Blog

By Aditi Vaidya, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, August 20, 2019 While many think of the Bay Area of California as the center of big tech and wealth, my memories of Oakland take me back to its Port truck drivers. Working an average of 11 hours a day, waiting in long lines at the Port of Oakland to pick up their loads, truck drivers in the Bay Area were isolated—living in the rigs they decorated with photos of their children and families. You can guess all of the reasons this is...

By Zaidee Stavely, EdSource, September 3, 2019 For almost two years, Eva Morales moved from homeless shelter to homeless shelter. Sometimes she stayed with friends. On the worst nights, she slept in a friend’s car. It was hard for Morales, but harder for her two small children, who had to adapt with each move, only to be uprooted again soon after. Her son, who is now 4, angered easily. He didn’t want to play with his 2-year-old sister and he refused to eat most of the food at the shelter.

A new article about possible dangers to ACES screening that references a 2017 study on the subject. https://www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/2019/06/16/widespread-screening-aces-could-do-more-damage-good An excerpt from the referenced study (and generally the tone of the article): Any screening around childhood adversities should make sure that su ffi cient evidence based treatment resources are available to handle likely referrals. Since many communities have a limited supply of these...

Read the full article here! https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.sgim.org_File-2520Library_SGIM_Resource-2520Library_Forum_2019_SGIM-2DSept-2D8.pdf&d=DwIFAg&c=ZQs-KZ8oxEw0p81sqgiaRA&r=KBfJSFe9eEx3b2ia4rpJlQ&m=Qqe3YfIaxBtjodz33fcGIhtYc7vQhYZXd0ViPkngwEY&s=nRa9pGpeJk2JGXd50KJ03L7ij2edxLKXwfHuTEEiKqs&e= We are excited to highlight the insights a trauma informed, healing centered lens can bring to building wellbeing and resilience for all of us.

By Giles Bruce, Center for Health Journalism, August 26, 2019 Incarcerating parents doesn’t just affect them, but can also have a major mental health impact on the children left behind, even as those kids become adults. That’s the crux of a new study published in JAMA Network Open that crystallizes the long-term psychological effects of having a caregiver behind bars. It comes at a time when an estimated 8% of American children have had a parent or guardian imprisoned. Previous research has...

By Meg Anderson and Sean McMinn, National Public Radio, September 3, 2019 When Shakira Franklin drives from West Baltimore to her job near the city's Inner Harbor, she can feel the summer heat ease up like a fist loosening its grip. "I can actually feel me riding out of the heat. When I get to a certain place when I'm on my way, I'll turn off my air and I'll roll my windows down," says Franklin. "It just seems like the sun is beaming down on this neighborhood." Franklin isn't imagining that.

By Erin P. Hambrick, Thomas W. Brawner, Bruce D. Perry, et. al., Science Direct, June 2019 Abstract Background The association between developmental adversity and children's functioning is complex, particularly given the multifaceted nature of adverse experiences. The association between the timing of experience and outcomes is under researched and clinically under-appreciated. We examine how the timing of both adverse (including potentially traumatic) events and relational poverty are...

In this series, Teri Wellbrock, host of The Healing Place Podcast, shares lessons she has utilized along her healing journey from trauma to triumph. Join Teri on iTunes, Spotify, Blubrry, and her website for audio versions.

By May Sonnenberg, The Fayetteville Observer, September 3, 2019 The LA Times recently published an op-ed called, “We have studied every mass shooting since 1966. Here’s what we’ve learned about the shooters.” This piece, written by Jillian Peterson and James Densley, clearly outlines their goal of using data as a pathway to prevent mass shootings. The data revealed four commonalities among the perpetrators of nearly all the mass shootings they studied. The very first commonality caught my...

By Daniel Strain, University of Colorado Boulder, September 3, 2019 At the start of second grade several years ago, a young boy that we’ll call Carlton to protect his privacy had been through more than most of his school friends. Before classes began, Carlton was diagnosed with lymphoma. But when he got to school, the boy decided to share his story with his fellow seven-year-olds. He even pointed out where doctors had poked him to draw blood. And that’s when something surprising happened,...

By Amanda Michelle Gomez, Washington City Paper, August 30, 2019 October 30, 2018 was different—that was the day the job got personal for Beverly Smith-Brown. She works for the Alliance of Concerned Men, where she’s on alert 24-hours a day, seven days a week, to respond when residents suffer gunshot and stab wounds in Southeast D.C. While working as a trauma-informed advocate at a crime scene in Ward 8, she got a phone call from her sister: Her nephew, 25-year-old Taquan Smith, was shot...

When I was younger, I always knew that I was different from my peers. I had a sense that I didn't belong in any of the cliques at school, I didn't feel as if I fit in with my own family, and I never felt comfortable within my own skin. In response to never feeling "a part of", I started to try to blend into any group of people that would accept me. This led me to a bad crowd of friends, who I was desperately trying to impress in any way that I could. I began drinking and using drugs at the...