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What does it mean to be trauma-informed and resilience-oriented? In the years since STAR began our learning and teaching journey (in response to a call to respond to September 11, 2001 in the US), many more voices and programs have emerged to build awareness and action plans for building resilience and addressing trauma in individuals, organizations and communities. Both clinical and cultural perspectives on trauma and resilience have begun to inform our lives in myriad ways. The impacts of...

What if you had developed a cure for the most painful and costly public health problem in America, you had proven that it worked, and you were offering it for free, but could not reach those who need it most because no one wants to talk about the problem? Tragically, this is my reality and the truth about human nature. It is easier to suffer in silence than acknowledge the painful things that happen to us. Over 20 years ago, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Kaiser...

By Terri Janos, Technology Networks, February 15, 2020 In individuals with functional neurological disorder (FND), the brain generally appears structurally normal on clinical MRI scans but functions incorrectly (akin to a computer software crashing), resulting in patients experiencing symptoms including limb weakness, tremor, gait abnormalities and non-epileptic seizures. In some cases, childhood maltreatment may have been a contributing factor, yet links between risk factors such as...

By Michelle Miller and Vidya Singh, CBS News, February 15, 2020 It might look like an average city in the Middle East, but Market Street is the center of commerce in one of the world's largest refugee camps – the Zaatari camp in Jordan. That is where nearly 80,000 Syrians displaced by civil war are now living. "None of us should ever be okay with calling this normal. But it's become an accepted reality for a lot of people," said Mike Niconchuk, who has been doing humanitarian work in the...

From Cork News-Live, February 17, 2020 IT is “simply unacceptable” that children across Ireland are experiencing homelessness, a Cork principal has said, expressing her anger and upset at the situation. Nickie Egan, principal of North Presentation Primary School on Gerald Griffin St, has encouraged her staff to become more aware of the difficulties facing homeless students, and those experiencing other issues, in a bid to aid their development. There were 9,731 homeless people in Ireland in...

By Dahlia Lithwick, SLATE, February 13, 2020 I am honored to be invited to speak with you today on the issue of sexual harassment and misconduct in the federal judiciary. I am here in my individual capacity and my views do not represent those of any entity or publication. I am here in several capacities; as a former 9th Circuit law clerk, and a journalist who has covered several stories of harassment and abuse both in the judiciary and in the law clerk pipeline that begins in law school. I...

By Lucia Osborne-Crowley, ABC News, February 17, 2020 A few years ago, Peter Levine was on his way to a friend's 60th birthday party. It was a clear winter's day in southern California. As he stood on the side of the road, he was hit at high speed by a teenaged driver. He held his breath and waited for help. Somehow, he was wrenched out of the rubble and into an ambulance. The paramedics tried to sedate him. No, he whispered firmly. [ Please click here to read more .]

There are now 10 episodes on the Trauma Informed Educators Network Podcast. The most recent was with Kat Stern in the UK who is currently working on developing and researching a trauma-informed method being used with incarcerated youth in the UK. Her knowledge is equally as captivating as per passion. Previous episodes included interviews with Dr. Bruce Perry, Ingrid Cochren, and Dr. Lori Desautels amongst others. You can now access the podcast from many different platforms! (SoundCloud,...

When Officer John Hampton of the San Bruno Police Department in San Bruno, CA, first heard that mindfulness training was being offered to him and his fellow cops, he had two reactions. John Hampton “I think my major reaction was: ‘Oh, there’s some hippy thing that they’re trying to get cops to do,’” he said. “When I say that, it’s funny because that’s not my voice. It’s the caricature of a police officer-like voice. In the back of my mind, I was interested and open to it, but that police...

This collection of reports, shared with edited highlights, is posted in hopes of raising awareness of the importance of Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs). Please share widely on social media. 1. Seven Early Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) with Potential Benefits in Adulthood Below are the seven items on the positive childhood experience (PCEs) psychometric analysis. For each item, respondents are asked to respond "yes" or "no" to a prompt, "Before the age of 18, I was..." Able to...

It doesn’t happen that often anymore, but one place where I almost always get triggered with my Childhood PTSD symptoms is when I visit the doctor. I could never even put this into words before. But now that I’m mostly healed from my Childhood PTSD symptoms, I want to express what I wish my doctors – all the doctors of my life – had understood about the effects of Childhood trauma, about me. Note: This is one of my most personal posts ever. Unless you’re someone who really prefers text, I...

“The world of thinking about trauma, the importance of school climate and social-emotional learning is 20, 30, 40 years behind the world of instruction." Joanna Schwartz, a 2nd-grade teacher at Eliza B. Kirkbride Elementary School, was about to take a scheduled break and desperately needed a place to have peace and quiet. But the only place she could find was a broom closet. A few years earlier, in another school, Schwartz said teachers were baffled by a 3rd grader who continually fell...