Tagged With "Social and Emotional Learning"
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What's in your soil? - Communities moving to action
Many of you may be familiar with the “Pair of ACEs” from the George Washington School of Public Health and the natural question that comes from this model – “What’s in your soil?” (If you aren’t familiar, learn more here .) Communities across the State of Kansas are starting conversations around, not only the impact of ACEs, but also the larger issues of Prevention, Health Equity, and Trauma-Informed Systems of Care. In June, the TISC team at WSU CEI had the opportunity to facilitate and...
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12 Myths of the Science of ACEs
The two biggest myths about ACEs science are: MYTH #1 — That it’s just about the 10 ACEs in the ACE Study — the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study . It’s about sooooo much more than that. MYTH #2 — And that it’s just about ACEs…adverse childhood experiences. These two myths are intertwined. The ACE Study issued the first of its 70+ publications in 1998, and for many people it was the lightning bolt, the grand “aha” moment, the unexpected doorway into a blazing new...
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A Public Health Approach to Preventing ACEs and Toxic Stress
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Toxic Stress are considered by many to be the #1 Public Health issue of our time. These experiences are often at the core of many other issues that we see in our communities such as interpersonal and community violence, substance use and misuse, suicide, and any number of chronic health issues such as diabetes, cancer, even Alzheimer’s. While it often seems like an overwhelming task, taking on public health crises is something that advocates in the U.S. have...
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Alive and Well Communities Launch #AliveAndWellFor5
Alive and Well For 5 is a campaign designed to create a common understanding about the healing power of self-care. Alive and Well understands that self-care is an essential strategy in building community and organizational well-being. On May 15 at 10:15 a.m. CST and throughout the day, everyone participating in the campaign will take a brief 5-minute pause wherever they are, to practice personal self-care, looking inward to move forward. We all have the opportunity to help ease the impacts...
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Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice (CTIPP) launches new grassroots initiative to engage and educate Congress
From Elizabeth Prewitt (ACEs Connection Staff) CTIPP (Campaign for Trauma-Informed Policy and Practice) today announced the launch of the National Trauma Campaign , calling for federal action to prevent and address childhood trauma and build resilience through educating and engaging Congress. Its widely circulated communication invited people from around the country to join the new grassroots initiative. The campaign provides ways for everyone to get involved by joining the effort, becoming...
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Happy Halloween!
October 31 kicks off a three day celebration dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed. Halloween, in particular, can be a challenging time for those who have experienced trauma. To learn more about how to manage triggers this Halloween and be more trauma aware, check out this article from Promise Behavioral Health in Tennessee. Halloween can also be a great time to build positive relationships with your own children and children in...
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Helping Students Overcome Toxic Stress through Science-Based Teaching Practices (stresshealth.org)
“What our students really crave the most is predictability from the adults interacting with them,” says Roger Sapp, a student success teacher at KIPP. For that reason, the one-on-one session is not a reward for being “good” or withheld if something bad happens. The kids who need it can count on it – every day. The scene is from a video by Edutopia (aka the George Lucas Educational Foundation), which has produced a series of more than 20 powerful, engaging shorts on how children learn in...
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ICYMI: The 12 Myths of the Science of ACEs
Just in case you missed it, Jane Stevens has posted a great new article and infographic explaining the 12 Myths of the Science of ACEs . Reading it, I felt like Jane has been following our team around lately (in a good way!). We have these discussions on a regular basis within the communities and organizations we visit - and we are betting that you do too! For us, Jane's article reinforces (and validates!) what we try to share with others and gives us additional language to do that in a...
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Kansas Communities Building ACEs Awareness (EfC Goal 1)
Before we can make progress on any issue that affects the health and well-being of those who live in our communities, people must be aware that an issue exists. In this installment, of our series dedicated to the CDC’s Essentials for Childhood Framework , we are going to highlight ways that some communities in Kansas are working toward achieving Goal #1: Raise awareness and commitment to promote safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments and prevent child abuse and neglect. In...
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New Resource: Measuring the Impact of TI Primary Care
As more and more organizations work toward trauma-informed, many struggle with how to measure the impact they are having on those they serve. In a new brief from the Center for Healthcare Strategies, leaders from the Montefiore Medical Group shares a proposed model to help organizations consider the critical question, “Is what we are doing working?” If you are an organization in Kansas, our Trauma-Informed Systems of Care team may be able to assist you in developing an infrastructure to...
