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All families have their squabbles and days when one member might not speak to another. However, there is one type of painful situation where the communication between family members stops; this is family estrangement. Often, family estrangement occurs when an adult child is learning to cope with and get rid of harmful people in their lives, but it can happen under other circumstances as well. This article will explore family estrangement, what it is, and what a person might do to help...

By Nate Carlisle, The Salt Lake Tribune, April 27, 2020 Lt. Col. Scott Chalmers once deployed to Afghanistan to communicate with locals there for the U.S. Army. Now he’s overseeing soldiers trying to tell Utahns about the coronavirus. “Our job is to help the community wherever we’re at,” said Chalmers, the administrative officer for the Utah National Guard’s 300th Military Intelligence Brigade. Twenty soldiers from the brigade are among the battalion of state employees who have volunteered...

By Tom Hallberg, Jackson Hole News & Guide, April 29, 2020 It was September when Julia Heemstra told the St. John’s Health Board of Trustees about an exciting new program she was developing — lifestyle medicine. She described a set of treatments with the potential to reverse chronic conditions and improve patient quality of life, while lowering the use of medication. The emerging field of medicine combines wellness offerings with behavioral alterations, and it has the potential to do two...

By Sara "Sally" Goza and Patrice Harris, USA Today, April 28, 2020 COVID-19 has drastically changed how we live our lives and brought much of the world to a standstill. It’s a scary time for parents who worry about becoming ill or caring for loved ones who have contracted the virus, as well as for the many Americans whose ability to support their families is becoming uncertain. With all of the turmoil, it’s easy to forget how this is affecting our children. Thankfully, for the most part,...

By Sarah Ovaska, North Carolina Health News, April 28, 2020 The spread of the novel coronavirus has meant an unprecedented retreat from our everyday lives – schools unexpectedly shut down, restaurants closed, and many jobs suddenly disappeared. Children as a whole seem to be avoiding the more serious health effects of COVID-19. But that doesn’t mean they are all safe. The closure of public schools and some child care facilities means some vulnerable children could be staying in homes that...

I feel safe around you. I never wonder what you are thinking. Is Larry going crazy? He isn’t just thinking about the plants these days, he has begun to talk to them. He finally admits his own worries- to the plants. “I know you are going to think I am crazy,” Larry said to a fern, “but your leaves seem to move toward me as I water you.” Larry was smiling at the plant and had been just about to reach out to stroke it when he saw the monk in charge of the garden come in. The monk saw Larry...

By   P. Berman, K. Hecht & A. Hosack I don’t understand who I am . I feel so torn up inside- except with the plants. I can feel comfortable around them ! Larry came back to live at the monastery last week and most of the time he feels tortured by questions about himself. Who is he? Where did he come from? Why is he here? Two months have gone by, since his accident. While his physical rehabilitation exercises have helped him regain physical strength, none of his brain exercises have...

Hello colleagues, I'm privileged to be a part of this community where we recognize the long term effects brought into a person's life as a result of trauma. Although we are all dealing with a stressful time of adaptation with COVID19, including financial changes, I figured it would not hurt to make a post in an attempt to garner support. One of the families I am connected with is going through even more significant trauma aside from the pandemic. Right before this started mid-March, the...

Elaine Miller Karas , key creator of the Community Resiliency Model (CRM), will be joined by CRM trainers from Wilmington, NC, Allison Wine , behavioral specialist, and Kelly Purcell , instructional coach and multi-tiered support specialist for this free, two-part training. Register now for two, FREE 90-minute sessions May 7 from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST and May 14 from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. EST (The complete overview requires attendance at both sessions. Registration link below registers you...

During this unprecedented time, we at Dovetail Learning would like to offer some simple, practical resilience skills for you and your family. Please find our four part webinar series entitled: We Are Resilient™ - Webinar for Family Resilience. We Are Resilient™: Family Series 1 We Are Resilient™: Family Series 2 We Are Resilient™: Family Series 3 We Are Resilient™: Family Series 4 Free, open educational resources for We Are Resilient™ can be downloaded from our website Dovetail Learning ,...

Blog by Michelle Hinton, Undraye Howard, and Jennifer Jones Since COVID-19 hit the United States, so many families, communities, and organizations have come together to support each other and share the universal message that we are all in this together. But the reality is, our African American neighbors are being disproportionately impacted by this virus. Inequities that are experienced through lack of access and opportunity have existed in our country for hundreds of years and have always...

Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of the bestselling book, "The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma," offers specific ways in which parents and caregivers can help children (and themselves) cope with the new (or residual) feelings of trauma that Covid-19 ignites. For more information visit Dr. van der Kolk's website at: https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/ For a calming experience with Licia Sky, (Recommended by Dr. van der Kolk in this video) you can register for...