Diet and nutrition can be a powerful tool to influence change in both the body and brain of a child and/or family member experiencing trauma—but it is rarely used. Join the Family Trauma Institute for this free webinar on trauma and nutrition.
The Drug Endangered Children’s Initiative in Plymouth County, Massachusetts is now accepting referrals to help children impacted by the opioid crisis. Children who live in a home where a parent, sibling or other family member struggles with addiction are likely experiencing trauma. Grandparents increasingly find themselves raising grandchildren, and some children end up in the foster care system. The DEC Initiative seeks to help those families. The Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office...
By Bella DePaulo, PsychCentral, July 16, 2019 Mention single parents and someone will immediately claim that their children are doomed. They will insist that they have scientific evidence on their side. Often, these people don’t really understand how to interpret scientific findings because they’ve had no training. Sometimes, though, the people making such claims are fully grown researchers who should know better. I have been studying the research on the children of single parents ever since...
By Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, August 9, 2019 The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize elevates the compelling stories of community members throughout the country who are working together in new ways so that everyone can live their healthiest life possible, regardless of who they are or how much money they make. A Culture of Health recognizes that where we live—such as our access to affordable homes, quality schools, and reliable transportation—affects how long and how...
By Nomin Ujiyediin, KCUR, August 5, 2019 Susan Haynes used to have panic attacks seven times a day. Sometimes, she would fall out of her chair. Sometimes, she would stop breathing. “I could just fall down, just collapse and look like I was having a seizure or stroke,” she said. “It was pretty scary.” For years, Haynes has struggled with the effects of trauma from a divorce, childhood abuse and a death in the family. She has taken medication and tried therapy to manage her debilitating...
Melinda Coates experienced a tumultuous pregnancy. “I was really mentally upset literally from day one (of the pregnancy),” she says. (Melinda Coates is a pseudonym. To protect her and her children’s privacy and safety, we are not using her real name.) Coates had hoped to get counseling last October, when she was seven months pregnant. That’s when she enrolled in the state’s Medi-Cal program, shortly after she and her abusive husband moved to California, “but nobody was able to get me in...
Stage screenings, educational roundtables and panel discussions featuring knowledgeable professionals for your community. Partner with KPJR FILMS for a screening of RESILIENCE and companion film PAPER TIGERS in the classroom, or facilitate a school-wide event to spotlight mental health awareness, trauma-informed practice, and provide Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs) resources to students, parents, faculty and the community. To purchase, please use the 25% discount code at checkout below...
"Everytime I talk to a person suffering from PTSD, including depression, anxiety, addiction, and other mental health challenges, I try to find out what happened, not what is wrong. "
New book on Science and Secrets of Ending Violent crime uses the best evidence available to conclude that the US has the knowledge to dramatically reduce violent crime. It shows to how to persuade the public and politicians to make a major shift from mass incarceration to smart investments in proven ¨upstream¨ solutions before crime happens. Action would save thousands of lives, avoid unnecessary trauma and protect women and children.
I’ve accomplished a lot in my life. But deep inside, I feared I was merely impersonating a normal woman. Here’s how the greatest impersonator in SNL history helped me accept myself — trauma and all.
By K. Hecht, P. Berman & A. Hosack I still don’t want to talk about my mean dad. No one can make me talk about him. Davy is sitting at the small table with crayons again. His mom and Dr. Berman are sitting on each side of him. In the middle of the table is the totally black scary thing Davy and his mommy drew yesterday. Davy cried a lot yesterday and was able to avoid talking about his daddy. But now they are back. His mommy has that firm look on her face- that’s the face that means he...
The Failure of Functionalism The current service model that has been employed by mental health systems can best be described as “functionalism,” a term generally employed in medical sociology to denote a service model that views illness or disability as a deviance that must be corrected. The individual is subsumed beneath the disability category and her/his ability to “model” what is “normal” becomes the standard for service delivery and individual assessment. Mental health services have...
By Kevin Sullivan, Valerie Strauss and Emily Davies, The Washington Post, August 6, 2019 Connor Betts, 24, who shot and killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio, before police killed him, was a deeply troubled young man. He had a history of violence against girlfriends and fantasized about murder, keeping a “hit list” of people he wanted to target. High school classmates said that school officials were aware of his behavior years ago, and that as a freshman, he was missing from school for months...
By Jack Healy and Julie Bosman, The New York Times, August 8, 2019 David Morrison carries the scars of Ferguson’s upheaval. A veteran protester, he has fled gunshots and tear gas, marched, waved signs and played dead on the asphalt in years of activism that unspooled after a white police officer killed an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown. “I’m so angry!” he shouts. He is 7 years old. This is the inheritance of Ferguson’s children. Five years after they lay in bed listening to...
By Wendy Sawyer, Witness LA, July 30, 2019 Given the dramatic growth of women’s incarceration in recent years, it’s concerning how little attention and how few resources have been directed to meeting the reentry needs of justice-involved women. After all, we know that women have different pathways to incarceration than men, and distinct needs, including the treatment of past trauma and substance use disorders, and more broadly, escaping poverty and meeting the needs of their children and...