Blog

Please see the link below for the MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH infographic for social media ACEs Intern/Volunteer, Elizabeth Najmabadi MPH, and myself developed to bring awareness to Perinatal Mental Health. Thank you to all who gave us support and feedback as well as the Perinatal Mental Health Partnership community partners for allowing me to post organizational logos on the flyer to show where maternal mental health services are available for mothers in Sonoma County. Please share with your...

Has anyone seen this video posted on the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine (NICAMB) blog? "According to Dr. Ruth Lanius, a parent's experience of trauma can impact their ability to form a close, intimate relationship with their child." Ruth Buczynski, PhD Those of us Parenting with ACEs sure know that's the truth. Developmental trauma impacts our ability to form close and intimate relationships with ourselves, other adults and our children. The video was...

I'm thrilled to announce our NEW Live Chat series!!! Starting in May, once a month, we will have a live Chat Event. It will take online in the Parenting with ACEs Group the second Tuesday of the month at 10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST). We'll learn from our featured guests (below) about ACE-related issues. We'll have discussions and share experiences, stories, and resources with each other. Here is who and what we have scheduled for 2017. 2017 Monthly Chat Schedule / Time is Always: @ 10 AM PST (1...

With National Mental Health Awareness Month coming up in May, I thought I would share an article that Grace Harris shared with me. With the hopes to better serve the children and families across both human services and mental health services this article helps bring awareness to the importance of maternal well-being. Children of depressed mothers at risk for unintentional injuries | Reuters "Children under age 5 are more likely to accidentally get injured if their mothers are having a...

Back for the second year, Beyond Paper Tigers conference will take place June 28th and 29th in Walla Walla, WA. Featuring Dr. Ken Ginsburg from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia as the keynote speaker, BPT builds on the story of one community and how they've learned that embracing trauma-informed care and implementing ACEs science truly takes a village. Operationalizing the latest in brain science, BPT will provide concrete strategies for intervention with youth, families, and communities...

Elisabeth Corey writes so honestly on her Beating Trauma blog . I'm a huge fan of her writing and advocacy work. This piece, in particular, is amazing. She writes about adult relationships and how they have been impacted deeply and consistently by ACEs in childhood. We know what we have lived. Unlearning and learning new and different things takes time and work. And it helps, that parents like Elisabeth share as they learn. We all benefit from that sharing. Many of us are learning how to...

Given the nature of NICU, the pain of leaving your fragile baby each day, the feelings of emptiness and grief , the uncertainty and ups and downs, the lines, wires, monitors and alarms, not to mention the security buzzers at the entrance of the unit or the constant rigorous hand-washing, it came as no surprise to me that parents who have experienced premature birth are at greater risk of postnatal depression , anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) . You see, more than 40 percent...

Note: So many of us mistakingly believe hormone-related changes in pregnant women are the only cause of depression for new parents. Not so, as many fathers and adoptive parents know. This abstract suggests the following: Hence, facilitating access to vigorous and evidence based treatments is a public health opportunity for improving the quality of life of depressed parents and their children. Evidences emerging from this review actually suggest that the traditional gender-focused approach to...

Note: Parenting with ACEs can present us with extra challenges. Being pregnant, giving birth and breastfeeding can all be difficult for many of us. The stresses all parents experience can be compounded depending on our own emotional and physical well-being and the support we have (emotional, financial, family, community). In addition, we might have to consider thing such as going on, staying on or going off of drugs for some period of time during and following pregnancy. We don't talk a lot...

Note: Allison Morris had dozens of experts in her summit series through Full-Potential Parenting. I took notes only on those by Donna Jackson Nakazawa , Gabe Maté and Sebern Fisher (coming later this month). Though the audios are no longer available, for free, they can be purchased for $100. or less (depending on the year), here. Forgive me for sounding like an advertisement, I don't know Allison personally. I am a huge fan of all parent-led resources and wish I discovered this series...

It’s estimated that one in nine women will deal with postpartum depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . Chrissy Teigen is not the only star to have learned she had the condition: it can really happen to anyone—famous women included. While postpartum depression is a highly-personal experience and not everyone is comfortable speaking out about it, these strong mamas chose to share their stories—and we can all learn something from them. [For more of this story,...

Postpartum depression is recognized and understood today more than ever before, thanks to advances in research and public awareness campaigns. While the stigma around the disorder isn’t entirely gone, many new moms who might have once suffered in silence are reaching out for help—and speaking out about their experiences. But women aren't the only group that can be affected by postpartum depression: New dads can struggle with it too. Fathers don’t suffer from depression in the same way, or at...