Blog

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.

From Pauls Valley Democrat, October 6, 2020 State Rep. Sherrie Conley, R-Newcastle, recently hosted an interim study examining the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress on children’s behavior in the classroom and efforts schools can take to help avoid suspension. The study was held before the House Common Education Committee. “Violence in the classroom has become a nationwide epidemic,” said Conley, whose District 20 includes an eastern portion of Garvin County. [...

Each year the United States spends approximately $20 Billion to provide rental assistance to low-income families through Housing Choice Vouchers . What? You’ve never heard of Housing Choice Vouchers? Perhaps you know them by the more common name, Section 8 Housing. Under the law, this money can be spent in any neighborhood within a Housing Authority's jurisdiction. But most of the 2.2 million families using vouchers continue to live in high-poverty, low-opportunity neighborhoods. The...

You are invited to join the OKAIMH's [virtual] Fall Conference, Wednesday, October 21st, 11:30 - 4:30, with Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, based on her new book The Age of Overwhelm: Strategies for the Long Haul. Whether we are overwhelmed by work or school; our families or communities; caretaking for others or ourselves; or engagement in social justice, environmental advocacy, or civil service, just a few subtle shifts can help sustain us. Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, bestselling author of Trauma...

I was asked to offer a free viewing of our new documentary video on the topic of ACEs. Due to my limited knowledge of technology it took a minute to get this set up. Now we can announce: View “How Many ACEs Are You Holding?” for FREE! Use code ACES-FREE on October 13th, 2020 to see the entire video free . Use this link to view. Coupon will only work on the Vimeo rental page for How Many Aces are You Holding? , not the subscription page. This post will appear on the homepage of our website...

Dr. Robert Sege, 7/29/20, positiveexperience.org/blog In times and places when Covid-19 is on the upsurge, most of us worry about our own safety and that of the ones we love. Is it a safe to go to work? It is safe for children to go to school? When will the pandemic and this uncertainty ever stop? At other times, public health restrictions are first in our minds—we can’t gather to celebrate or mourn, we need to wear masks to protect others even if we don’t feel sick ourselves, and every...

Please join us for this virtual conference of Oklahoma Turning Point. Keynote speaker is Tonier Cain “Healing Neen”, international trauma care expert and trauma survivor. There will also be panel discussions on the following topics: Handle with Care Oklahoma & RESTORE Task Force Tobacco Best Practices & Policy Updates/TSET & Shawnee Blue Zone A Culture of Hope & Community Health Planning Featured panelists include: Oklahoma First Lady Sarah Stitt; Oklahoma Secretary of Human...

A University of Cambridge study found that children who played with their fathers from an early age were more skilled at regulating their emotions and behaviors later in life. The University of Cambridge and the LEGO Foundation teamed up together for this study and analyzed close to 40 years of data. The goal of the research was to determine if there were significant differences between the ways that mothers and fathers play with their children. The results and findings were most likely a...

By Sheilamary Koch, Multibriefs: Exclusive, July 27, 2020 When Christina Bethell was little, she lived in a low-income housing complex in Los Angeles where her neighbor, a quiet lady the kids called Mrs. Raccoon, always had her door open for the neighborhood kids. Every Saturday she threw a little tea party with candy to celebrate any child with a birthday that week. Bethell fondly remembers the woman’s kindness as source of comfort during her challenging childhood. Dr. Bethell, now a...

The many challenges of this year have required people to cope with a range of external stressors. The United States is still navigating community response to George Floyd’s killing and racial inequities. Many are physically distancing and trying to survive economic fallout from the pandemic. As an adult, I find it hard to take things one day at a time, focus on my breath, and move forward with purpose and gratitude. Young people are looking for ways to cope and heal as well. At our middle...

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...

Becoming Trauma Informed is about changing ourselves and the environment to foster trauma resilience in those we come in contact with. If schools are using Social Emotional Learning curriculum (SEL) only as an add-on program to implement, then it isn’t about the teachers and environment changing, it is merely about changing the behavior of students. If we are solely trying to change others to make them conform to pre-set standards, it is continuing the oppressive cycle. Command and control...