Midwest ACE Summit | November 10-11, 2016 Eagan, Minnesota | Click here for more information You have likely already heard about the Midwest ACE Summit from previous posts in this group. What you haven't heard is an exciting update about the event -- Laura Porter of the Foundation for Healthy Generations in Washington will be facilitating the final plenary session at the Summit! This rounds the keynote speakers out to four: Sam Simmons, Dr. Henry Emmons, Dr. Roy Wade, Jr. and Laura Porter.

“A purely disembodied human emotion is a nonentity,” William James asserted in his revolutionary 1884 theory of how our bodies affect our feelings . Two generations later, Rilke wrote in a beautiful letter of advice to a young woman : “I am not one of those who neglect the body in order to make of it a sacrificial offering for the soul, since my soul would thoroughly dislike being served in such a fashion.” And yet in the century since, we’ve made little progress on making sense — much less...

Over the past three years, Minnesota Communities Caring for Children (MCCC) has worked to raise awareness about brain development, ACEs, and resilience statewide using the national ACE Interface curriculum. To date the organization has trained more than 130 Minnesotans from diverse communities to present this curriculum and help foster community responses. This summer, Maxine Freedman of Macalester College interviewed 29 members of MCCC's network to assess the impact of this work on...

Starting a new practice this month in Cottage Grove, MN. I have space for use in my office roughly 22 X 22 for small gatherings. I am excited to share ideas and knowledge. That being said, Does anyone wish to get together and meet to discuss ideas? It will be my wife, myself, and my oldest son joining us. Bernie Menge MA, LMFT

Thirty years ago, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Doris Lessing gave a series of lectures, later published in a book, “ Prisons We Choose to Live Inside ,” in which she reflected on the brutality in the world and asked how individuals and societies could evolve into something better. It’s a sobering book, but Lessing is hopeful — and her main source of hope stems from the capacity of human beings to study themselves and learn from their own behavior. “I think when people look back at our...

Registration is now available for the 2016 Midwest ACE Summit ! For more information visit: www.pcamn.org/midwest-ace-summit Click HERE to register!

Minnesota Communities Caring for Children (MCCC) is currently seeking applicants for a new position – the Community Education and Engagement Manager. This position will coordinate and support a variety of MCCC education and outreach activities statewide, including coordination of the network of MN ACE Interface Trainers and Presenters. For more information or to apply, click here.

The Midwest ACE Summit will take place in Minnesota on November 10th and 11th. We hope that you will join us for this opportunity to connect and learn with others across the state and region! We are currently inviting presentation proposals from folks across the Midwest who would like to facilitate workshop (breakout) sessions. The deadline for submissions is August 1st . For more information, please see the attached RFP form. Please share this form across your networks! For more information...

What if one area of research could prevent some of society's biggest problems? Researchers say an ever-expanding pool of data on the effects of childhood trauma—and how to counteract those effects—might be the key to alleviating countless societal problems. These include criminality, substance abuse, mental health problems and some of the leading causes of death. Those who work with children, in health care and with incarcerated populations in Crow Wing County are seeking to bring local...

A $90,000 grant from the National Joint Powers Alliance could support the creation of trauma-informed organizations in five area counties. The social services departments in Crow Wing, Cass, Morrison, Todd and Wadena counties are together seeking the Innovation Funding grant, which if awarded would pay for training county staff in working with individuals and families that have experienced trauma. Kara Terry, Crow Wing County Community Services director, went before the county board Tuesday...

The 2016 Midwest ACE Summit will bring people across the region together in shared learning that goes beyond the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study to focus on deeper issues of historical trauma and successful strategies for helping individuals and communities heal, build resiliency, and prevent future ACEs. We welcome your ideas for Summit presentation topics and presenters. To submit an idea or nomination, please see the form attached to this post. For more information about the...

Many people experience trauma, but few — and that includes medical professionals — understand the larger impact it can have on their lives and the lives of others. Ryan Van Wyk, a psychologist at Park Nicollet Melrose Center , wants to change that. He believes that past trauma lies at the root of many common mental health and addiction issues, and if more people understood that fact and worked to heal trauma, many could live happier, healthier lives. “My graduate school was great,” Van Wyk...