February 2021

The annual Creating Trauma Sensitive Schools Conference put on by the Attachment and Trauma Network was held online last week. This year there was a parent track for participants as well as a 90-minute parent panel hosted by Ginger Healey. While you can still access the workshops online, for those who want a few of the highlights from the parent panel, please see the quotes below. There are quotes from Healey as well as the four panelists. Anna Paravano (Panelist) Parent Empowering Other...

High blood pressure. In your third trimester of pregnancy, you do not want to hear these three words, especially if you are planning to have a home birth. My blood pressure nearly caused me to have an induction for my first birth and transfer to a hospital birth for my second birth. I wish I had known of the ACEs test so I wouldn't have felt so lost and guilty. For my first birth I was clueless. I did not understand why this was happening to me because I ate a healthy diet, went to boxing...

On behalf of ACEs Connection , the CTIPP (The Campaign for Trauma -Informed Policy & Practice), and the Relentless School Nurse , we want to invite you to the streaming of parts 4 and 5 of the Whole People documentary series on the weekend o f M arch 12th through March 14th, 2021. We will stream both parts on ACEs Connection in the Transforming Trauma with ACEs Sciences Film Festival community. The documentary viewing will be followed by a discussion with special guest, Father Paul...

If we think of drawing another person as a metaphor for truly seeing and honoring them, what does it mean that the children in our lives, White children and children of color alike, often exclusively draw White characters? As parents of multiracial Black girls we asked this question ourselves when we noticed that the racial diversity in their lives - friends, dolls, books, other children's media - wasn't reflected in the people they drew, who were largely White. It made us think about how we...

By Sharon Holbrook, The New York Times, February 11, 2021 I begged my 12-year-old to help me with the pandemic task of learning to dye my hair at home. I could have done it myself, but I’ve learned that small opportunities to feel useful and successful are good for kids’ mental health, which I’m especially attuned to in our current circumstances. Among the other ideas I’ve tried during these long months: Letting my kids practice phone skills by having them call to order takeout and asking...

From PBS Kids, Public Broadcasting Service, February 2021 Children are never too young to learn about diversity. As young as 3 months old, they may look differently at people who look like or don’t look like their primary caregivers. As parents and caregivers, we must have confidence in ourselves and in our children — that we, and they, can handle tough topics and tough situations. We must understand that our role is to be honest, specific, and trustworthy as we raise the next generation to...

By Tanya Mendis, WCNC, February 8, 2021 Congresswoman Alma Adams remembered vividly the day her daughter nearly lost her life. It happened when her daughter was trying to bring life into this world. “A physician overlooking my daughter’s complaints of pain in her abdomen, not listening to her needs as a Black woman,” Adams said. “Their dismissal of her pain almost cost my daughter her life.” Adams’ daughter’s experience is one that echoes through the Black community. Maternal mortality rates...

Often, people who have a history of trauma in childhood find themselves struggling to flourish in adulthood. Trauma affects the brain in ways that can make you more likely to experience difficulty when faced with emotionally stressful and demanding situations in your relationships, at work, and as a parent. Throughout my life, both growing up and as an adult, I’ve faced a number of challenging life experiences, stressors, and traumas, and I understand this struggle on a deep, intrinsic...

CMSC Circles of Practice: Public Offering is pleased to bring you this very special silent retreat in honor of women around the world. Harnessing Fierce Self-Compassion offers an opportunity to come together in a global community for practice, connection, and the chance to explore our innate capacity for fierce self-compassion. Presenters: Dr. Kristin Neff: Fierce Yang and Tender Yin Self-Compassion Dr. Marta Alonso: Fierce Self-Compassion and the Body Aimee Eckhardt : Parenting with Fierce...

ACEs Parenting Theater Course Parents with a high ACE score may find it difficult to draw upon their own childhood memories for examples of positive parenting. They aren’t alone. For many, the way we parent our own children often mirrors the way we ourselves were raised, whether we do this consciously or not. You may think this only natural since one’s parents are the primary reference point for how to communicate, relate, and respond to others and to life. As they say, “You don’t know what...

Hello ACE Followers, We are so looking forward to 2021 and we hope for a year filled with coming together, protecting our families and neighbors, and building stronger communities. I strongly believe that using Circle concepts, tools, and practices in our work and our personal lives can really transform relationships. We wished that our first training of the year could have been in person. However, the upside of having virtual trainings is that literally, anyone, anywhere in the world can...