Blog

Change Your World is the newest addition to the body of resources on Resilience. It has been written by Michael Ungar, PhD - one of the most informed voices in resilience research. Although the reviewer was skeptical leading up to reading the book, expecting more victim blaming, which is often the predominant theme of resilience promotion, she was pleasantly surprised. She now recommends this book to everyone interested in learning how to build a healthier humanity.

While working through the book My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem, I recorded my thoughts and questions about White Fragility and my embodiment of it. I'm still cleansing from centuries of trauma from my own ancestors, and disrobing from the lies my cells have been steeped in. This is deep work. This record captures my process at one juncture.

By Roshan Abraham, Pacific Standard, July 8, 2019. Solange Knowles, when asked about her song "Cranes in the Sky" by her sister Beyoncé for a 2017 feature in Interview , said the lyrics had been a response to luxury construction in her then-home of Miami. She felt the buildings kept ascending, without solving the social problems of the world below. Solange told her sister the song was about "this idea of building up, up, up that was going on in our country at the time, all of this excessive...

By Matt Pierce, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, July 12, 2018. Although smoking rates have dropped by more than half over the past 50-plus years, tobacco use remains the number one cause of preventable deaths in the United States. And not everyone has benefited equally from reduced rates in smoking—there are deep disparities in tobacco use and quit rates, depending on where people live, how much money they make, and the color of their skin. Tobacco products disproportionately harm people...

By Nadine Burke Harris, Washington Post, July 11, 2019. Nadine Burke Harris is the surgeon general of California. Children in dirty clothes who haven’t been bathed in days. Eight-year-olds caring for toddlers out of necessity. Kids deprived of the safe, stable and nurturing care that’s fundamental to their health and well-being. As a pediatrician who has spent my career working to address childhood trauma, I’ve unfortunately seen it all. And I’ve had to make my share of reports to Child...

Resiliency is defined as the ability to bounce back from stressful events we encounter in life. When something we encounter is so overwhelming to us that we become stuck in it, that is one definition of trauma. Resiliency can be viewed as the antidote to trauma. In fact, when we effectively process trauma we have experienced, we often come out the other side far more resilient than before. Our nervous systems have a higher stretch capacity, so to speak. How do we help our kids stretch and...

Gail's note: I met Michelle a year ago at a UC Davis Guardians Scholars program meeting and was so impressed with her grace, compassion and intellect. I have stayed in touch with her and learned that she was the commencement speaker for the UC Davis undergraduating class of 2019. Read more about Michelle and please watch her video. I am honored to stay connected with her as she heads off for her next adventure across the country to graduate school at Univ of Buffalo! And I have already...

Summary: Brain networks are spatially and functionally fluid, and not static, as previously believed. Source: Georgia State University The shape and connectivity of brain networks — discrete areas of the brain that work together to perform complex cognitive tasks — can change in fundamental and recurring ways over time, according to a study led by Georgia State University. The interaction and communication among neurons, known as “functionally connectivity,” gives rise to brain networks.

Brianna Renner had just given birth to her second daughter when she felt herself slipping into postpartum depression. Renner, who served in the Marines Corps for five years, was accustomed to serious life challenges, but her colicky infant’s nonstop tears left her feeling hopeless and alone. So she turned to the mat — her yoga mat, to be precise — and then things turned around. Renner rediscovered her mojo. Renner felt that she’d stumbled across something that could profoundly change the...

Riveting and emotional: The full, first-ever Congressional hearing on “Identifying, Preventing, and Treating Childhood Trauma” by the Oversight Committee chaired by Representative Elijah Cummings. Across the hearing, the story of developmental trauma is well-conveyed and powerful.

@Lisa Cherry and @Tracey Farrell are having conversations so many of us are having as well as related to our personal and professional work and healing. The video is above. I'll share just one quote from each of them that stayed with me so you can get a sense of who they are and what's being discussed. The video about resilience that Tracey Farrell created and that's mentioned in the conversation above is included down below and and here. Lisa's other video...

Newly published article from the Drug Court Review about the importance and efficacy of family-centered skills training as part of the recovery process. For more info about the Celebrating Families program, visit: www.celebratingfamilies.net