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Please join us for the ongoing community discussion of A Better Normal, our ongoing series in which we envision the future as trauma-informed. Protests and riots across the country--and even worldwide--are making it impossible to ignore the racial trauma of police brutality and historical trauma embedded within our society. Many of us are grappling with complex feelings of helplessness and righteous anger. In response to this pandemic of racism in America, "A Better Normal" will hold space...

By P. Berman He is coming today! I have to finish shopping ! I need to get ready! But, it’s also laundry day… Claire is almost done with shopping for the week. Then, she needs to do the laundry and get ready for her date. If only she had done some loads last night but she had been so tired after playing games with Davy outside. It had been such a beautiful day, and knowing she was going to be gone this afternoon made her feel she needed to put out the extra effort. Her Davy was never going...

by P. Berman I was a high performer this week. Why do I feel so sick? Craig’s dad was very angry. He had heard about Craig’s performance at a meeting last week and had allowed himself a brief smile. He had called Craig up at the office to congratulate him but then he had gotten no answer; something was clearly wrong and needed to be straightened out. His son was not going to screw up yet another opportunity to show his superiority. He felt a surge of anger when after calling his son’s home...

By Jie Tang, Ying Ma, and Stephen P. Lewis, JAMA Network, June 4, 2020 Key Points Español 中文 (Chinese) Question Is internet addiction associated with nonsuicidal self-injury, and, if so, are there sex differences in the association? Findings In this survey study of 15 623 adolescents in China, both possible internet addiction and internet addiction were associated with nonsuicidal self-injury. There were no differences in the associations by sex or age. Meaning Interventions to address...

By David Byler, The Washington Post, June 3, 2020 For decades, the police have enjoyed deep support and trust from the American people. Per Gallup , most Americans have said they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in police every year for more than 25 years. Law enforcement officers are constantly lionized in entertainment . And most Americans who have interacted with the police in the past five years say they had a “satisfactory” experience. But on May 25, the Minneapolis...

Thank you to the generous and talented Deana Sobel Lederman for sharing another story with my readers! 'Masks' gently introduces the concept of wearing masks to young children through a clever series of conversations between animal families. Deana creates a world where wearing masks, for a short time, is something we can do together. Physical distancing does not limit social connections. We learn this as our animal friends venture out into the neighborhood with their new masks. The...

By Marie Tae McDermott, The New York Times, June 5, 2020 The protests in response to the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor have elicited questions from children of all ages, and many parents are left wondering how to respond. Children are like sponges. They soak up news headlines and images of unrest on TV and social media. They may also be keenly attuned to conversations about current events happening at home. Parents and educators alike (and those of us now wearing...

By Jack P. Shonkoff, Center on the Developing Child Harvard University, June 5, 2020 The recent, brutal killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and the broad civic unrest they have fueled, are focusing a bright light, yet again, on the deep structural inequities and systemic racism that continue to plague our country. Is it possible that one more brutality piled on so many before it was finally too much? Is it possible that this is a turning point in understanding and...

By Matthew G. Biel, Michael H. Tang, Barry Zuckerman, JAMA Pediatrics, April 6, 2020 Pediatric mental health (MH) concerns, including depression, anxiety, loneliness and social isolation, and suicide, have increased markedly in the last decade and are critical factors associated with population health. While effective interventions for these conditions have been developed and pediatric health care professionals increasingly address MH concerns as a central component of clinical practice, our...

By Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, June 5, 2020 One result of shelter-in-place orders during the coronavirus pandemic is to confine some household members with others who abuse them. By most indications, domestic violence has become more frequent and more violent. Police chiefs nationwide reported increases of 10% to 30% in domestic assaults in the first two weeks after a national emergency was declared in March, according to a USA Today survey. On April 6, United Nations Secretary...

By Sydney Page, The Washington Post, June 3, 2020 Shawn Dromgoole is a 29-year-old black man who has lived in the same Nashville neighborhood his entire life. His family has been in the neighborhood, known as 12 South, for 54 years. But Dromgoole said that since he was a child, he felt an unease in his hometown, acutely aware that few people looked like him. “Growing up in my neighborhood, I could always feel the eyes, the looks and the cars slowing down as they passed by me,” said...

Wondering what your church can do in response to the unrest, riots, and disharmony we see? Perhaps this is the time to invest in becoming trauma-informed using "Bruised Reeds and Smoldering Wicks," a study where sound biblical principles intersect with the science of adversity and trauma. Order on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/ Bruised-Reeds-Smoldering-Wi cks-trauma-informed/dp/ 1733812318 Bruised Reeds and Smoldering Wicks is a study on the intersections between the science of adversity...