Blog

As we prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Dorian's effects later this week, certainly there are feelings of anxiety and confusion. Already? We haven't even finished recovering from Hurricane Florence! Let's choose to remember all the things we have learned from one another about being resilient in the face of stress over the course of the past year. We have learned about the body's response to stress and trauma, and that adding "stressors" and triggers to these can cause us to feel even...

Benchmarks' PFE 4th Annual Conference will be held on Wednesday, September 11, 2019 (9:00am-5:00pm) and Thursday, September 12, 2019 (8:30am-3:00pm) at the Hawthorne Inn & Conference Center in Winston-Salem, NC. Benchmarks' Partnering for Excellence (PFE) redesigns the local child welfare/behavioral health system, changing the way DSS, LME/MCOs, local providers and the wider community understand the need for accessible, appropriate health services for children, youth and families who...

An ACEs Connection webinar will offer helpful self-regulation tools to those rocked by recent shootings in Gilroy, CA, El Paso, TX , and Dayton, OH. The Building Resilient Communities webinar is offered by ACEs Connection this Thursday, August 9, at 10:00 AM PDT / 1 :00 PM E D and will last approximately 1 hour. Elaine Miller-Karas will teach her Community Resilienc y Mode l. Find registration details below. This webinar is free and open to the public. It serves professionals and community...

It’s irrefutable: Widespread research shows that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are common. That’s why researchers in a recent study insist: “It behooves pediatric providers to take an active role in preventing and identifying childhood adversity in order to reduce the health consequences of toxic stress.” In other words, if you want your kids to have a good shot at a healthy life, make sure they — and you — are educated about and screened for ACEs and resilience. In a recent study —...

Benchmarks' PFE 4th Annual Conference will be held on Wednesday, September 11, 2019 (9:00am-5:00pm) and Thursday, September 12, 2019 (8:30am-3:00pm) at the Hawthorne Inn & Conference Center in Winston-Salem, NC. Benchmarks' Partnering for Excellence (PFE) redesigns the local child welfare/behavioral health system, changing the way DSS, LME/MCOs, local providers and the wider community understand the need for accessible, appropriate health services for children, youth and families who...

By Katja Ridderbusch, Kaiser Health News, July 22, 2019. CHEROKEE, N.C. — Light pours through large windows and glass ceilings of the Cherokee Indian Hospital onto a fireplace, a waterfall and murals. Rattlesnake Mountain, which the Cherokee elders say holds ancient healing powers, is visible from most angles. The hospital’s motto — “Ni hi tsa tse li” or “It belongs to you” — is written in Cherokee syllabary on the wall at the main entrance. “It doesn’t look like a hospital, and it doesn’t...

By Lauren M. Johnson , CNN July 18, 2019 Florida will become the third state in the US to require students to learn more about mental health, behind Virginia and New York. The Florida State Board of Education voted on Wednesday to require public schools to provide students in grades six and above a minimum of five hours of mental health education annually. The announcement comes as studies reveal more about how screen time and social media impacts teenagers mentally. According to the...

Room erupts in applause for the grandmother of witness William Kellibrew during July 11 House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing. The power of personal stories from witnesses and committee members fueled the July 11 hearing on childhood trauma in the House Oversight and Reform Committee* throughout the nearly four hours of often emotional and searing testimony and member questions and statements (Click here for 3:47 hour video). The hearing was organized into a two panels—testimony from...

Excerpt from article by Dennis Thompson in United Press International. To read the rest of this article by Dennis Thompson published in United Press International, go here . Cissy's Note: it's rare to find articles on the healing impact of parents, after ACEs, or in general. There's so much advice to parents but not enough listening and learning from parents. This article shows just how parents can best support kids after trauma. Of course we need safe and supportive schools, systems, and...

The Beyond ACES Summit: The Impact of Race, Culture, and Poverty registration is LIVE! The summit theme is #MovingBeyondACES (adverse childhood experiences). This year is historically significant because it marks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans to Virginia. It was also a time that marked significant trauma. The summit touches on many different aspects of life and history. It was showcase the heartfelt talent of youth through dance and movement, music, theatre and...

A few weeks ago I was at a big kickoff event for a new county-wide project to address what our communities feel are the biggest concerns we face. It definitely had its moments and I was all eyes and ears ready to absorb new info and be inspired by the power of coming together for a purpose. One of the last things that I heard that morning was to show the promise of next steps – the speaker said that basically in order to do anything meaningful – you, of course, need a building which – good...

Saturday Night Live veteran Darrell Hammond will be joining the live Twitter Town Hall i mmediately following the virtual screening of Cracked Up! T he documentary film details the long term effects of childhood trauma, told through Darrell’s personal journey in discovering adverse childhood experiences at the root of his lifelong battle with self-harm, addiction, and misdiagnosis. Please join us for this unique chance to hear directly from Darrell Hammond, joined by the film’s director,...