Blog

On days one and two of the 2018 National ACEs Conference attendees were wowed by an excerpt of the stage play, TRIGGER. Written and directed by @DeAngelo Mack and performed by youth actors, Mercy Lagaaia and Alana Smith (pictured with Mack), the play illustrates the emotional and mental trauma experienced by youth. The play premiered in Sacramento in March 2017 and was inspired by Mack's work providing trauma-informed care to youth impacted by violence through the WellSpace...

Friend and trauma-aware health and fitness coach Renee McLaughlin created this 20-minute light stretching and brain-body connecting workout for ACEs Conference 2018 attendees. We shared it this morning in a session hosted by ACEs Connection. Click to join Renee in a series of moves to get your day off to a relaxed but “woke” start, or to wake up anytime you’re feeling stressed or foggy. That Renee says, “you can’t build strength in tense muscles” makes me think of why these moves would be...

There is less fighting among young people in countries where there is a complete ban on all corporal punishment of children, according to a new study of more than 400,000 youth in 88 countries. 2 years ago (Oct 2016) ACEsTooHigh posted "Parenting's troubled history : Why changing family patterns is our most important work" The debate on Banning Corporal Punishment precedes the ACEs movement by at least 20 years, yet receives little attention in our circles. It remains a fundamental element...

L-R Jane Stevens and Michelle Esrick/photo by Donielle Prince Cracked Up , a documentary by filmmaker Michelle Esrick premiering this November in New York City, powerfully documents the personal struggles of comedian and former “Saturday Night Live” actor Darrell Hammond as he struggles with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The film was shown in a private screening at the 2018 National ACEs Conference in San Francisco. It was followed by a Q&A with Esrick and Jane Stevens, founder...

A panel on integrating ACEs into communities at the city, county, and state level was held on October 16 at the 2018 National ACEs Conference in San Francisco. It was followed by a Q&A with the three presenters on the panel and chaired by Gail Kennedy, the community lead for ACEs Connection. Andi Clements, professor and assistant chair of the Psychology Department at East Tennessee State University, described a project to create toolkits for communities to implement ACEs. She partnered...

Rt to left—Adrienne Coopey, DO, Billings Clinic, MT, Lorenzo Lewis, The Confess Project, Little Rock, Ark, and Mendy Spohn, MPH, public health administrator in several counties in Oklahoma ________________________________________________ The three presenters for the “Grassroots Resilience: Rural Communities Tackle ACEs” workshop brought to life the unique challenges of addressing ACEs and trauma in rural communities and shared some valuable lessons for communities of any size. Mendy Spohn, a...

RYSE Center in Richmond, CA was born of out of young people of color (YPOC) organizing to shift the conditions of violence, distress, and dehumanization in which they suffer, survive, succeed, dream, and die. We center the lived experiences of YPOC, we lead with love and sacred rage to cultivate healing and build movement, and we take risks as an essential part of transformation and justice, of liberation. We do this in a physical space that feels safe, welcoming, and affirming; that is...

A analysis from the Berkeley Media Studies Group shows how the news about immigrant family separation, detention, and childhood trauma stands out from reporting on many other public health issues and offers insights for elevating trauma in other types of coverage.

Growing Resilient Communities: Blog Post: Growing Resilient Communities 2.0 Link: Interactive graphic Movie Screenings Blog Post: Hosting a Film Screening to Start or Grow an ACEs Initiative: How-to Guide Parenting with ACEs Flyer: Parenting to Prevent and Heal ACEs Flyer: Understanding ACEs Blog Post: Talking ACEs & Trauma: Favorite Videos Blog Post: How It Feels & How We Heal: Parenting with ACEs Chat Quotes (You Tube, Database, PDFs, Links) Google Doc: Parenting with ACEs Chat...

Where does faith come from or go to almost tidal in the swaying that carries us with it rocked like a baby but no mercy incessant motion. It's a coin flip that sometimes comes up all heads for weeks at a time defying the sunrise and sunset tradition of order. Still, it's wait and see watch and wait and see. When faith returns, it brings the childbirth pains from last year, only vague memories and not stopping anybody. It comes like the lightning bug you've never seen in these parts before...

Kristina started her career working with the homeless population and has now turned her attention to mental health social work and sharing the trauma-informed care message with helping professions through presentations.

A quarter of the world’s population suffer from metabolic syndrome (MetS), a cluster of conditions that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. MetS is particularly common among people of low socioeconomic status (SES). When we examined the relative roles of early-life SES and current SES in explaining MetS risk, we found that low early-life SES contributed to an 83% greater risk of MetS later on. This suggests that MetS health disparities originate in early childhood, and...