March 2021

At the heart of any healthy relationship is trust. We instinctively understand this fact. Yet, we sometimes allow our own insecurities, weaknesses, and selfishness to rob us of trust which, in turn, robs us of the joy and peace we could be experiencing with other people. There are resources available designed to help us strengthen personal relationships and to deal with broken relationships. In both instances, almost all of those resources place an emphasis on building or rebuilding trust.

“ Trauma always happens within a context, and so does healing. To understand the impact of trauma means being acutely sensitive to the environment—to the conditions under which people grew up, to how they live today, and to the journeys they have taken along the way .” (Andrea Blanch, Beth Filson, and Darby Penney National Center for Trauma Informed Care guidebook) Creating an environment that exudes calm, safety, and compassion is a goal of trauma-informed systems. It is a profound paradigm...

As we sit amidst a pandemic, I marvel at the difference in how each person is navigating this shared traumatic space. What makes some of us carry on with little impact on our mental health and wellness, while others struggle to get through life’s daily tasks? I believe it is Resilience. Resilience isn’t something you are born with. It is complex and developed over time, through personal experiences and environments, through parenting and opportunities, through responses from those who are...