Blog

By Rich Fernandez and Steph Stern, Harvard Business Review, November 9, 2020 It’s understandable for leaders to get caught up in fear, doubt, and criticism when facing critical business decisions that will have a major impact on lives and livelihoods. But what’s needed in times of uncertainty and disruption is mental clarity, emotional balance, fortitude, and vision. To move from self-doubt and paralysis to clarity and action, you need an often-misunderstood skill: self-compassion. Based on...

By Emma Dill, December 3, 2020, Wilmington Star News. A new resiliency task force aims to make Pender County a stronger and more trauma-informed community. The task force will focus on educating community members and local providers about the lasting impact of childhood traumas. It will also provide training that helps residents recognize and respond to signs of trauma. [ Please click here to read more ]

By Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun, December 4, 2020 An astonishing number of families raising special needs children have been unable to access government respite funding and emergency supports put in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a special report by B.C.’s representative for children and youth. The pandemic has cast a harsh light on a “crisis decades in the making” for families that rely on support for children with lifelong disabilities, neurological conditions and...

By La Quandra S. Nesbitt, Journal of Public Health Management & Practice (January/February 2021), December 2020 As the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States increased, and public reporting of demographic characteristics improved, the stark disparities in COVID-19–related incidence and mortality became evident. 1 While these disparities were alarming to many, for others, they illuminated the unfortunate inequities in health and health care that exist and persist in the United...

By Ahmed Sougueh and Jokho Farah, Stanford Social Innovation Review, December 2020 From balconies in New York City to the National Assembly in Kenya; across Spain, Italy, Turkey, Singapore, India, and many other nations around the world—some of the most inspiring images from the pandemic have shown leaders, celebrities, and everyday people clapping, ringing cowbells, and banging on pots to recognize and give gratitude to the health workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 response. This...

By Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, Los Angeles Times, December 2, 2020 Los Angeles will offer a one-time $800 stipend to employees who work in food service industries, including restaurants, breweries and food stands, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Wednesday. The Secure Emergency Relief for Vulnerable Employees, or SERVE, initiative will give 4,000 workers the cash using money from the nonprofit Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, Garcetti said in an evening briefing. The news comes as the number of...

ACEs Aware Grant Opportunity to Support Trauma-Informed Networks of Care Informational Webinar The informational webinar will be held on December 11, 2020, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Potential applicants are encouraged to submit questions for the webinar via email to info@acesaware.org by Noon on December 7, 2020 . The subject line of the email should read “Network of Care Informational Webinar.” Mark your calendar and join this Zoom link on webinar day. More information about the RFP and the...

Art and Trauma: Creativity As a Resiliency & Healing Factor I have long believed that all of the creative arts are healing. I was drawn to music because it made me feel good, first just listening, then learning to play the drums and then performing in rock bands. Later in life, learning the guitar and singing along with songwriting. Sadly, trauma disconnects so many of us from our creative outlets...finding the ways to reconnect with our creative selves goes a long ways in healing the...

Chloe Yang, 12/3/20, positiveexperience.org/blog Last week, in anticipation of an unprecedented Thanksgiving experience, we published a special holiday blog post . The post was composed of crowdsourced stories, featuring individuals’ efforts to safely create positive experiences during a socially distanced time. Our first story came from Dianna Shaw, a Meals on Wheels volunteer driver in suburban Rhode Island. To recap, Dianna realized she would be the last or only person the seniors on her...

Link to event: https://www.facebook.com/events/170794351383725/?sfnsn=mo

Just how stressed are teachers? A recent Gallup poll found teachers are tied with nurses for the most stressful occupation in America today. Unfortunately, that stress can have a trickle-down effect on their students, leading to disruptive behavior that results in student suspensions. One of those overburdened teachers is Jennifer Lloyd, a high school English teacher in Maryland and a graduate student at the University of Missouri. She has noticed how perceptive her students are to her mood...

It was Pete Walker, an M.A. in psychoanalysis, who first coined the phrase emotional flashback to describe the gut-wrenching experience of reliving the helplessness and dissociation caused by trauma. In his book, Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving , Walker describes many aspects of emotional flashbacks and how the inner critic holds people hostage. I shall be referencing this book throughout this work. In this piece, we shall examine how the inner critic and toxic shame create the...