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By: Elizabeth Fitzgerald Clinical Supervisor, LPC Deschutes County a nd Jennifer Weeks, Maternal Mental Health Specialist Jennifer Weeks works as a bi-lingual, behavioral health and trauma specialist embedded within the WIC clinic at Deschutes County Health Services. In less than two years, she has served more than 400 women who may not have otherwise sought care due to the stigmas and fears associated with new mothers seeking mental health services. Prior to joining Deschutes County...

Findings of the ACE Study have had a swift and substantial impact on MCH policy, practice and research. This issue of the journal is intended to provide a forum to enhance knowledge of the Study and its implications across the field. Topics of interest include: The aims and findings of the ACE Study, The implications of the Study and use of Study findings to shape MCH practice in clinical, program and policy settings, The import of the Study in relation to life course theory and the social...

Linda Chamberlain is an epidemiologist, author, professor, dog musher and founder of the Alaska Family Violence Project. She is also a translator, determined to bring the “aha” moments of brain science and trauma to everyone in compelling and relevant ways. That might mean posters about ACEs hung in outhouses in a rural Alaska community. “We have to be really flexible on how we define training and education,” she says. “It can be a conversation at church…We have to meet people where they are...

Q: When infants and toddlers see violence in the home, are abused or experience other adverse situations early on in their young lives, how do they do later on in the school setting? Do they have difficulties as early as kindergarten? A: I wonder about this every time I hear about an unfortunate situation in the news and it is casually mentioned that there are other young children in the home. Those young children mentioned “in the background” live in homes where they perhaps see domestic...

Researcher Robert Balfanz says by ninth grade, he can identify 75% of the kids who will drop out from high school. That’s when a team of nonprofits rushes in to help (San Antonio, Texas) — First period was just about to start, and Angel Mendoza was already asleep at his desk. He’s often tired at school after working late-night shifts in the kitchen at Alamo Pizza, but he needs the money and the busy schedule keeps him out of trouble. “Honestly, sometimes I don’t even do my homework,” said...

Sex offenses against minors don't always feature deviant adults preying on children; kids themselves can also be the perpetrators. Young adolescents account for roughly half of all cases of sex offenses against younger children; one out of every eight of young offenders are under the age of 12. But it wasn't until the latter half of the 20th century that researchers began paying attention to juvenile sex offenders, when research revealed that up to one-third of adult offenders began...

I t’s the first day of class for Child Development 123: Learning Disabilities, and instructor Sylvia Buford, PhD, is laying down some rules. “I do children’s disabilities. I don’t do adult meltdowns,” she says. “If there’s a problem” — she points at her desk — “I will have to use that radio” to summon help. Her students, more than a dozen women dressed in the orange sweatshirts and sweatpants worn by inmates of San Francisco County Jail Number 2 near downtown San Francisco, listen quietly as...

Introduction Are you feeling depressed? Are you sleeping less than normal or sleeping more than usual? Is your appetite increased or decreased? Are you feeling hopeless? These are all signs of depression. If you feel this way, have you ever considered journaling as a coping mechanism to handle these symptoms associated with depression. You may ask why is journaling a good coping mechanism to use to handle the symptoms associated with depression. This article will describe just this. For...

Today, even though we’ve made much progress, postpartum depression (PPD) still gets confused with baby blues. It still gets minimized and dismissed. Oh, don’t worry. Being sad and sobbing are totally normal. So is feeling frustrated. You just gave birth, after all. You just need some sleep. A day off. A change in attitude. Maybe you should stop putting so much pressure on yourself. Maybe you’re not used to being home so much. You need time to adjust. You need to get used to your new normal.

Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, are described as the negative life events that children are exposed to which often cause traumatic lifelong side effects. The ACE questionnaire was put together by the Kaiser Permanente Health Clinic in San Diego and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1995 to study the effects that those traumatic events can sometimes lead to in a person's life. The questionnaire is a list of ten seemingly simple questions, things like 'did a parent or...

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The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health invites eligible organizations in Texas to respond to this request for proposals (RFP) to fund peer policy fellow positions in nonprofit organizations. The goal of this initiative is to increase the consumer voice in mental health policy development and implementation, and to build consumer capacity to effectively engage in mental health policy and advocacy. Depending on the quality of proposals received, the foundation plans to award up to five grants...