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Positive Childhood Experiences offset ACEs: Q & A with Dr. Robert Sege about HOPE
Tufts University medical professor Dr. Robert Sege directs the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine and is nationally known for his research on effective health systems approaches that address social determinants of health. He is also the principal investigator for the HOPE framework (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences).The HOPE framework is based on research that shows how positive childhood experiences can mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences. Sege and colleagues...
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The Spirit of the Season
It’s that time of year – the time of year that is often described as “merry”, “bright”, and “joyful”. A popular way of spreading the joy is through cookie exchanges where we share our favorite memories and recipes with others through little wrapped packages of often artful treats. This year, I would suggest that we spread that comfort and warmth through a different kind of cookie exchange. In their book, Fostering Resilient Learners , Kristin Souers and Pete Hall introduce a concept called...
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Trauma-Informed Customer Service
Last week, our state hosted its annual Governor's Conference on Public Health in Manhattan, KS where trauma-informed practices are increasingly coming to the forefront of efforts to support healthier people and communities. Along with our valued partner, Shelly Schneider, Administrator of the Barton County Health Department, I had the opportunity to discuss with public health practitioners ways that they can make their organization the "go to" place to receive care in their communities...
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Trauma-Informed Systems of Care Initiatives at Wichita State University
In our travels across this beautiful state, we often talk to folks who say they've heard of "ACEs" or "Trauma-Informed Care" but don't know where to begin to learn more or to initiate change in their organizations and communities. Here at the WSU Community Engagement Institute, we have a team of professionals from a variety of backgrounds who can provide education, facilitation, and technical support to organizations, coalitions, or communities who are interested in starting a conversation...
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California reaches milestone with ACEs initiatives pulsing in all 58 counties. Next: All CA cities.
Karen Clemmer, the Northwest community facilitator with ACEs Connection, was already deeply interested in the CDC/Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study when she and a colleague from the Child Parent Institute were invited to lunch by ACEs Connection founder and publisher Jane Stevens in 2012. But that lunch meeting changed everything. Karen Clemmer “Jane helped us see a bigger world,” says Clemmer. “She came with a much wider lens. She didn’t look only at Sonoma County, she...
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Zero to Three releases new Mindfulness Toolkit for Early Childhood Organizations
As our communities look for ways to bring children safely back into structured, safe learning environments - whether that is child care facilities or schools - many staff, teachers, and children are likely going to be experiencing some stress and anxiety. This isn't new - transitions are always a bit stressful, but this time there are a number of added concerns that may be difficult to process for kids and adults alike. The best way to help keep children regulated and focused is to practice...
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Raising our voices
Speaking for myself, it’s hard not to get overwhelmed by all of the negative images and sounds that we see every day. It was a lot before the onset of the pandemic - and when you add that with the ongoing “attacks” that seem to have become a persistent part of the political process – it seems we have a perfect storm that is shining a light on all of the “traumas” that many of us think that we keep well hidden. Social media often adds fuel to this storm and makes me question (and don’t forget...
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Vanessa Lohf integrates ACEs science throughout Kansas communities, organizations and systems
A Kansas-licensed social worker, Vanessa Lohf was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, where she still lives and works in public health by facilitating the Trauma-Informed Systems of Care Initiatives (TISC) team at the Wichita State University Community Engagement Institute. She also manages the Kansas ACEsConnection network , where she regularly posts about news and resources for communities and organizations throughout the state. Lohf says that Wichita is known as the “Aircraft Capital of...
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3 Realms of ACEs - Updated!
ACEs Connection has updated our 3 Realms of ACEs Graphic to represent recent and pressing events. The 3 Realms of ACEs are Community, Household, and Environment. ACEs in these realms intertwine throughout people’s lives, and affect the viability of families, communities, organizations, and systems. Environment has been updated to include "Pandemic", as the entire world continues to survive through the COVID-19 crisis. The Community Realm has been updated to include "Discrimination" and "Food...
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Mindfulness in the Virtual Classroom
In the past year, many of you may have been hearing more and more about “mindfulness” and instantly think of someone sitting cross-legged on the floor in flowing white clothes, with long hair and peace signs around their neck. Even the Oxford Dictionary describes mindfulness as “a mental state achieved by focusing one's awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one's feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations…” Pretty “new agey”, right? Well, maybe, but it...
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Kansas Suicide Prevention Art Contest
Every young person deserves to be safe from suicide, and the Kansas Partners in Empowering Youth for Suicide Prevention believes that the best way to reach every youth in Kansas is to provide opportunities for youth to talk to other youth. This is your opportunity to help state agencies shape suicide prevention messages that will go out to youth across the state! The goal is to raise awareness of the possibility of hope and healing while working to provide enough support to Kansas youth so...
