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In a new study published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Professor Sam Porter and co-authors, present the results of a music therapy intervention on social skills, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, as well as family and social functioning. The researchers, based in the United Kingdom, found that the results of the intervention showed the benefits of integrating music therapy into clinical practice. Ciara Reilly, the director of one of the study’s organizational partners,...

The 10,000 children and young people a year who go into care should have their mental health assessed so they can be helped to recover from childhood trauma and abuse, ministers are being urged. Claire Tyler, a Liberal Democrat peer, will on Tuesday lead a parliamentary effort to persuade the government to agree the change through an amendment to the children and social work bill. Children’s campaigners believe that a mandatory assessment of the mental health of every infant or youngster...

“Racism is (whites') massive experience of cognitive dissonance.” -Dr. Joy deGruy Social Identity Threat. check. White Supremacy. check. Social Devaluation of People of Color. check. Everyone I know and love faces an amplified threat with Trump. We are people of color, immigrants, variably abled, queer, poor/working class/barely faking it. This is distress, trauma, harm. This is historical, structural, political. We need to Race ACEs. Now now now.

One out of five California adults with children living in their homes were beaten, kicked or physically abused when they were children, and one in ten were sexually abused, according to data released recently by a children’s health foundation “I think it’s probably a low estimate,” said Cassandra Joubert, director of the Central California Children’s Institute at California State University, Fresno. “I think these kinds of events within families are hush-hush, swept under the rug, not really...

Optimism is “not something you do, but rather a spirit you bring to everything you do,” keynote speaker Steve Gross, a clinical social worker and founder of the Life is Good Kids Foundation, told ULI members at a 2016 ULI Fall Meeting general session. Gross, the foundation’s “chief playmaker,” shared his thoughts on optimism and offered practical advice for cultivating an optimistic and playful spirit, based on his work with children who have experienced traumas including violence, poverty,...

Prevention and treatment of adverse childhood experiences and peer support for people experiencing mental illness or substance abuse received major investments in the latest round of Community Health Endowment grants. The endowment's board trustees approved grants totaling $652,456 for one year and $1,142,347 over three years. The new grants will: * Support and expand the Healthy Families America program which provides home visitation and other services for parents of children under age 3 at...

A few weeks ago, I scrambled to evacuate my area with the only five items I could grab—my phone, passport, water, money, and medicine—in the 30 seconds before I had to flee. Many of the roughly 65 million refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced people around the world today have had to make panicked choices like these; more than 4,000 have died at sea in overcrowded boats and rafts attempting to reach Europe from the Middle East. On Thursday last week, more than 200 additional...

As classrooms across the United States become more diverse, schools are working to hire more teachers of color, particularly black teachers. Some have actually done a reasonable job of bringing more African American educators in the door. Yet the vast majority of teachers remain white women, in part because many black teachers leave just a few years into the job. Federal data suggests that in 2012-13, nearly 22 percent of black public-school teachers moved schools or left the profession...

Many caregivers of older adults express satisfaction with their labors of love. But they often face challenges, especially when caring for people with chronic diseases such as dementia, diabetes, or heart failure. The day-to-day tasks may seem endless: arranging doctor’s appointments and transportation, moving the person safely around, ensuring proper nutrition, and much more. Difficult situations, such as hospitalization and making decisions about long-term care, also arise. The National...

Crumbs and stripes of jam are left behind on plates, sitting on a polka-dot tablecloth. Clusters of people lounge and chat on sofas and armchairs sprayed with floral patterns or stripes. The space “probably looks a lot like your grandma’s house,” says Maff Potts. “I don’t know if that’s a compliment.” It’s cozy and unpretentious; it invites plopping down and staying put for a while. Last spring, in cooperation with the local city council , Potts launched the space he calls the Living Room in...

Back in the 1980s, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was gripped in an economic crisis as it suffered the effects of de-industrialization: Its unemployment rate was triple that of Detroit’s today. “We basically died,” Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said on a recent press call. But, in a much- celebrated comeback story , the city came back to life. “In 30 years Pittsburgh changed its economy. It built out an entire new city of eds and meds, technology, finance and energy. Now we’re seeing a new...

"When I'm with my Mom I miss my Dad. When I'm with my Dad I miss my Mom. I'm always missing someone." Katie, my cousin said those words when she was not yet in first grade. It was heartbreaking and sad. When my daughter's Dad and I divorced, my daughter wasn't as emotional, at first. When we told her that her Dad and I were separating, and assured her, "It's not your fault," she said words I'll never forget. "Why would it be my fault?" She thought that was ridiculous and silly. That was a...