Blog

Today, we remember those who died by suicide — and the people who were left behind. We remember our loved ones and how they lived, the moments of joy that existed alongside the pain. We remember their death does not define them. We remember their death does not define us. We remember hope. Hope for healing, hope for recovery, hope for ourselves and for a better tomorrow. We remember to support each other through unanswered questions, complicated grief and the “new normal” that at times can...

Yay! The holidays are here and everywhere, people with some level of Childhood PTSD are facing the prospect of returning home. Let's say you've escaped a childhood that contained abuse, neglect, and exposure to parental violence and addiction, and let's say now you're living happy and free as a grown-up. You get an e-mail. It's your mother. She wants to know if you are coming home for Thanksgiving and you say yes, of course, and you jump right online and book a $400 plane ticket. And then...

The film "Cracked Up," produced and directed by Michelle Esrick, documents the pain and agony behind the jokes and smiles. Darrell Hammond, the comedian made famous by his Bill Clinton impersonation, talks to CNN's John Vause about years of self harm, drug and alcohol abuse and the memories of child trauma which were repressed for decades. Here are articles about the documentary: A private screening of a work-in-progress unveils the personal struggles of SNL veteran and comedian Darrell...

Understanding the long-term impact of developmental trauma, how trauma impacts the brain, and the science of resiliency is a powerful first step toward change. It is exciting to watch people begin to let this knowledge soak in… and even more exciting when they begin to ask “Now what?” As I have worked with organizations across the State of South Dakota, I have found that often what they are really looking for is the curriculum or recipe book that they can follow for their clients or...

Andrew and Ariya Boone got the call from Paradise Elementary at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 8. Fire was roaring toward the town of Paradise and they had to come immediately to pick up their three boys. Andrew raced to the school as Ariya frantically packed the family’s most treasured belongings and soothed their small daughter while the sky, which had been relatively clear just an hour before, turned so dark that it felt like “10 o’clock at night at 9:30 in the morning.” “It was insane…the fire was...

In order to process our emotional distress and move it though and out of our body, we need to learn to recognize and express our emotions in a healthy way, in the body and mind.

This is the second post in our two-part series about the session led by Dr. Flojaune Cofer and Ben Duncan, each from a public health background with a focus on health disparities. They addressed ACEs in the context of health equity at their panel entitled ACEs, Race, and Health Equity: Understanding and Addressing the Role of Race and Racism in ACEs Exposure and Healing. The panel occurred at the 2018 ACEs Conference: Action to Access co-hosted by ACEs Connection and the Center for Youth...

Announcing! The 2019 Beyond Paper Tigers Trauma-Informed Care Conference on June 26 & 27, 2019 will revolve around the theme, " Building Resilience Across the Life Span ," with Pre-Conference Trainings, Social/Networking event, and film screenings beginning on Tuesday June 25, 2019. Early bird conference ticket pricing is being offered until March 15, 2019! Purchase tickets here: https://beyondpapertigers. eventbrite.com Visit our conference page for more information:...

Thank you to everyone who participated in CRI’s October is Resilience Month! From film screenings to a Dia de los Muertos celebration, from yard signs to new products, we accomplished a lot this past month! CRI kicked off the month with two proclamations - from the City of Walla Walla and the county- to declare our effort to mitigate ACEs via community resilience building. We hosted a resilience treasure hunt with our friend Tod Sullivan , themed according to his home country- England. He...

Given the high number of young people experiencing homelessness and housing instability, current housing resources are insufficient to fully address the challenge. To achieve the greatest impact with limited resources, communities across the country are beginning to move from fragmented programs toward coordinated, system-level responses to youth homelessness. To support communities’ efforts, we analyzed the largest national data set combining youth risk assessments (based on the...

Algorithms should not decide who spends time in a California jail. But that’s exactly what will happen under S.B. 10, a new law slated to take effect in October 2019. The law, which Governor Jerry Brown signed in September, requires the state’s criminal justice system to replace cash bail with an algorithmic pretrial risk assessment. Each county in California must use some form of pretrial risk assessment to categorize every person arrested as a “low,” “medium,” or “high” risk of failing to...

Susan Burton is the nationally known justice reform leader whom the New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof and civil rights lawyer/ bestselling author Michelle Alexander have called a modern day Harriett Tubman. She is also the founder of A New Way of Life Re-Entry Project , a program that has, to date, helped more than a 1000 women escape poverty and trauma and get on their feet when they return from prison. In addition, Burton is the author of the stunning memoir, Becoming Ms. Burton: From...