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...

“A purely disembodied human emotion is a nonentity,” William James asserted in his revolutionary 1884 theory of how our bodies affect our feelings . Two generations later, Rilke wrote in a beautiful letter of advice to a young woman : “I am not one of those who neglect the body in order to make of it a sacrificial offering for the soul, since my soul would thoroughly dislike being served in such a fashion.” And yet in the century since, we’ve made little progress on making sense — much less...

Here in California, many people think that it’s only liberal Democrats who have a corner on championing the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and putting it into practice. That might be because people who use ACEs science don’t expel or suspend students, even if they’re throwing chairs and hurling expletives at the teacher. They ask "What happened to you?" rather than "What's wrong with you?" as a frame when they create juvenile detention centers where kids don’t fight, reduce...

Minnesota Communities Caring for Children invites you to join us in a daily, 30-minute, family-friendly practice of resilience, Monday-Friday at 12:30 p.m. on Zoom 12:30 p.m. weekdays starting Monday March 23, 2020 No pre-registration required! Just join any day you are available using one of the following methods: Join using a computer of smart phone by clicking this link and following the instructions: https://zoom.us/j/145915007 Or join by phone only at: +1 312 626 6799 Meeting ID: 145...

May 11, noon-1:30 pm: World View Dave Ellis Every day we engage with people who are very different and similar from us: race, gender, ethnicity and more. Epigenetics tells us that we are more alike than different. So why can’t we just get along? Our worldviews -values, beliefs, assumptions, attitudes and ideas- impact everything from how we understand the nature of reality to how we respond to the environment around us. It informs our goals and desires, shaping conscious and unconscious...

By balancing our physiology and nervous systems, body-based practices can help us through hard times. Read more from Linda Graham, author of Resilience: Powerful Practices for Bouncing Back from Disappointment, Difficulty, and Even Disaster , about several methods to develop resilience. Find the article here!

Minnesota Communities Caring for Children invites you to join us for a 30-minute, family-friendly practice of resilience, Monday-Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. on Zoom. We will continue to offer these practices live on Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and encourage you to view our archive of recorded sessions at this link. Calendar: Here is what's on deck the week of May 11th- May 13th Monday 5/11- Stretching and Meditation with Cindy Vue Tuesday 5/12 - Mind-Body Medicine with Susan Beaulieu...

Thank you to those who attended the 2016 Midwest ACE Summit! At the event nearly 300 people came together to learn about how communities are addressing ACEs and promoting healing in Minnesota and across the Midwest. We hope that participants were energized by the stories they heard and inspired about what can be done to foster resilience and healing in their own communities. Attached to this post are the Summit agenda and breakout session descriptions for your reference. Resources shared at...

Over the past three years, Minnesota Communities Caring for Children (MCCC) has worked to raise awareness about brain development, ACEs, and resilience statewide using the national ACE Interface curriculum. To date the organization has trained more than 130 Minnesotans from diverse communities to present this curriculum and help foster community responses. This summer, Maxine Freedman of Macalester College interviewed 29 members of MCCC's network to assess the impact of this work on...

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...

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...

With Lowell Johnson, ACEs Resiliency Coalition; Emily Clary, Minnesota Communities Caring for Children Learn about significant progress being made in reducing the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and early childhood trauma, through examples of some of the successes that three communities experienced in Washington State, and sharing conversations with people doing this work in Washington State. Watch the full webinar here

I liked his book, though I think Levine's were just a tad better in the neuroscience of it all, as well as the innate release mechanism. This really started a while back. Keleman in the 70s, Louwen before him even, Hanna and Berceli in the 80s, and then it turned into something. There has been good writing about trauma for a while, but too much has relied on the old paradigm of treatment, which even van der Kolk says has not been very successful. The reason the body keeps the score is...

Please join us for the FREE VIRTUAL Growing Resilient Communities: 3 rd Annual Gathering of Collaboratives Addressing ACEs on June 24 th & June 25 th , 9:00 a.m. – noon each day. Check out the Gathering flyer for more information about the schedule, sessions, & speakers we have lined up for this event. We invite you to share this information widely with your partners and networks! Register Here Event Agenda: Wednesday, June 24th: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm (noon) 9:00 am – 9:30 am: Gathering...

The election is upon us. In two short weeks, we voters in this country decide who will lead us for the next four years. We have the opportunity to embrace — as a national priority — the tenets of understanding, nurturing and healing that underlie the science of adverse childhood experiences and move in a direction that embraces cultural and racial equity and anti-racism. Or not. What is clear is that no matter what, the ACEs movement will continue.

The Suicide Prevention Unit at the Minnesota Department of Health presents the Suicide Prevention Webinar series. These educational webinars will serve as a touch point for further connection and knowledge exchange. • July 30 - Shared Risk and Protective Factors - Melissa Adolfson • August 25 - Suicide Prevention and Tribal Communities - Luther Talks • Sept 15 - Change the Narrative on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention - Kelly Felton • October 19 - Suicide Prevention and the Faith...

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...

The 6 th annual Growing Resilient Communities Gathering of Collaboratives and Tribal Nations will be held in 1 week, on Tuesday, June 27 th from 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. This free, virtual event will focus on highlighting community-based approaches that support the development of self-healing communities – communities that intentionally develop more inclusive and equitable practices, cultural norms, and concrete supports so all children, families, and adults can thrive. This year, the theme is...