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As threats of deportation continue to rattle immigrant communities, advocates and attorneys in the Washington area say they have seen a marked increase in undocumented victims of domestic violence choosing not to pursue legal recourse against their abusers. Many victims are reluctant to even start the legal process, experts say, concerned that police will turn them over to federal immigration authorities or that their partners will retaliate by revealing their immigration status. In a 2018...

By Amy Reid, Santiago Nariño, Hema Magge & Angelina Sassi, Standford Social Innovation Review, June 25, 2019. For more than 25 years, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has used improvement science to advance quality and safety and to sustain better outcomes in health and health systems globally. In particular, IHI understands that quality healthcare is impossible without equity and that racism and white supremacy persist around the world. To illustrate our approach to these...

By Lauren Smith, FSG, June 26, 2019. Everything I have learned in my almost three decades as a pediatrician and public health advocate caring for children and families tells me that what we are doing to migrant children at the border is morally and medically wrong. It goes against all that we know about how children should be treated. It is also not who we aspire to be as a nation. We are and must be better than this. Recent detailed reports of the appalling conditions in the detention...

By Jill Suttie, Greater Good Magazine, June 26, 2019. The World Happiness Report comes out every year, providing some data about how well-being varies from country to country and how it shifts within a country from one year to the next . But what makes some countries happier than others? Dóra Guðmundsdóttir is one of many researchers around the world studying happiness and well-being at the population level. By analyzing large data sets, she has helped to uncover the “epidemiology of...

When I first learned about Adverse Childhood Experiences during my intern year of Family Medicine residency training, it was like a switch had been turned on. My ACE score was high. 9. I poured through the literature, hoping for a way to “heal myself.” I was a healer, after all. And I hadn’t done much intentional work around healing from my incredibly traumatic childhood. As I progressed in my training, the evidence mounted that my background made me different, at the same time that pioneers...

Hi Folks, The latest edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php Here's the scoop on what's shared: Healing the Heart Through the Creative Arts, Education & Advocacy Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health “ Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars”. Kahlil Gibran The Surviving Spirit Newsletter June 2019 Newsletter Contents : Some...

What to do when a six year old climbs out the window of your kindergarten classroom threatening to jump three stories to the concrete below? What do you say to a seven year old girl … with scarred arms that is obviously cutting herself? Kendrea (6) and Gabriel (7) successfully hung themselves a few years ago. They came from different states but suffered the same afflictions . Only one out a hundred very young children are successful in their suicide attempts as it is not easy to do.

Iowa ACEs 360 invited Rev. Kirsten Preachy to Des Moines with goal to learn about the development and future plans of the Chicagoland Network, and discuss opportunities in Central Iowa.

Starting in July, Iowa AEA online learning will have an online module based on the "Stress to Success" curriculum to meet the ACEs and toxic stress requirement.

Hey folks, short read, but well worth it, take care, Michael Skinner The Evolution of Trauma Treatment - https://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/blog/details/1130/the-evolution-of-trauma-treatment “ Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Martin Luther King, Jr. www.mskinnermusic.com - Hope, Healing, & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health - Music, Resources, & Advocacy Live performance of "Joy", "Brush Away Your Tears" & more –...

Thinking about this stack of books I have embarked on reading, I am in awe of the amount of hope flowing through the words printed upon their pages. Books on triumph over trauma, some with flare and adventure, others with baby steps and quiet fortitude; books filled with guidance; books that may trigger yet offer strategies; books from a helper's perspective and others from a survivor's. Books overflowing with hope, healing, help, and happy endings.

Shannon has over 25 years experience working with children in preschool and after school settings. Originally from Boston, Shannon holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology as well as an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. Since moving to Florida in 2000, she has built a career working in the early intervention field with ages 0-5, as well as working with truant teens as a case counselor in child welfare and currently as the Behavior Specialist for the YMCA of the Suncoast.