In order to move in the right direction, I believe that people and organizations should understand the interplay between power and connection. This understanding should drive our individual responses as well as how organizations interact with the community and even how policies should be considered at a state or national level. I recently heard a very profound statement that has impacted my life and infiltrated my thoughts. Stephen Porges said that whenever we interact, we can take one of...

Remembering past trauma begins the “re-membering” process of taking our fragmented pieces and putting them back together. This applies to individuals with trauma, as well as the collective traumas we experience in societies and our world. Remembering trauma is a growth process because the memories open the door to putting all the pieces together which leads to our healing. We know that our physiological reactions to trauma are held in our bodies and DNA. As individuals, before we can begin...

The landscape and language about childhood adversity and trauma have morphed and changed over the past few years. We began talking about adverse childhood experiences, expanded to talk about adverse community experiences and now include adversities within the environment at large including historical trauma. People are searching for ways to ensure that we are identifying positive experiences that help shape and build resilience as well as the adversities impacting long-term health and social...

By Rhitu Chatterjee, Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images, National Public Radio, March 10, 2022 Americans say that they feel more anxious about inflation, global uncertainty and the war in Ukraine than they have reported feeling about any other issue in recent years, according to a new survey released Thursday from the American Psychological Association. "Over 80% of Americans said inflation and issues related to invasion of Ukraine are significant sources of stress," says psychologist Vaile...

I recently listened to an interview featuring David Richo. He wrote a book several years ago, How to be An Adult in Relationships , in which he explained what he calls the Five A’s that help relationships flourish. What he said made so much sense, and I saw applications beyond individual relationships. I believe we can use the Five A’s to better understand relationships with others and ourselves and even apply it to other contexts. He explained that the Five A’s are what we need as infants...

Healing from trauma requires a multi-faceted process. Bessel van der Kolk, Dan Siegel, Bruce Perry, Stephen Porges, Laura Porter and The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University all incorporate the felt sense of safety and belonging and strengthening capabilities in their protocol or frameworks for healing from trauma. All three concepts, when interconnected, create a synergy for personal and community growth and healing. Creating safety and belonging are important first steps in...

Laura Porter’s research supports increasing three capacities that allow people to thrive. They are: building capabilities, increasing attachment and belonging, and supporting the culture and spirituality in communities. When working with organizations and communities, she warns that if the focus is solely on building capabilities, we make the process into an “individual fix.” Building individual capacities is very important to help people thrive, however we cannot deny the biologically...

Happy, Healthy New Year’s Wishes for You! Most of us have heard this phrase multiple times over that past week. Where exactly do happy and healthy start?? I believe the felt sense of safety is the common denominator. We are all looking for relief from the stress of the past few years, but some of us also continue to help ourselves or others cope with and learn from the adversities and toxic stress from our past. Research tells us that connection to competent and caring people and...

The Potts Family Foundation supports a vital program that is helping Oklahomans become aware of the Adverse Childhood Experiences study (ACEs Study) and the risks that trauma and toxic stress can impose on our health and development, especially when experienced before the age of 18. This initiative also highlights the protective factors that we, as individuals, families, workplaces and communities, can foster that decrease the negative impact of adversities and allow people and communities...

When people hear about the mental and physical health risks of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress, one of the first questions is, “What do we do about this?” Awareness of the prevalence of adversity and the impact of stress on the brain and body leads to the possibility for prevention and response. Whether you are acting within a family, agency, organization, business or community, the next steps should be taken knowing that we will all work together to bring about change.

I attended a virtual meeting led by Leadership Tulsa, Oklahoma recently that highlighted an amazing program. I look at most programs through a trauma informed lens, and this non-profit, City Lights Foundation of Oklahoma, struck me as the epitome of trauma informed care. The safety and relationships they create allows for emotional sharing and healing that then leads to skill building, empowerment and resilience. I urge you to listen with a trauma informed ear, and you will hear Safety,...

“ Trauma always happens within a context, and so does healing. To understand the impact of trauma means being acutely sensitive to the environment—to the conditions under which people grew up, to how they live today, and to the journeys they have taken along the way .” (Andrea Blanch, Beth Filson, and Darby Penney National Center for Trauma Informed Care guidebook ) Creating an environment that exudes calm, safety, and compassion is a goal of trauma-informed systems. It is a profound...

