October 2017

Coming from a 25-year background in the world of technology and venture capital, I still keep my eye on what new technologies, companies, and people are being funded. I saw this today on TechCrunch... a fascinating trauma-informed approach! While this product is in its infancy and limited to a very small area of San Francisco for now, the implications are exciting! We'll have to see what the results are over time, how it impacts the lives of those that have mental health issues in that area...

It's so fun to find awesome blogs and awesome writing. I discovered another new blog just this morning. The sub-title is this. "An ACEs survivor trying like hell to thrive." I'm sure lots of us can relate to that. Here's the blog link . Here's an excerpt: So good, right? If you read, write or love a blog that might interest others here, please share excerpts and the link. What speaks to you is going to speak to others. Your perspectives, styles, views and thoughts are all welcome and needed!

Did you know connecting with your body makes it easier to connect with other people? It’s true. Because of that, one of the side effects of TRE is the healing effect it has on your relationships. I’m in Iceland this month, leading two groups of ten people through the TRE process for three weeks. Teaching TRE is one of my favorite things to do. I love the way it helps my students connect with the wisdom of the body. When most people come to a TRE workshop for the first time, they tend to be a...

Many years of research has shown that depression among registered nurses is extremely common. One study published last year showed that RNs suffer from depression at almost twice the rate of people in other professions. Now, new research is linking depression among nurses to a significant uptick in medical errors. The study , published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, analyzed survey responses of 1,790 U.S. nurses. [For more on this story by, Alexandria Wilson Pecci...

LOS ANGELES — For Jordan, growing up in Jamaica, Queens in New York City left much to be desired. One of the few places he could go after school were the youth arts programs in his neighborhood. “It was the thing to do after school instead of being outside or doing something that could possibly get you in trouble,” he said. One of the programs Jordan was in is Neighborhood Opportunity Networks , or NeON Arts . It’s part of New York City’s Department of Probation and is managed by Carnegie...

A trip to some of the U.S.’s top national parks doesn’t come cheap. Once you factor in travel costs, food, lodging, and gear, the dollar amount can easily reach into the hundreds. So when the National Park Service on Tuesday proposed raising the entrance fee per vehicle to $70—more than double the current rate—critics responded that the agency risks pricing even more people, particularly low-income families, out of what is supposed to be public land. In doing so, NPS may be running counter...

Despite a string of uncommonly violent months earlier in 2017, Chattanooga has now gone more than 60 days without a homicide. It's impossible to predict how much longer the stretch will continue, but such a respite has been rare in recent years — since 2013, Chattanooga has gone through only eight periods of 30 or more days without a homicide. Authorities with the Chattanooga Police Department hope the streak is a sign that the tide of violence is beginning to recede a little, and they...

New research from Duke University has found that about one-quarter of adults whose marijuana use is problematic in early adulthood had anxiety disorders in childhood and late adolescence. The findings, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, also shed light on an estimated four percent of adults who endured childhood maltreatment and peer bullying without resorting to chronic marijuana abuse, only to develop problems with the drug between the ages...

The article was published in collaboration with Vice . I love my daughter. That goes without saying for most parents, but I am truly crazy about mine. She literally came out of the womb with a smile on her face — no crying, just a big smile, shocking the doctor and all the nurses in the room. As I stood on the sidelines of her 6th-grade soccer game two years ago, I suddenly decided I should coach her next team. I mean, why not? I’d always watched her soccer games, trying to keep myself from...

Most people can acknowledge that discrimination has an insidious effect on the lives of minorities, even when it's unintentional. Those effects can include being passed over for jobs for which they are qualified or shut out of housing they can afford. And most people are painfully aware of the tensions between African-Americans and police. But discrimination can also lead to a less obvious result: tangible, measurable negative effects on health. A new survey conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood...

Abused and neglected State Ward children have already suffered enough when they enter *foster care. To be removed from a birth home by a judge means that the child’s life has been in imminent danger of serious harm. Most of the children I’ve worked with as a volunteer CASA guardian ad Litem have stories that still make me shudder twenty years later.

The pesticide, which belongs to a class of chemicals developed as a nerve gas made by Nazi Germany, is now found in food, air and drinking water. Human and animal studies show that it damages the brain and reduces I.Q.s while causing tremors among children. It has also been linked to lung cancer and Parkinson’s disease in adults. The colored parts of the image above, prepared by Columbia University scientists, indicate where a child’s brain is physically altered after exposure to this...