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Mental health issues, trauma, abuse and neglect are all commonly linked to substance misuse disorder. Drugs and alcohol are used to self-medicate for a variety of reasons. They are used to cope with guilt and shame. They are also used as a means to mask hidden pain, fears and insecurities as a result of trauma. So how does one move forward with their life after suffering any form of traumatic event? More importantly, how does one move forward without relying on substances? The simple answer...

Addressing Indirect Trauma by Caring for the Caregivers Sat, 05 Oct 2019 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. EST Case Western Reserve University’s Tinkham Veale Ballroom 11038 Bellflower Rd, Cleveland, OH 44106 The Center on Trauma and Adversity will host the 2nd Annual Expanding the Toolkit: Trauma-Informed Practice Institute on October 5, 2019 at Case Western Reserve University’s Tinkham Veale University Center Ballroom. The focus of this year’s institute is on indirect trauma with keynote speakers:...

I thoroughly enjoyed sitting down with Jen Johnson to discuss the gifts contained in mindfulness practice, her counseling services as well as her coaching work with clients all over the world, her photography and writing outlets, along with sharing pieces of her own healing journey with us.

California Child Welfare Co-Investment Partnership, Summer 2019. For child welfare stakeholders, the concept that children and their families come into our systems bearing the burden of traumatic experiences associated with neglect and abuse is not new. What has evolved over the last couple of decades is the science of ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and understanding of the long-term physical and behavioral health consequences and high societal costs. A landmark study , and the many...

Benedict Carey, NY Times, May 31, 2019. The debate over screen time is typically accompanied by a good deal of finger-wagging: The digital experience is a ruinous habit, akin to binge-eating curly fries, gambling on cock fights or drinking whiskey with breakfast. Meanwhile, social scientists who are trying to study the actual psychological effects of screen time are left in a bind. For one thing, good luck finding a “control group” of people living the nondigital life or anything close to...

Beth Connolly, Pew Trusts, June 3, 2019. June marks National Men’s Health Month, an opportunity to examine the prevalence of drug misuse and substance use disorders (SUDs) in men. Compared to women, men are more likely to engage in illicit drug use and to begin using alcohol or drugs at a younger age. These risk factors contribute to a rate of substance dependence in men that is twice that of women; men are also more likely to experience an opioid overdose . In fact, of the 47,600...

Sophie Kasakove, Pacific Standard, June 3, 2019. Louisiana's coastline is disappearing at a rapid rate: Every hour-and-a-half, the state sheds another football field's worth of land, the oft-repeated statistic goes. But it's not just land that coastal areas of the state are losing. Between 2000 and 2010, parishes that were hit hardest by storms saw massive decreases in population—St. Bernard Parish, just east of New Orleans, for one, lost 46 percent of its residents—leaving those who stay to...

Hansi Lo Wang, NPR, June 4, 2019. Challenges threatening the upcoming 2020 census could risk more than 4 million people to be missing from next year's national head count, according to new projections by the Urban Institute . The nonpartisan think tank found that the danger of an inaccurate census could hit some of the country's most difficult-to-count populations the hardest. Based on the Urban Institute's analysis, the 2020 census could lead to the worst undercount of black and Latinx...

Students start each day with meditation During her first year as principal of Suisun Elementary in Suisun City, Calif., in 2014 Ann Marie Neubert suspended 102 students — out of a student population of 550 —for disrupting their classes. It was a serious problem, but the school’s teachers didn’t know what to do. “[Teachers] felt like they were using all the tools in their toolbox and it wasn’t changing behavior,” she recalls. Ann Marie Neubert Too many students were spending too much time out...

Finding the Missing ACEs : The ACEs research by Drs. Felitti, Anda and colleagues has spawned a growing and influential social movement on behalf of trauma-informed practices and institutions. However, the ACEs research misses entirely the social contexts of households such as extreme poverty and racism that can themselves create toxic stress. Broader measures of adversity can provide a more accurate picture of the varying likelihood of toxic stress among children in differ by race, class...

Good News! First 5 of Contra Costa County and Tehama County Department of Education are considering purchasing sets of our parenting norms bumper stickers. Visit advancingparenting.org.

I remain forever grateful that my long felt and seeming innate knowledge ( actually garnered from personal experience, work with traumatised animals and people ) has been evidenced and validated by the amazing work of Vincent Felitti and Robert Anda. They created the peg I, we, can hang our experience and expertise on and work to best apply our skills to assist others. With ACEs I am now able to communicate my knowledge with clients, colleagues and communities with the additional confidence...