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Cultivate Mattering with Maine Youth

We are just a few days away from our 2020 National Community Leadership Summit. And we are almost at capacity. I feel so proud of the amazing speakers who have come together to make this a truly honest and powerful series of conversations. We have many panels on structural racism and racial trauma and racial justice and childhood wellbeing that I think the ACEs community would really value. We have many speakers of color and several speakers representing Indigenous communities. Our Future,...

A recent report – FOCUSING THE LENS: Language and framing related to the experience of adversity in childhood -- challenges ACEsConnection members and Communities to join an “an inclusive and deliberate process of field-building” and a collective reappraisal of the language we employ to describe childhood adversity.

The election is upon us. In two short weeks, we voters in this country decide who will lead us for the next four years. We have the opportunity to embrace — as a national priority — the tenets of understanding, nurturing and healing that underlie the science of adverse childhood experiences and move in a direction that embraces cultural and racial equity and anti-racism. Or not. What is clear is that no matter what, the ACEs movement will continue.

The news of Jamie Redford’s untimely death at age 58 is a reminder of how impermanent we each are in the universe, yet an equal reminder of the value and gifts we each bring to the world. Jamie brought many gifts to us and to the world through his documentary films, his love of nature, and his ties to family and friends. I had the privilege to meet Jamie Redford. He visited Walla Walla in 2012 on the recommendation of Jane Stevens, ACEs Connection Founder. As Jane explained, Jamie had asked...

Many of us are well into week eight of virtual learning. Others are sustaining a fully-in-person model with social distancing, or a hybrid somewhere in-between. Still others have begun the semester one way, only to abruptly have to change course. Sure, we’ve had victories along the way. We’ve faced challenges and have learned valuable lessons. But the thing I hear most often from educators are concerns regarding student engagement–especially in virtual learning. Educators lament that...

In this extended "How to talk policy and influence people" interview with Christine "Cissy" White, a writer (see healwritenow.com), mom, trauma survivor (including child sexual abuse) and staff member of Aces Connection, we discuss the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) science and the importance of attachment and a felt sense of safety for health and human flourishing. We explore some criticisms of the ACEs framework, the benefits and risks of ACEs screening and problems with the concept...

Children who experience betrayal trauma in their family-of-origin may struggle to form deep, intimate relationships due to an inability to form healthy, secure attachments and past experiences of having their trust betrayed. Alternatively, they may find themselves in abusive relationships as an adult, unconsciously recreating their painful childhood experiences...

Mental health experts offer advice on how to handle the return to indoor life the cooler weather will bring. Abby Guido is dreading the winter. The cold will force her family back into the same kind of lockdown they faced in the early days of the pandemic. “It’s constantly on my mind,” said Ms. Guido, 41, an assistant professor of graphic and interactive design at Temple University. Ms. Guido’s husband, Chris, has lymphoma, so the family needs to be particularly careful. He’s in remission,...

The third annual gathering of Minnesota ACEs collaboratives—“Growing Resilient Communities: Collaboratives Addressing ACEs”—began with a sober recitation of inequities: We acknowledge that the wealth of this country was built on stolen land and with enslaved and underpaid labor of African American, Native, and Immigrant people…We acknowledge that the recent global uprising, which was sparked by the murder of George Floyd right here in Minnesota, paired with the COVID-19 pandemic, makes for a...

As the Minnesota trainers expected—and welcomed—the ACE trainings in tribal settings lasted for hours: multiple generations of people from the White Earth and Fond du Lac communities gathering around simmering Crock-Pots of food, sharing stories, standing in line to talk with the trainers afterward. Once, a White Earth elder was the only person to show up for a presentation, recalls Linsey McMurrin, Director of Prevention Initiatives and Tribal Projects for FamilyWise Services , the...

Join us for a deep dive into Tian Dayton's book Emotional Sobriety. We will utilize both the book and workbook - available online for ordering - for this long-term Continuum of Care series. Starting in November 2020 , we will read one chapter a month. TLOEP Founder, Licensed Mental Health Therapist, and Subject Matter Expert, Alfred White, will lead us in discussion asynchronously on our Facebook TLOEP Book Club group and in once-a-month live conversations. You can expect to experience a...