:00AM -4:30PM (EST) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Hubert Humphrey Building 8 th Floor (Room 800) 200 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20201 ~ This...
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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
Decreasing Violence and Addressing Toxic Stress and Trauma in our Communities TiCong Linear Plan
Hello All, Attached is first draft Linear Plan on Violence, Toxic Stress, and Trauma. Again, please edit away and track changes then send your edits to Kimberly dot Konkel at hhs dot gov and I will incorporate them. Shalom, Kimberly