Blog

By Qaasim Mian, Photo: Shutterstock, The Conversation, March 27, 2022 It has been over 30 years since hip-hop superstar Tupac Shakur first told the story of 12-year-old Brenda, a sexually abused and exploited preteen mother. I hear Brenda’s got a baby But, Brenda’s barely got a brain A damn shame, the girl can hardly spell her name (That’s not our problem, that’s up to Brenda’s family) Well let me show you how it affects our whole community Tupac Shakur, Brenda’s Got a Baby Based on real...

By Waveney Ann Moore, Image: Screenshot from article, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, March 29, 2022 The day they came face-to-face with the teen who accidentally shot and killed their son, Brad and Meagan Hulett confirmed, in their minds, that prison was the last place the shooter should end up. “He was a cowering little kid and he was crying,” Bradley Hulett said of Christopher “Ramsey” Bevan, 17, who killed Bradley Hulett II while toying with a faulty gun believed to have fired...

By Elisabetta Povoledo and Ian Austen, Photo: Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters, The New York Times, March 28, 2022 Pope Francis on Monday held his first Vatican meeting with Indigenous groups from Canada who were seeking his apology over the Roman Catholic Church’s involvement in a system of boarding schools that abused Indigenous children for over 100 years. The meeting, with two of Canada’s three largest Indigenous groups, suggests that the pope, who had declined to apologize over the matter,...

By The HOPE Team, 3/30/22, https://positiveexperience.org/category/blog/ The “ Spreading HOPE Online Learning Course ” has a new home! The modules have all the same interactive features like short videos and interviews with guest experts, quizzes, and supplemental materials but with a new look and feel. This course is for anyone starting their HOPE journey. Basic access to the course is $25. You can work on the modules at your own pace, starting and stopping as it works for your schedule. On...

In this episode of Transforming Trauma, our guest is Chaz Franke, LCSW. Chaz is the owner of Light Source, a private practice in Belleville, Illinois, is an adjunct professor in the MSW program at St. Louis University, and has over 15 years of experience working with trauma. Chaz shares with listeners his journey to becoming a trauma therapist, the role curiosity can play in the therapeutic relationship, and how his work has impacted him and his clients. Curiosity is a theme that is...

Hey folks, A little blast from the past, but still relevant today - Honored to be part of the Survivor Stories event hosted by Michael Broussard of Ask a Survivor. Performing two songs of mine and sharing the back story to their creation - "Songs For The Keys To Your Life" and "When Your Heart Follows A Lie" The songs encapsulate some of the many feelings, thoughts and lessons learned about the impact of trauma, abuse and mental health injuries which I get to talk about in the Q & A. @...

Join hosts Ingrid Cockhren, CEO of PACEs Connection, and Mathew Portell, PACEs Connection director of communities for their interview with Melissa T. Merrick, Ph.D., president and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse America (PCA America), on Thursday, March 31, the eve of National Child Abuse Prevention Month. PCA America is the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit organization dedicated to the primary prevention of child abuse and neglect. Dr. Merrick has more than 20 years of clinical, research,...

It's free to join, so sign up at this link today! You’re invited to participate in Building the Movement in Activating and Equipping Community Coalitions , the seventh of eight remarkable workshops featured in the series, “Building a National Movement to Prevent Trauma and Foster Resilience”. This half-day workshop will occur virtually on Friday, April 1 from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. ET. The half-day convening comprises presentations made up of educators and experts from across the country who will...

By The HOPE Team, 3/29/22, https://positiveexperience.org/category/blog/ HOPE offers a way for children to improve their lifelong mental health through positive childhood experiences (PCEs). The theme of Women’s History Month 2022, “Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope”, strongly aligns with that purpose. Many times, women are the main caregivers in their homes and work in caregiving professions. Sadly, those roles have been under-valued or insufficiently respected. HOPE partners with...

Did you know that anxiety travels in families? As children become more anxious, so do their parents and the entire family. When this happens, parents will often use “overaccommodation” to insulate their child's stress and discomfort that can cause or maintain their child’s anxiety. Without family trauma treatment, the root causes of the child’s anxiety are not addressed, and relapse can take place again and again. DATE: Friday, April 15 TIME: 12 - 1 pm EST COST: Free with REGISTRATION HERE...

Heart racing, chest squeezing, tummy doing somersaults. I am 15 again. It is 1 in the morning and my mind is speeding through every possible worst-case scenario that could happen. I fail my maths exam. Then my Physics exam. My teachers are so disappointed that the school kicks me out. The bullies have turned everyone against me. No-one talks to me anymore. My parents break up and nowhere feels like home. My best friend steals my boyfriend. Everyone hates me and I am alone forever. Anxiety...

By Roberto Klemko, Photo: Sarah L. Voisin, The Washington Post, March 26, 2022 Officer Karen Wrigley’s pink nails tapped her body camera as she stepped from her cruiser into the cold. “You want to open up the door?” she asked the middle-aged Black man sitting in a parked minivan. “You’ve got an arrest warrant.” The man had a criminal record for assault and other offenses, had run from Bellevue police before and was wanted for missing a court date for a traffic violation. He had no interest...