Blog

By Shayne Rodriguez Thompson, Photo: wikimedia/WhiteHouse.gov, HipLATINA, January 28, 2022 The ever-inspiring Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor , just released her fourth children’s book earlier this week, J ust Help! How to Build a Better World , inspired by her beloved mom. Sonia credits her with instilling an attitude of positivity and optimism in her. Celina Báez Sotomayor died in July 2021 of cancer at 93 years old and following the loss Sonia was inspired to write this book to...

By Anton C. Bizzell, Photo: Unsplash, Psychology Today, January 26, 2022 The COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on individuals and groups around the world, from frontline health care professionals to service workers to the elderly to entire families decimated by the virus. However, there is a large, traumatized cohort that requires more attention : our youth. How do we help young people cope with the upheaval in their lives due to the coronavirus , on top of the many other traumas...

By Jakob Rodgers, Photo: Robert So/Pexels, The Mercury News, January 31, 2022 California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who three years ago placed a moratorium on executions, is moving to dismantle the United States’ largest death row by moving all condemned inmates to other prisons within two years. The goal is to turn the section at San Quentin State Prison into a “positive, healing environment.” Newsom said Monday it’s an outgrowth of his opposition to what he believes is a deeply flawed system, one...

Date: 5th of February Time: 7-9 pm CET Location: online via Zoom There are still 2 seats (for) free for a very practical workshop in Honest Sharing. More about Honest Sharing you can read here: https://www.pacesconnection.com/blog/self-regulation-by-honest-sharing-worldwide This 2 hours workshop is for Honest Sharing newbies. People who are interested in authentic contact and healing of one’s nervous system and an increased capacity and self regulation. Agenda: 4 participants Everybody gets...

By Kenyon Lee Whitman, Photo: Unsplash, The Imprint, January 27, 2022 O ur existing responses to children and families impacted by the child welfare system falls short in supporting them while children are in foster care, and more certainly after they leave. The Transitional Housing Program (THP), the Chafee Grant, and extended foster care programs, to name a few, are great and help to reduce houselessnes and increase college access. What is lacking are policies that address equitable access...

By Caroline Dooner, Photo: Tetra Images/Alamy, The Guardian, February 1, 2022 A few years ago, I found myself really burnt out. Well, at the time, I wasn’t actually sure that’s what it was. At first “burnout” seemed like a dramatic way to describe what I was experiencing. But I was really, really tired. I was struggling to motivate myself and looking at my calendar starting filling me with a sort of low-grade dread. But the confusing part for me was that on the surface there wasn’t any...

By Meg Shaw, Image: news5cleveland.com, News 5 Cleveland, January 27, 2022 Adverse childhood experiences, also known as ACEs, are traumatic events that can have a lasting or negative impact on a child. According to the CDC , roughly 60% of adults surveyed across 25 states reported having experienced at least one type of ACE. And nearly 1 in 6 reported they had experienced four or more types of ACEs. Some examples include: living with someone who has an alcohol or a drug problem, emotional,...

By Katrin Bennhold, Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images, The New York Times, January 20, 2022 On Jan. 20, 1942, 15 high-ranking officials of the Nazi bureaucracy met in a villa on Lake Wannsee on the western edge of Berlin. Nibbles were served and washed down with cognac. There was only one point on the agenda: “The organizational, logistical and material steps for a final solution of the Jewish question in Europe.” Planning the Holocaust took all of 90 minutes. Eighty years after the infamous...

By Charles Fain Lehman, Images: AP/Reuters/GettyImages, The Wall Street Journal, January 30, 2022 Amid a spate of high-profile crimes, including the murder of two New York City police officers, Mayor Eric Adams debuted a plan to “end gun violence ” and restore order. Part of the proposal is what he calls an “unprecedented” expansion of New York’s summer jobs program, creating jobs for up to 250,000 young New Yorkers. While some may deride such programs as soft on crime, the Adams plan is...

One of the common statistics we hear often from the American Institute of Stress is, how many of our visits to a physician are stress related. Research says 75 to 90% of all the physical stuff we go to the doctor for is rooted in stress. We had already become numb to stress signals in pre-pandemic times. The constant rates of change and uncertainty have disconnected us even further from the signals our body is sending. Not listening, sets us up for doctor visits, costly testing, and dis-ease...

By Dr. Stephanie Irby Coard, 2/1/22, https://positiveexperience.org/category/blog/ Dr. Stephanie Irby Coard, joins HOPE’s Director of Training and Technical Assistance, Amanda Winn, for the first vlog in our new series, HOPE Block by Block. We are kicking off our series by highlighting the impactful work of Black practitioners, scholars, researchers, and community activists during the month of February. In this first episode, Dr. Coard will address the building block of emotional growth,...

This is the second of two stunning illustrations showing how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) affected the family of Cendie Stanford, founder of the nonprofit ACEs Matter. Each leaf represents a family member affected by ACEs, and the health consequences they suffered. When Cendie Stanford, founder and president of ACEs Matter , finished drawing “My ACEs Tree—Genealogy” —she saw clearly the remarkable number of ACEs her grandparents, parents, children and extended family had experienced.