September 2018

If we are not present, we will not see what’s happening and therefore miss out on life. Conversely, whenever we pay attention, life reveals itself to us Being present also cultivates intrinsic hope because it gives us more choices about how to act and makes it more likely that our choices will be appropriate in the moment. Mindfulness Being present is not only about noticing what is happening in the external world; it is also about noticing what is happening in our minds. In fact, you can’t...

Sample Lesson from Superkid Power Teaching Kids to Understand Self Regulation and Responsibility Key concepts from the curriculum are how to breathe deeply to stay calm and how to use that inner calm to control how to respond to whatever is going on around you. First, we teach how to take deep breaths using a 3D prop, called the breathing sphere, that expands and contracts to represent the lungs and diaphragm filling with air along with the teacher counting out the beats of...

Initiating short personal interactions may help students cope with adverse childhood experiences. By Lori Desautels July 18, 2018 We’re learning a lot lately about how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) deeply affect children’s brain development, behavior, and emotional, mental, and physiological health outcomes both while they’re in school and later in life. ACEs impact people’s ability to self-regulate and form healthy relationships, and they impair learning. Psychiatrist and...

New School Year, New Mental Health Lessons: 2 States Now Require It States are starting to integrate mental health into their curriculum -- whether it's English or biology class. BY MATTIE QUINN | SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 (Shutterstock) As students across the country start a new school year, some will be learning about mental health for the first time. In two states, New York and Virginia, public schools are now required to incorporate mental health into their curriculum. New York's law, which took...

PUBLIC HEALTH Childhood Trauma And Its Lifelong Health Effects More Prevalent Among Minorities September 17, 2018 12:20 PM ET TARA HAELLE Nearly 62 percent of respondents had at least one ACE and a quarter reported three or more. The remaining respondents had at least two ACEs, including 16 percent with four or more such experiences. Elva Etienne/Getty Images When researchers first discovered a link in the late 1990s between childhood adversity and chronic health problems later in life, the...

What is needed is an approach that allows practitioners to approach trauma with a fresh lens which promotes a holistic view of healing from traumatic experiences and environments. One approach is called healing centered , as opposed to trauma informed . A healing centered approach is holistic involving culture, spirituality, civic action and collective healing. A healing centered approach views trauma not simply as an individual isolated experience, but rather highlights the ways in which...

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be a challenging mental health issue to manage, especially considering it's unique to each and every individual. However, a common trigger for many people with PTSD is their “trauma anniversary,” or the date that a traumatic incident or event occurred. In fact, a trauma anniversary (and the weeks leading up to it) can be one of the most difficult times during the year for people who live with PTSD. Fortunately, mental health experts say there are ways...

The award for best line ever in a medical report: “Play is not frivolous.” It’s not new, the idea that free play helps children develop in remarkable ways. Multiple studies have found that play builds social skills and creativity and develops the ability to solve problems and to collaborate. What is new is that a clinical report published in August by the American Academy of Pediatrics specifically calls on pediatricians and family doctors to start taking play, well, seriously – in fact to...

Every family that went through Hurricane Harvey has a story. When the storm made landfall in Texas in August 2017, it displaced thousands, killed more than 80 people , and caused damages that are expected to reach more than $150 billion . Elvia, a mother of two from the Houston neighborhood of Pine Trails, was grateful to get through the hurricane with her family safe and her house intact. But they lost their two cars in the flooding and had to evacuate their neighborhood. Elvia, a detention...

The Finger Lakes Resiliency Network (FLRN) is a Trauma-Informed year long Learning Community that provides education, training, consultation, resources and support to providers who are committed to and invested in becoming trauma-informed. The FLRN was designed to foster organizational growth and development; challenging current practices and utilizing support and shared experiences with other schools and organizations committed to becoming trauma-informed. This network will provide the...