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In April 2016, the Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care (ARTIC) Scale was released. It remains one of the only psychometrically-valid measures of trauma-informed care (TIC) available. In only two years, the ARTIC has been used by over 150 entities in 10 countries, translated into 4 languages, and administered to over 25,000 professionals. In response to rapidly-increasing interest in the ARTIC Scale, this FREE webinar will provide updated information for those considering whether the...

Parents these days are stressed. So are their kids. The root of this anxiety, one scholar says, is the way we understand the relationship between parents and children. Alison Gopnik , a psychology and philosophy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, thinks parents—especially middle-class parents—view their children as entities they can mold into a specific image. "The idea is that if you just do the right things, get the right skills, read the right books, you're going to be...

Not only have many public health interventions in the United States been hugely successful, but they’ve also saved more money than they’ve cost. And yet Americans spend relatively little money in that domain and far more on medical care that returns less value for its costs. Instead of continually complaining about how much is being spent on health care with little to show for it, maybe we should direct more of that money to public health. What Do We Mean by Public Health? It encompasses...

“I wasn’t allowed to talk about anything, the way I found I could talk about what was happening in my life was through these surrealistic drawings and paintings that I’d create. Because my upbringing was so traumatic, I used that as an escape.” In foster care at age 9, Miriam Cortez learned that creating art was her way to work through pain and suffering. In her early twenties, her art still has a haunting quality and when you look at some of the pieces she creates, you find yourself being...

What's the root cause of the opioid epidemic ? A strong case can be made for pain. Pain prompts people to ask their doctors for drugs. Pain keeps them taking those pills for so long that they get addicted. So what's the source of all this suffering, as well as our inability to manage it without heavy-duty pharmaceuticals? Recent research provides a provocative answer. It finds people who experienced more trauma and adversity in childhood and adolescence tend to experience greater pain as...

I moved to New York for my first job out of grad school almost 20 years ago. After just one week in my new apartment, I got a $65 ticket for putting tin cans and milk cartons in my trash can. Having spent most of my life in the American South where no laws required it, I had never recycled before. After the ticket, I started rethinking the contents of my trash can. I have learned that landfills are harmful to the planet and how recycling saves energy and helps to slow global warming. I now...

Starbucks will temporarily shut 8,000 stores for four hours Tuesday afternoon to conduct racial bias training for its employees. It follows an incident in Philadelphia last month in which two black men were arrested simply for waiting in a store. What would seem like a positive step forward is already, perhaps predictably, being criticized. Starbucks’s bias training, according to T.J. Legacy-Cole , a political organizer in Orlando, is “a self-righteous and disingenuous public-relations stunt...

A study led by Dr. Jason Bantjes of Stellenbosch University explores South African traditional healers’ work with suicidal individuals. The results of the study, published in a recent issue of Transcultural Psychiatry, suggest that South African traditional healers frequently work with suicidal individuals, and thus have an important perspective to contribute to the country’s suicide prevention-related public health efforts. The researchers found that healers support suicidal individuals by...

Emily: Growing up Jewish, queer, and Autistic in Birmingham, Alabama, I faced a great deal of bullying and prejudice. Instead of stepping in to address the bullying, my parents, teachers, and therapists tried to help me act more “normal,” hide my queerness, and learn how to fit in. I quickly learned one of the most insidious and effective ways that oppression is perpetuated: by holding the oppressed, rather than the oppressor, responsible for it. In college, I began studying the topic of...

With the Healing Trauma Summit , you’ll join renowned and respected professionals and healers from a wide sweep of disciplines and traditions. Additionally, heroines and heroes of community and cultural healing will share how they found a way through their traumatic experiences to emerge stronger and a source of help to others. This summit features 24 of today’s leading voices in trauma healing. Many will be sharing training sessions and practical applications for your professional practice...

We are the authors of Anna, Age Eight: The data-driven prevention of childhood trauma and maltreatment, Katherine Ortega Courtney, PhD and Dominic Cappello, and we have been discussing our book focused on how we must and can fix child welfare—a monumental challenge that requires the engagement of all of us. Abuse and neglect are ACEs, which is why having a high functioning child welfare system matters so much. We also know that many adverse childhood experiences fly under the radar of...

Essay by Trina Jackson with links to a new report entitled Racial Inequities, Policy Solutions: Perceptions of Boston’s Communities of Color on Racism and Race Relations by The Hyams Foundation. While the reported data is specific to Massachusetts, the issues are national and relevant for all of us. Here are some excerpts: How many of us have been in or led organizations where we say we care about racial equity in our workplace but will address it more in real and meaningful ways in the next...