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Wondering if kids can understand the "3Rs"? Meet Nathan.
Regulate. Relate. Reason. These “3 Rs” (developed by Dr. Bruce Perry) are an easy way to remind adults of how the brain is structured and develops and how communication is impacted when we are under significant stress. But how do you explain this in a way that kids can understand? Enter Nathan from Walnut Creek Elementary School in Austin, Texas. Walnut Creek has been working to implement the Neurosequential Model in Education as part of a pilot project in the Austin Independent School...
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The Wisdom of Trauma Movie - World Premiere June 8-14
The Wisdom of Trauma, Featuring Dr. Gabor Maté - global digital film premiere June 8-14. In addition to the film, Dr. Maté will host 7 days of learning with trauma experts from around the world, including Dr. Peter Levine, and Dr. Dan Siegel. See the trailer and learn more about the film, workshops, and filmmakers here . "Trauma is not what happens to you. Trauma is what happens inside you, as a result of what happens to you". - Gabor Maté About the film: Trauma is an invisible force that...
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Coming Together for Kids
2020 was a year of many things – a year of fear and hope, a year of illness and health, and a year that has shined a light on many issues in our communities that have been hard to talk about. Issues like racial and other health disparities, mental health, and addictions. Bringing these issues out into the open means vast opportunities for conversations and healing – but how do we do this in safe, healthy ways? And how do we explain all of this to our kids so that they can learn...
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Playing With Your Kids is Not Just a Game
Can a game of peek-a-boo change the world? Yes, it can. In this engaging TED Talk , 7-year-old Molly Wright explains how and shows that even the youngest of us can learn, understand, and communicate about brain science. Now, my question is…who will you share a world changing game with?
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FREE WEBINAR: The Impact of Mind Matters: Preliminary Evidence of Effectiveness in a Community-Based Sample
Becky Antle, Ph.D., Professor of Social Work and esteemed University Scholar at the University of Louisville, won The Dibble Institute’s national competition to evaluate Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience in 2019. As a result, Dr. Antle and her colleagues have conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the impact of Mind Matters on a host of outcomes related to trauma symptoms, emotional regulation, coping and resiliency, and interpersonal skills for at-risk...
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Scholarships now available for Mind Matters Now!
Has the pandemic stressed you out? Want to learn the self-soothing skills of Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience directly from the author, Dr. Carolyn Curtis? Good news! The Dibble Institute has received generous funding for scholarships to the online, full 12-lesson series, Mind Matters Now . The course helps teachers, social workers, medical professionals, and others manage their stress by building resilience skills and practices for mental well-being. (CEUs are...
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Surgeon General Issues Advisory on Workforce Burnout
This week, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a new advisory on Addressing The Health Care Workforce Burnout . The advisory highlights the urgent need to address the burnout crisis impacting health care workers across the country. Notably, the Biden Administration emphasizes the mental health and wellbeing of health workers as a priority and promotes it as a core objective of the President’s National Mental Health Strategy . Some of the recommendations in the advisory include...
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What Does Trauma-Informed Leadership Look Like in Practice?
Repost from PACES Connection Member, Shenandoah Chefalo (9/30/22): Trauma-informed leadership is crucial if you want to accomplish trauma-informed change in your organization. Here’s some expert advice on how you can become a trauma-informed leader. 1. Acknowledge that cultural change is just as important as technical change Our problem-solving brains often focus on technical change when we talk about organizational change. We ask, “What processes can we put in place to prevent this issue?”...
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New National Resources to Support Social Connection and Community
Today, the U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, has issued an 81-page advisory on the epidemic of loneliness and isolation. In the report, Dr. Murthy outlines the public health concerns related to loneliness and isolation and how supporting social connection can reduce the risk of premature mortality, predict better physical and mental health outcomes and ease stress. In response, the U.S. Surgeon General’s office has issued a new website announcing a National Strategy for addressing the...
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10 Ways to Create PCEs this Holiday Season
2023 has been a year full of wonderful opportunities to share the HOPE framework with partners from across the state and 2024 promises to be even better. I'd like to take a moment to share with you a 2022 blog post from the HOPE National Resource Center that is a great example of opportunities to infuse Positive Childhood Experiences into our everyday lives. Here's wishing you a safe and restful holiday season! Originally posted by Tufts HOPE on 12/08/22: School is out for the holidays, and...