Blog

By Judith Graham, Kaiser Health News, October 7, 2020 Older adults are especially vulnerable physically during the coronavirus pandemic. But they’re also notably resilient psychologically, calling upon a lifetime of experience and perspective to help them through difficult times. New research calls attention to this little-remarked-upon resilience as well as significant challenges for older adults as the pandemic stretches on. It shows that many seniors have changed behaviors — reaching out...

By Kelly Bauer, Block Club Chicago, October 6, 2020 The city is giving $8 million in grants to 32 community-based organizations to expand mental health care in parts of Chicago where it’s needed most. Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Dr. Allison Arwady, head of the Chicago Department of Public Health, announced the annual grants during a Tuesday news conference, saying the 32 centers getting the funding will work with city clinics to expand care to uninsured people and create more trauma-informed...

By Isaac Bailey, Center for Health Journalism, October 5, 2020 I’m only now coming to grips with what it has meant to my soul – and my body – to have been born Black in the Deep South in the shadow of Jim Crow and raise my kids during the era of Donald Trump. I’m one of the fortunate ones because I’ve survived to tell my own story and lived long enough to see science begin to answer questions that have long lingered in my brain. In this excerpt from “Why We Didn’t Riot: A Black Man in...

“Your junk journal is a place just for you,” I tell my Junk Journaling for Resilience (JJ4R) students, “and every part of you belongs here.” This emphasis on building a place of self-belonging is vitally important when we engage in artistic practices as healing practices. In a sense, cultivating self-belonging is one of the key things that makes this JJ4R practice resilience-building.

Consider enrolling in this course on Trauma Anniversaries at Rutgers Graduate School of Social Work, Dec. 9 online from 9 --12. See link to learn about course + registration. $60. https://ssw-web.rutgers.edu/ssw/ce/index.php?m=cart&cid=7851&add . In addition to social workers, this will be a valuable course for school psychologists, educators, HR personnel, among others. The point is that many anniversaries are coming up and the prior traditions for dealing with anniversaries have...

What does a viral social media story of an exotic dancer in the 1960s have to do with the health and well-being of Black children today? A recent series of posts on the Instagram account “Humans of New York” detail Tanqueray, nee Stephanie, a septuagenarian, bedazzled, faux mink–adorned spitfire and the scandalous tales of her childhood and life as a Black burlesque dancer in mid-century New York City . On the surface these stories are entertaining. However, as a pediatrician in Chicago,...

Excelerator: A Community in Action is the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities brand new, reimagined fall experience for learning, networking, and entertainment, starting October 19. This is a completely virtual experience that will provide a space for exchanging ideas, collaborating on solutions, and of course, having fun. Explore the program to discover courses and events that will be available through the online, interactive community, VeloCity. Here, participants will come...

Cowart Trauma Informed Partnership launches a new course for educators seeking to implement a trauma-informed approach. Register now. Course starts October 17, 2020!

View the full documentary for free on 10/13. "How Many ACEs Are You Holding?" Go to www.cope24.com for the rental code. Here is the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DncG576OGv4&t=108s

AG Grewal and Education Commissioner Dehmer Announce Statewide “Handle With Care” Program to Protect Children Who Experience Traumatic Events AG Showcases Program in Videos with Middle Township Police Chief Christopher Leusner and Special Agent in Charge Susan Gibson of DEA’s NJ Division, Who Pioneered Program in State Click here for videos TRENTON – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and Interim Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer today announced a new Statewide “Handle With Care” Program to...

By Emma Seppälä, Christina Bradley, and Michael R. Goldstein, Harvard Business Review, September 29, 2020 When U.S. Marine Corp Officer Jake D.’s vehicle drove over an explosive device in Afghanistan, he looked down to see his legs almost completely severed below the knee. At that moment, he remembered a breathing exercise he had learned in a book for young officers. Thanks to that exercise, he was able to stay calm enough to check on his men, give orders to call for help, tourniquet his own...

By Melissa Pandika, Mic, September 30, 2020 “You can see — the sky,” my dad said with boyish wonder in his voice when my family and I moved to California from New York City nearly 25 years ago. He later developed a habit of reclining on the diving board that hovered above the kidney-shaped swimming pool behind our house outside San Francisco, marveling at the expanse overhead, uninterrupted by buildings and utterly blue. I’d shrug off his awe, preoccupied with what I considered more pressing...