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The Attachment & Trauma Network is excited to announce that REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for our 2021 Virtual Creating Trauma Sensitive Schools Conference. The Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Conference is designed primarily for educators to learn the strategies and implementation of trauma-informed practices in education. Parents and other people working closely with traumatized children will find many of the workshops helpful. All who are concerned about helping to address the needs of...

To make it through these times, personally and collectively, we need to connect with what brings us alive and delight in it. Come have weekly playdates with your Inner Artist. My Inner Artist can't wait to meet yours!

For a long time, bullying was seen as a rite of passage. It built character and was purported to toughen kids up. A stereotypical belief that a victim has asked for it or done something to provoke the aggressor was prevalent. Children were also led to believe that they’re being bullied because they deserved it, often internalizing this emotion in the process. Society has changed and is constantly evolving. Bullying is no longer an expected or normalized behavior, and it should not be...

Why "Don't cry, be brave" Can Backfire You may hear parents tell their children not to cry during stressful moments in the visit. Parents are often embarrassed that their child is upset, and feel pressure to get them to stop crying. In those instances, you can label and validate a child's emotions and let the parents know that it is OK for all feelings to be expressed in your office. You can say, "It's OK if you cry, I cry when I am scared too. You can sit on your mommy's lap and I will tell...

By Zhawin Gonzalez (compiled by Chloe Yang), 9/30/20, positiveexperience.org/blog HOPE knows that all families, communities, and cultures have inherent strengths. In recent webinars with The Montana Institute , we’ve learned real world examples of this from co-presenters at the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center (MIWRC) . Zhawin Gonzalez, or Wasegabo, is the MIWRC Education and Resource Coordinator. In this blog post, Zhawin shares his insight on the long tradition of positive...

COVID-19 is a devilishly versatile disease, attacking all manner of body systems and doing all manner of damage—to the lungs, the heart, the liver, the kidneys. Though it doesn’t attack the mind directly, the pandemic the virus has caused has been devastating to mental health, and in many cases, the most vulnerable group is women. In a new study conducted by CARE , a non-profit international aid organization, investigators have found that while almost nobody is spared from the anxiety, worry...

Experiencing Abuse during the First Presidential Debate

By Nicole Feldman, University of California Irvine, September 18, 2020 Experiencing multiple stressors triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic – such as unemployment – and COVID-19-related media consumption are directly linked to rising acute stress and depressive symptoms across the U.S., according to a groundbreaking University of California, Irvine study. The report appears in Science Advances, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “The pandemic is not hitting...

By Laurie Fickman, University of Houston, September 28, 2020 Long after a COVID-19 vaccination is developed and years after the coronavirus death toll is tallied, the impact on mental health will linger, continuing to inflict damage if not addressed, according to new research. Michael Zvolensky, University of Houston Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished University Professor of Psychology and director of the Anxiety and Health Research Laboratory/Substance Use Treatment Clinic, has...

By Carolyn Jones, EdSource, September 29, 2020 For some students, the fire is only the beginning. The nightmares, the grief and an all-consuming dread can persist for months or even years. That’s what teachers and school employees have observed among students in California’s fire-ravaged areas, especially Sonoma and Butte counties, where deadly wildfires have struck repeatedly in recent years. Now, those school districts are sharing their observations and advice with schools around the West...

By Vanessa Grubbs, California Health Care Foundation, September 25, 2020 Black mothers die in hospitals at nearly four times the rate of White mothers — an appalling disparity that has persisted for decades despite state and national quality improvement initiatives, clinical safety innovations, and technological advances. This disparity persists regardless of patient income, insurance, education, comorbid conditions, or prenatal care. The fact that many clinicians, decisionmakers, and...

By Mark Walker, The New York Times, September 29, 2020 Matalynn Lee Tsosie showed up at the Indian Health Service hospital in Gallup, N.M., one day in April feeling poorly and having trouble breathing. When her coronavirus test came back positive, the hospital gave her a prescription for an inhaler, an oxygen tank and orders to go home and rest. Three days later Ms. Tsosie, a 40-year-old secretary for the local school system, was back at the hospital, this time in dire condition. But the...