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“People have a lot more compassion for children than they do for grown women.” This is what Rachel Wisniewski had in mind when she began photographing people victimized by sexual misconduct. Inspired by the Harvey Weinstein rape allegations that exploded into the national consciousness a year ago, Wisniewski, who is 24 years old and based in Philadelphia, documented survivors outside of the high-profile Hollywood cases. For Wisniewski, #MeToo was an opportunity to document the millions of...

Many blog readers know that my niece Carly is a survivor of the Parkland shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. You may know that my father also survived a mass murder, and like Carly, hid in a closet until the police arrived. Almost 70 years separated the two tragedies. Our guest blogger this week is my sister Merri, Carly's mom. Merri shares her first-hand account of what happened the afternoon of February 14, 2018, when Carly sent this text, “Mom don’t freak out but we are on...

Organized hate groups span all geographic areas of the United States, from White nationalists in Washington state to neo-Nazis in Alabama to radical traditionalist Catholics in New Hampshire. While persecution of classes of people happens everywhere, the drivers that push people to join hate groups are unique to specific places. In this way, hatred can be a study in geography as much as anything else. A new model tracking organized hate groups upends a long-held, simplistic view of the...

As a psychologist, my specialties for the last thirty three years have been working with adult children of addicts, addiction and relational trauma/PTSD. I have worked with countless cases of sexual abuse.I have discussed these subjects in several of the twelve books that I have published and in numerous articles. I have given support to hundreds and hundreds of clients, both women and men, in working through sexual abuse in various forms. I have never, until today, written a word about...

Fred Rogers, in his 1969 testimony before the Senate subcommittee on communications in defense of public television, transforms a clearly skeptical Senator Pastore from, "Alright Rogers you've got the floor" to, "Looks like you just earned the 20 million dollars." How does he accomplish this transformation? One line from Senator Pastore gives us some insight. Several minutes into Mr. Rogers testimony he says, "This is the first time I've had goosebumps in the last two days," to which Rogers...

Gov. Jerry Brown has rejected a bill that would have given survivors of childhood sexual assault in California more time to file suits against those who could have stopped their abuse. The bill, written by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego), would have allowed victims to file abuse claims until they are 40 years old. It also would have permitted those who have repressed memories of abuse to sue within five years of unearthing the cause of their trauma. On Monday, victims...

In 2008, the District of Columbia passed the Pre-K Enhancement and Expansion Act , which sought to make free, full-day, high-quality preschool available to all three- and four-year-olds in the district. The preschools run on roughly the same schedule as the city's elementary schools, and teachers are paid salaries on par with the city's elementary teachers. Today, approximately 90 percent of the district's four-year-olds and 70 percent of the district's three-year-olds attend public...

You might assume that how you view yourself affects your mental health — now, and in the future. If you have a negative sense of your worth, low self-esteem , or a sense of victimhood, it can be hard to see your own role in that self-image ; and how it's been shaped by early trauma or harmful life experiences. That can make it more difficult to build greater mental health and well-being. On the other hand, if you have a strong sense of your value and "presence" in the world, and strong self-...

1. WHO? 
 Those who believe every child deserves to grow up safe, healthy and empowered to succeed in school. 2. SAYS WHAT? 
 Our students and families are traumatized. They need family-friendly services to survive, heal and thrive. We need a strategic plan at the state, county, city and school board levels to prevent and treat high rates of ACEs and trauma. We must look at the root causes of ACEs in order to make measurable and meaningful progress. 3. TO WHOM? School board members and...

If you are one of the millions of adults who grew up affected by traumatic experiences during your childhood, you may have tried therapies that promised to help you calm your emotions, change your thinking, and respond to stress like normal people do. But chances are, you're still affected by past trauma. Things like abuse, neglect, and exposure to parental addiction can and do impact the brain and nervous system. This in turn can can trigger problems ranging from ADHD to depression to...

Current events this week are extremely triggering and traumatic for many. Here are a few tips from a trauma psychotherapist.

Whenever I hear a new accusation against Brett Kavanaugh , I know that my next few days at work are going to be especially rough. I’m a therapist who treats many victims of sexual abuse, and since the Kavanaugh sexual assault allegations have exploded, I know each new story will lead to a call or text begging for an emergency session by a re-traumatized patient. (Kavanaugh denies the allegations.) Studies conducted by the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center Medical...