October 2019

The greatest thing I have ever done in my life is get sober. For 8 years I lived a shell of a life that was only down spiraling to my doomed fate. Through some kind of miracle, I was able to get pulled out and saved by God as I understand him. It was one thing to get sober, but it is an entirely different thing to stay sober. In a perfect world you would quit drugs and then that would be it! Life is better without drugs and you never turn back to them! Unfortunately there is a lot more to...

Be a part of our MCCC team! We're looking for a passionate individual for our Regional ACE Training Coordinator position! This role will assist in providing outreach, coordinating workshop and program activities, and building relationships with communities and partners. Questions? Contact Emily Clary at eclary@pcamn.org or 651.523.0099 ext. 111 Learn more and apply at: https://jobs.minnesotanonprofits.org/job/regional-ace-training-coordinator-northern-mn-st-paul-minnesota-34835

By Annabelle Timsit, Quartz Africa, October 8, 2019 Like many three-and-a-half year olds, Odille Igirimbabazi loves to sing and dance. On a recent morning in her home, wearing her favorite blue and yellow dress and clutching a doll that her dad, James, made for her, she sings religious songs and sways energetically as James watches, claps, and smiles, tapping his feet. When she finishes, he scoops her up into his arms to tell her how proud he is. “Bravo!” If this seems a common family scene,...

By Catherine Munn, University Affairs, October 11, 2019 Mental health is one of the most important issues facing youth and society at large. If universities are not rallying everyone from every corner of their campus to solve this problem, they are ignoring the canary in the coal mine, at their peril. They will also not be helping to solve the issues of critical importance to their communities and their country, at their peril. Children and youth are our truth-tellers, whether or not we are...

By Rachel Pearson, The New Yorker, October 8, 2019 On a cool spring afternoon, in a clinic that serves refugee and immigrant families, I sit across from a teen-age girl. She is otherwise known as an unaccompanied alien child, or U.A.C. She left her home in Central America, crossed the southern border, and was detained for a week—in Texas, she thinks—in a facility where breakfast was a cold bean burrito, lunch was a cup of microwavable noodle soup, and dinner was a cold bean burrito. She says...

By Jon Hamilton, National Public Radio, October 10, 2019 The link between vaping and severe lung problems is getting a lot of attention. But scientists say they're also worried about vaping's effect on teenage brains. "Unfortunately, the brain problems and challenges may be things that we see later on down the road," says Nii Addy, associate professor of psychiatry and cellular and molecular physiology at Yale School of Medicine. [ Please click here to read more .]

Those in helping professions like teaching, social work, or medicine can buffer themselves from burnout and “compassion fatigue” with self-care strategies, including meditation and social support . A study of nurses in acute mental health settings found staff support groups helped buffer the nurses, but only if they were structured to minimize negative communication and focused on talking about challenges in constructive ways. English Professor Cris Beam also studies empathy and wrote a book...

By Pat Harriman, UCI News, October 11, 2019 According to a new UCI-led study, it’s not just how much media exposure an individual has to collective trauma, but also the graphic quality of what one sees, that may make them more vulnerable to trauma-related mental and physical health problems over time. Published online in the current issue of the journal Clinical Psychological Science, the study suggests that greater frequency of viewing bloody images in the week following the bombings is...

Free Online Collective Trauma Summit from Oct 12 - 20th. Daily interviews with some of the leading international researchers in trauma and recovery, with a collective intergenerational, systemic, historical focus.

“In every published study of hope, every single one, hope is the single best predictor of well-being compared to any other measures of trauma recovery. This finding is consistently corroborated with other published studies from top universities showing that hope is the best predictor for a life well-lived."

By Patrice Gaines, NBC News, October 11, 2019 Dr. Nadine Burke Harris has an ambitious dream: screen every student for childhood trauma before entering school. "A school nurse would also get a note from a physician that says: 'Here is the care plan for this child's toxic stress. And this is how it shows up,'" said Burke Harris, who was appointed California's first surgeon general in January. "It could be it shows up in tummy aches. Or it's impulse control and behavior, and we offer a care...

By Jimmy Golen, The Associated Press, October 10, 2019 Everybody seems to be having fun when the kids in a new public service announcement are just playing football, until one boy is thrown to the ground and the background music turns ominous. Then, the coach starts handing out cigarettes. “Tackle football is like smoking,” a youthful voice-over says as a smiling, motherly type lights a cigarette for one of the pre-teen players. “The younger I start, the longer I’m exposed to danger.” [...