This past week I was incredibly privileged to attend NatCon19 which is a national learning opportunity sponsored by the National Council on Behavioral Health. I had the opportunity to hear from some of the greatest thought leaders on Trauma-Informed Care and Resilience, including Dr. Bruce Perry, Dr. Stuart Ablon, and Dr. Anthony Salerno. Frankly, my brain is still swimming a bit from all of the ideas and information that was shared.  Here are some of the big highlights:

• ACEs screeners are not diagnostic tools and shouldn't be treated as such.
• Relational health is as important (if not more) to the future health and resilience of an individual who has experienced some sort of trauma or toxic stress
• For organizations, training and taking care of your staff is essential to providing trauma-informed care.
• The key to building resilience and healing trauma - RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS, RELATIONSHIPS!

Perhaps my biggest lesson came from the person responsible for the breakfast room in my hotel. Each day, "Love Bug" (as she called herself) would visit each guest in the dining area and give them a small package of cookies.  As she did so, she would say, "Here is your love for the day.  When you pull this out later, remember that someone loves you."  With some guests, she would stay and visit a minute - for others, just this simple statement and gift was shared.  On the one day that "Love Bug" wasn't there, I noticed a distinct difference in the energy of the dining room.  People were quiet and likely to keep to themselves.  But when "Love" was in the room, the energy was very high - people talking and laughing.

People often ask us what "Trauma-Informed Care" looks like in the community. I say it looks a "Love Bug" with a basket of cookies.

What does "love" look like in your community?