Blog

By Alice Yoder, Lancaster Online, September 22, 2019 Even though you cannot always see it on the outside, we are all more likely to have some kind of trauma or adverse childhood experience than to have none. With awareness, knowledge and the right tools, we can reduce stigma and create a supportive and safe community for everyone. We can make simple yet important changes that recognize daily challenges and fight the mental and physical health effects of trauma or ACEs. A restorative,...

By Joanne M. Chiedi, Department of Health and Human Services, September 18, 2019 Care Provider Facilities Described Challenges Addressing Mental Health Needs of Children in HHS Custody. Facilities that care for children in the Office of Refugee Resettlement’s (ORR’s) custody face the difficult task of addressing the mental health needs of all the children in their care, including children who have experienced intense trauma. According to those who treat them, many children enter the...

Laura's note: This story of sheer determination of transformation of self and community in the face of personal trauma AND systemic racism is breathtaking. Be warned: it may blow you away, as it did me. As a child, Ebony Smith survived sexual assault but didn’t have the tools to cope with the trauma until years later, when she found yoga. Now, she’s bringing the practice to her community, and others in crisis. Exactly 247 people came to practice yoga with me today. Why is that such a big...

I thought for sure this rehab would mimic the scene of a psychiatric hospital, and my contempt couldn’t have proven to be more inaccurate. Not only did the treatment center educate and provide resources on recovery from long-term substance abuse, but the therapists also diagnosed me with anxiety and complex PTSD. At first I assumed my drug use was the culprit of these untreated mental health disorders. The underlying mental disorders were only “adding fuel to the fire” and ultimately led to...

A couple of years ago, Prince Harry joined the ever-growing list of high-profile public figures who are opening up about their mental health struggles. “I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12, and therefore shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years, has had a quite serious effect on not only my personal life, but my work as well,” Harry said on a podcast for The Daily Telegraph . Now Harry and Oprah Winfrey are teaming up on a series for Apple TV+ that will debut...

Hello my ACEsconnection friends! There was a fantastic lineup of guests last week on Dr. Greg WIlliams show, Breaking The Silence where the discussion centered around how neurofeedback is making a profound difference in healing the various physical, emotional and nervous system challenges of childhood trauma and PTSD. Be sure to listen to the recording of the radio show with this link! Given that trauma expert & pioneer Bessell van der Kolk, MD has touted neurofeedback as one of, if not...

Carolyn Curtis, Ph.D. announces an addition to Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience curriculum for uses in one on one settings. She discovered that people had many different desires for using this material. Some people wanted to use Mind Matters in their home visiting program; others wanted to add parts of it to the parenting classes. Some people were meeting with their clients one on one and wanted some structure to their meetings. Based on these requests, Dr. Curtis...

A huge listening audience tuned in this past Sunday evening to listen to the groundbreaking neurofeedback interview with neurofeedback pioneer, & Brain-Trainer International Founder, Peter Van Deusen, as well as neurofeedback practitioners: Stacey Breitmann, Dr. Sharrie Hanley & Mary Giuliani who shared their stories about how neurofeedback has made a profound difference in their lives and the lives of their clients. The link to listen to this program is here:...

By Abigail E Russell, Jon Heron, David Gunnell, et al., Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, September 4, 2019 Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) such as physical and emotional abuse are strongly associated with self‐harm, but mechanisms underlying this relationship are unclear. Inflammation has been linked to both the experience of ACEs and self‐harm or suicide in prior research. This is the first study to examine whether inflammatory markers mediate the association...

By Jeremy Loudenback, Chronicle of Social Change, September 19, 2019 Soon after being appointed California’s first-ever surgeon general, Nadine Burke Harris took off on a barnstorming tour across the state to talk about adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress, an issue she calls “the biggest public health crisis facing California today.” Before the pediatrician was appointed to her position in January by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Harris had founded and led the Center for Youth Wellness,...

By Randy, Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, September 18, 2019 I grew up on the South Side of Chicago. You might know it by “Chiraq,” but we all call it Englewood and it’s a lot of love and a lot of hate out here. Where I live, in my neighborhood, there’s always shootings. Have you ever heard that motto, “Kill or be killed”? That describes Chicago to the fullest in my experience. I first saw my cousin get killed when I was 11. I’ve been arrested on gun charges three different times.

In the U.S., an estimated 17.3 million American adults (7.1% of the adult population), experienced at least one major depressive episode in 2017. 1 The highest rates are reported among those aged between 18 and 25. 2 However, not only is there evidence that depression is vastly overdiagnosed, but there's also evidence showing it's routinely mistreated. With regard to overdiagnosis, one 2013 study 3 found only 38.4% of participants with clinician-identified depression actually met the DSM-4...