January 2025

For nearly 25 years, Risking Connection has been at the forefront of the trauma-informed care movement. Over the past decade, the Risking Connection foundational trauma training has evolved into the Risking Connection Change Model , a multi-stage intervention that supports trauma-informed, organizational culture change. In recent years, our hearts and minds have grown to embrace a more socially just view of the world. Now, we are pleased to announce the Risking Connection Change Model...

After a difficult childhood, many effective strategies can facilitate recovery and elevate mood and brain health.

Defining trust can be tricky. We often know when it’s there, and we definitely feel its absence when it’s not. In the workplace, trust is more than just a nice-to-have—it’s the foundation for collaboration, innovation, and resilience in the face of challenges. Without trust, teams falter; with it, they thrive. Trust Supports Safety Trauma-competent spaces are safe spaces. Trust and safety work together. No trauma-informed practice can thrive without safety, and feeling safe occurs in...

*Editors note: Below, please find two new articles featured in JAMA. They are open access and fully available to the public. These will be available soon in our ever growing Resource Center. Thank you - Rafael Maravilla Food Insecurity in Pregnancy, Receipt of Food Assistance, and Perinatal Complications By Rana F. Chehab, Lisa A. Croen, Barbara A. Laraia, et al., January 23, 2025 Key Points Question Is food insecurity in pregnancy associated with perinatal complications and do these...

By Judy George, MedPage Today, Image: screenshot from article , January 24, 2025 Mothers with multiple sclerosis (MS) had a higher risk of peripartum mental illness than comparator mothers, administrative health data from Canada showed. Incident mental illness -- most commonly, depression and anxiety -- affected 8.4% of mothers with MS prenatally and 14.2% during the first postpartum year, reported Ruth Ann Marrie, MD, PhD, of Dalhousie University in Halifax, and co-authors. The incidence of...

Donny McCullough, a music producer, says it was difficult to put on a brave face for his wife and daughters while fleeing their Pasadena home the morning of Jan. 8. (Molly Castle Work/KFF Health News) By Molly Castle Work (KFF Health News), California Healthline, Image: Molly Castle Work/KFF Health News , January 21, 2025 PASADENA — As Fernando Ramirez drove to work the day after the Eaton Fire erupted, smoke darkened the sky, ash and embers rained onto his windshield, and the air smelled of...

By Thomas Gull (University of Zurich), MedicalXpress, Image: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain , January 22, 2025 Children need stimulation and attention for the healthy development of their brains. Neglect can have serious consequences for children's health, as well as their ability to learn and form relationships. In 1989, the images coming out of Romanian children's homes shocked the world. They showed children in cots staring blankly, sometimes tied down, and very clearly neglected. The state of...

By Santiago, C.D., et al. (Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago), News Medical & Life Sciences, Image: Unsplash via Crowdstack , January 23, 2025 The first randomized control trial of the school-based intervention called Supporting Transition Resilience of Newcomer Groups (STRONG) shows significant reductions in depression, anxiety and behavior problems among refugee and immigrant students. The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, was co-led by...

By Marcel Marchetti (Mental Health Europe), Image: AlexLinch/iStock , January 23, 2025 Growing up in precarity is hard, especially when the adults around you face their own mental health challenges. Let’s Talk about Children is a short, evidence-based, and child-centred psychosocial intervention to break the cycle of mental health problems, particularly among children in vulnerable situations. Marcel Marchetti, from Mental Health Europe, shares how it’s working in Europe today Mental health...

Omni Family Institute (OFI) will be launching its first annual summit in Charlotte, North Carolina on March 5, 2025. The summit theme, “ Cultivating Growth: Transforming Communities Together " aims to engage a national audience focused on improving foster care systems. Attendees will discuss and recognize how communities are beginning to implement evidence-based practices to reduce children entering foster care by building trauma-informed resilient communities. This event is designed for...

The latest Surviving Spirit Newsletter - Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health is out - It can be read online via this & you can also subscribe - http://ml.survivingspirit.com/dada/mail.cgi/archive/newsletter/20250122211203/ or this - https://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2025-01-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_January_2025.pdf Hi Folks, Welcome to 2025!! I hope this year is a time of peace and joy for you. January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking...

Resilient school leaders recognize that training all school personnel maximizes opportunities for mitigating the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences while providing supports in and out of the classroom. Learn about one school district’s journey to expand trauma-informed practices and strengthen positive school cultures, while taking steps to implement restorative practices school-wide. Principals will spotlight exciting academic gains and provide examples of student and faculty...