By the end of March, Oklahoma will have 30 certified Master Trainers prepared to canvass our state and engage and motivate individuals and communities to prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and improve well-being. The Master Trainer program is facilitated by Dr. Robert Anda and Laura Porter of ACE Interface , a company that provides education, analysis, process design, facilitation, and products designed to increase networks of trainers to disseminate education across communities.

I respect and appreciate the research and science of Hope and think people should learn about Chan Hellman's work. I do not believe you can replace resilience with Hope. They are two distinct concepts that work together to bring about trauma integration. I believe, and science research supports the idea, that children or adults living in adversity and toxic stress must first achieve some aspects of resilience before we can ask them to strengthen their decision-making and goal setting skills...

Trauma impacts lives on the individual, familial, community and societal level. Historically, we have addressed the resulting symptoms of trauma with treatments of therapy, education, and all too often imprisonment. However, putting preventative factors in place can avert the symptoms, outcome and resulting negative impacts. Prevention begins with understanding how trauma impacts lives and why it impacts our brains and bodies before we can fully understand what we can do to mitigate its...

Becoming Trauma Informed is about changing ourselves and the environment to foster trauma resilience in those we come in contact with. If schools are using Social Emotional Learning curriculum (SEL) only as an add-on program to implement, then it isn’t about the teachers and environment changing, it is merely about changing the behavior of students. If we are solely trying to change others to make them conform to pre-set standards, it is continuing the oppressive cycle. Command and control...

Below are three short videos created to help people successfully leave shelter in place and if employed, return to physical work conditions with support that fosters productivity. The video series is intended to expand knowledge and practices that improve our ability to manage stressful situations and emotions, especially increased anxiety and new triggers created by the corona virus. They have brief, basic knowledge intended for an audience with little or know education regarding the impact...

There have been several recent projections about the dramatic impact the spread and devastation of the corona virus, shelter at home, social distancing and economic hardships will have on many, many people of all ages across our globe. Experts are warning of huge increases in depression, suicide, anxiety, substance abuse and other emotional and physical adversities from the virus’s impact on society. Many want to urge legislatures to fund treatment for this future spike. True, the...

How quickly the outside world has influenced our inner world and changed our thoughts, patterns, and triggers. Life is definitely coming in waves. We feel a sense of safety if we can be in a healthy home, fear and worry if we have to venture out for food, calm returns after we practice something that soothes and regulates us, and anxiety builds when we hear news and the impact the virus has on the whole world. We are beginning to expect and accept many unpredictable and unknown...

This is the week the Governor of California called off the rest of the school year. Many states are following. This is not just the year of COVID. This is the year without graduation. That means 3.7 million high school seniors in the Class of 2020 are not going to wear their caps and gowns in May and June. Let me speak to you seniors if I may. (The rest of you should stay here, too. You need to get what they are losing). You began the year with senior photos. Sports for the last time for...

It’s a time of great dread. Americans are hunkered down in their homes, growing increasingly bored, restless, and uncertain about the future while we seek distraction in Joe Exotic and attempting homemade sourdough cultures. COVID-19, caused by a virus with unprecedented deadliness and voracious contagion, has brought the world to a standstill. As we struggle to process the pandemic’s rising death toll and reel from its economic impact, we can’t move or gather together freely. Normalcy’s...

Since we are all caught in the unpredictable, uncontrollable environment of Covid 19 right now, we are all experiencing trauma at one level or another. Some are experiencing much more fear, grief, anxiety, helplessness and overwhelming sense of vulnerability and loss of control. Others are just experiencing the creation of a work space at home, meeting co-workers virtually, and remaining at home as much as possible from obligation more than fear. Regardless of what level of stress you are...

As we begin to navigate and find a new normal over the next few days with both our families and co-workers, we need to remember to be trauma responsive. The definition of trauma often includes the words “overwhelming sense of loss of control.” With the uncertainty the next few days or weeks may hold, we all may feel a loss of control. So, it is important to remember a few things to help us all respond rather than react to what is going on around us and inside us. If you haven’t heard of the...