In an article last week in Harvard Business Review, titled “That Discomfort You’re Feeling is Grief”, grief expert David Kessler names the multiple types of losses we’re experiencing in the midst of the current global COVID 19 pandemic: loss of normalcy, loss of a sense of safety, loss of work (for some), financial losses, loss of connection. As a result, many of us are going through stages of grief, individually and collectively. “There’s denial, which we say a lot of early on: This virus...

In the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic, we've decided to try a little experiment in a different kind of contagion. Many of us are struggling with numerous stresses, hardships, grief and traumas associated with this situation. It’s never been more important for us to take care of ourselves AND to take care of each other. So 3 days each week we'll record a simple 3-minute self care audio message (mini-podcast style), send it to 3 people we know, ask them to listen to the recording for their own...

“Walking is the best medicine.” - Hippocrates (460 – 370 BC), Greek physician, widely regarded the "Father of Western Medicine" Under our current #StayAtHome orders, one of the few things we can still do outside of our homes is take a walk. And it turns out Hippocrates was right. Modern research has shown walking really IS good medicine - improving our physical health, boosting our immune system, increasing longevity, preventing heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and depression...

Many organizations are committing to the work of becoming trauma-informed. One of the early questions that often arises in these organizations is whether to adopt some type of screening or assessment tool to gather information on the trauma histories of clients/consumers/patients/students. Some organizations, after learning about the original ACES Study, consider using the ACES questionnaire or some variant of it as this type of screening or assessment tool. In our trauma trainings, we...

“One ship drives east and another drives west With the self-same winds that blow. ‘Tis the set of the sails And not the gales Which tells us the way to go. Like the winds of the sea are the winds of fate, As we voyage along through life, ‘Tis the set of a soul That decides its goal And not the calm or the strife.” ~ poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox, (1850 - 1919) “The Winds of Fate” Researcher, author and professor, Dr. Barbara Fredrickson , has studied the power of positive emotions * such as...

Awe: a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder. An overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like. Carl Sagan once said, "Every aspect of nature reveals a deep mystery and touches our sense of wonder and awe." Researchers at UC Berkeley have found that "awe — as opposed to joy, pride, amusement, contentment and other positive emotions — is the singular sensation that goes the furthest in...

How do we know if a client has history of trauma? Do we need to know the specific types of trauma someone has experienced? Each organization and each professional will need to answer these questions for themselves based on the nature of their work with clients Some organizations and professionals may truly need to know the specifics of a client’s trauma history in order to serve them appropriately Many organizations and helping professionals may not need to delve into the specifics or ask...

Though we are still in the "early days" of what the experts predict will likely be a long period of profound changes to our everyday lives, I've already (prematurely? ridiculously optimistically?) been trying to imagine what it will be like when we are finally able to return to whatever may become our "new normal." When schools and colleges re-open, businesses that have managed to remain solvent through this crisis resume business, government agencies return to their core functions, human...

Here's the second installment of our monthly series of "curated resources" for our Trauma Informed Lancaster County partners to help keep the momentum going in our individual, organizational and community-wide efforts toward becoming more trauma-informed. Resilience is “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of threat.” (American Psychological Association) But resilience is NOT about just “toughing it out” or “getting over...

On Monday evening, April 6, at 10PM Eastern time, local PBS stations (including WITF in Central PA) will be premiering a film about trauma and resilience titled "Broken Places". The good news is we can all watch safely and with appropriate #SocialDistancing from the comfort of our own homes! (just be careful about who's sitting at the other end of the sofa!) Here's info about this film: "This poignant production represents the culmination of four decades of bringing PBS viewers powerful...

https://lohf.org/helping-kids-cope-with-anxiety-about-the-covid-19-pandemic/ Helping your kids (and you) cope mentally By John Walker (LOHF Board Member) and Adam Biuckians, MD (LOHF Board Chair, Medical Director and Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at CSG) How can we take steps to manage our own anxiety over this situation? How should we talk with our kids about this situation? What should we say to our kids about all the school closings? What should we look for in our kids that may clue...

Our mantra in all of the trauma trainings we conduct is: “Good self-care is not selfish - it’s our professional and ethical responsibility.” Yet, we know that amid the stresses of everyday work, family, and other responsibilities, it can be hard to remember, let alone carve out time, to practice good self-care. The current troubling times and the global coronavirus pandemic have added exponentially to our collective anxiety, with uncertainties, pressures, and worries, including the health...