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Dr. Ken Epstein has been in the social services sector for nearly four decades and has witnessed firsthand the long-term effects of trauma. As both the son and father of fellow social workers, the work runs in his blood. Now, he’s helping Bay Area health clinics screen for and address childhood trauma through the Resilient Beginnings Collaborative (RBC), led by Center for Care Innovations (CCI) and made possible by Genentech.

Dr Sandy Escobar is transforming healthcare in East Palo Alto, one family at a time.

Family Estrangement is an emotional distancing and cessation of communication between one or more members of a family. It is the breakdown of the support from and to a person who can no longer trust their family to be on their side any longer. Often family estrangement happens when two or more members of a family disagree on the facts on matters such as in the case of childhood trauma.

By Carol Quash, Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, January 12, 2020 One afternoon last term, I was about 50 minutes early picking up my son from school. The school gates were locked and there were a few other parents waiting around. One impatient father, who had not pre-arranged to take his child out of school early, was giving the female security guard a really hard time because she refused to open the gates until 15 minutes before the dismissal bell rang, as were her instructions by the...

In just over 30 days, the Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Conference #TSS2020ATN will open its doors at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, GA to 2,000 educators from across the United States and countries around the world. Hosted by the Attachment & Trauma Network, #TSS2020ATN features 120 workshops, 16 deep dives and three dynamic keynotes. In addition to hearing from Dr. Robert Anda, co-founding investigator on the ACEs study; Dr. Ross Greene, originator of the Collaborative &...

By Justin Dennis, Mahoning Matters, January 10, 2020 Work being done now by Mahoning County officials and a long list of local partners could fundamentally change the county’s approach to behavioral therapy, addiction recovery and juvenile justice. County Juvenile Court Judge Theresa Dellick and Duane Piccrilli, executive director of the county’s Mental Health and Recovery Board, want to create a “trauma-competent” community. That means teaching social workers, educators, civic officials and...

By TCR Staff, The Crime Report, January 10, 2020 Risk factors for addiction continue to complicate efforts by the formerly incarcerated to re-enter civil society, says former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey. In an op ed for the Star-Ledger, McGreevey said statistics showing that many of New Jersey’s 7,000 formerly incarcerated participants were exposed to childhood trauma, chaos and violence were “staggering.” “As a result, they have terribly shameful self-images, limited impulse control,...

By Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, January 6, 2020 The purpose of this survey was to better understand the different experiences of Americans across all income groups. While income inequality increases, a survey done by NPR, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds that the life experiences of Americans differ drastically across income groups. Life Experiences and Income Inequality in the United...

By Jim Robbins, Yale Environment 360, January 9, 2020 How long does it take to get a dose of nature high enough to make people say they feel healthy and have a strong sense of well-being? Precisely 120 minutes. In a study of 20,000 people, a team led by Mathew White of the European Centre for Environment & Human Health at the University of Exeter, found that people who spent two hours a week in green spaces — local parks or other natural environments, either all at once or spaced over...

By Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker, January, 2020 Michael and Angela have just turned fifty-five. They know two people who have died in the past few years—one from cancer, another in a car accident. It occurs to them that they should make a plan for their kids. They have some money in the bank. Suppose they were both killed in a plane crash—what would happen to it? They have four children, who range in age from their late teens to their late twenties. Chloe, the oldest, is a math wiz with a...

By George Stockero, The Daily Mining Gazette, January 11, 2020 What is stress? We often think of stress as a negative construct, but some stress is normal and essential. Other stress can be tolerable. Toxic stress, however, can occur as a result of strong, frequent, or long lasting events and can cross into the realm of trauma. Trauma can actually cause impairment to brain functioning and our immune systems. When we experience trauma, our brains can divert energy from the higher level...

By Ghada Majadle, +972 Magazine, January 9, 2020 Fewer children from Gaza were separated from their parents when receiving treatment outside the strip in 2019 than in the previous year, according to statistics by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military body responsible for administering the occupation and blockade. This appears to be an improvement, but what the data fails to show is the anxiety and trauma inflicted on these children and...