Blog

FREE LIVE ZOOM WEBINAR AND Q+A! WITH DARRELL HAMMOND, DIRECTOR MICHELLE ESRICK and TRAUMA EXPERT, BESSEL van der KOLK, MD. MODERATED BY JANE STEVENS, FOUNDER OF ACES CONNECTION Hosted by ACES Connection Monday May 4th following opening weekend on NETFLIX at 4pm PST / 5p MT / 6p CT / 7pm EDT A virtual conversation to connect with our Cracked Up community about the lifelong impact of childhood trauma, especially now during coronavirus lockdown-social distancing-isolation which can trigger...

Photo: Marlo Nash with her grandfather, Grandpa Johnny In 1918, my grandfather lost both of his parents to the Spanish flu within a week of each other. He was seven when his mother died, had his 8 th birthday the following week, then lost his father. Grandpa Johnny was separated from his three siblings and placed into the abusive home of a relative. At age 12, he escaped to live on the streets until he found his own placement with a couple as their house servant. The most he ever said about...

By Paul Diperna, EdChoice, April 21, 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting all of our lives in unique ways. Our team has been adapting some of our work to be more responsive to the extraordinary times we are living in right now. One of our goals is to inform policymakers, stakeholders and the public about school choice programs and to better understand choice in the larger context of American K–12 education. That context has gone through a seismic shift during recent months. In partnership...

By The Children's Movement of California, April 28, 2020 By now, every single household across the country should have received multiple mailers with instructions on how to fill out the 2020 Census. Many community organizations are grappling with how to engage members and families as on-the-ground, door-to-door outreach and engagement strategies -- that have proven to be effective in the past – have been halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic at least until the end of May. Phone calls, text...

By Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, April 29, 2020 In the midst of a global pandemic, pediatricians are serving a unique role. While the coronavirus is generally showing milder effects on babies and children than on adults, there are still health concerns and considerations for infants in need of scheduled vaccinations, and kids who are home all day with parents who may be facing stressful situations. In the second episode of our special COVID-19 series of The Brain...

In the month of November, we have concentrated on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and how they are formed, plus how they impact the lives of those who are diagnosed with them. We’ve seen how both diagnoses differ, who is impacted, and what are some of the causes for their existence in people’s lives. This article will concentrate on the progress that has been made in recent decades to treat both CPTSD and PTSD and how there is hope. Hope-Filled...

Editor’s note: This illustration is a new COVID specific Pair of ACEs tree shown along with the original tree. The post is by Wendy Ellis, DrPH, MPH the Director of the Building Community Resilience Collaborative and Networks at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. It took less than two months for a virus undetectable to the naked eye to lay bare what lies in plain sight — exposing long-standing inequities, driven by social policies that have created...

In a tiny, unexpected moment that I had slowed down enough to be available for, my world tilted a little on its axis. Something inside of me had shifted so that it was able to TAKE IT IN. To receive. To FEEL... This is how we thaw out of freeze or fight and flight states and come more fully back into our lives. Into who we are underneath the layers. This is how we metabolize the intensity of a crisis in the present moment and minimize the chance it will be traumatic,

Transforming Trauma Episode 009: Connection, Community and Transformation During Crisis with NARM Faculty Brad Kammer, Stefanie Klein and Marcia Black What is the relationship between unresolved adverse childhood experiences and the global COVID-19 pandemic? What are the unique challenges those with unresolved early trauma face during this global crisis? How can we all stay emotionally healthy during this time? In this episode, NARM faculty members Brad Kammer, Stefanie Klein and Marcia...

The longer the COVID-Crisis Continues with lock downs for families and individuals the greater the stress and greater the risk. In Livingston, MT our MH community is experimenting with the idea of Drive Thru Support Counseling. We are taking inspiration from the Peanuts character Lucy who had a unique Drive Thru idea. Join us in this panel discussion as together we discuss replicating this idea for your community. Date/Time: May 1, 2020 09:00 AM Mountain Time (US and Canada) Register Here.

The fifth week of the 6-week "Warriors of Hope" event will continue this Sunday night, May 3rd at 8 pm Central Time on "Breaking the Silence with Dr. Gregory Williams" radio program. This 6-week event features six very special guests that will offer their insight on the power of HOPE in their lives and provide encouragement, wisdom and insight on the need for resilience in lives today. This series has resulted in praise from around the world from the listeners that have tuned in. This week's...

By Jenny Gross, The New York Times, April 28, 2020 Each night at dusk, in an otherwise desolate Times Square, hundreds of nurses in blue scrubs gather to board buses that take them to hospitals across New York City. Of the thousands of nurses who have come from other states to shore up New York’s hospitals, more than 4,000 are staying in Midtown Manhattan. During the day, many rest at their hotels, amid darkened Broadway marquees, quiet streets and boarded up shops. At night, they face...