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Surrounded by the vibrant, emerald trees that give the city its nickname, Seattle’s Ravenna Woods seem like the perfect place for homeless people to build shelter without disrupting metropolitan life. If not for a large, homemade banner at the entrance of the encampment that read, “ Do Homeless Lives Matter ?” you might not even have noticed they were there. Earlier this year, I visited the Ravenna Woods encampment, both to protest its removal and to interview homeless people about their...

Undercounting children under age 5 for the 2020 Census could have dire consequences for their public services, health and education, this year’s Kids Count Data Book warns. In 2010, the Census missed one million children under age 5 — the worst undercounting since 1950. Such undercounting, which has happened since 1980, has only gotten worse, said Florencia Gutierrez, senior research associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation . “If they’re not counted, the government doesn’t know they...

I visited Dilley, Texas, in 2015 as part of a research team investigating practices at detention centers that housed migrants from Central America. Our study was commissioned by the Unitarian Universalist Church in order to report on and make recommendations regarding practices related to detaining migrants at that time. Again, remember that was 2015 and took place during the Obama administration. The findings of that study can be viewed in detail here . But, I would like to address...

It’s not just the kids at the border. America systematically shortchanges tens of millions of children, including homegrown kids. The upshot is that American kids are more likely to be poor, to drop out of high school and even to die young than in other advanced countries. We tear apart homegrown families, too, through mass incarceration, excessive juvenile detention and overuse of foster care. One black child in 10 spends time in foster care — and 61,000 foster kids have simply gone missing...

In your journey to understanding what it means to be human on this planet at this time, it came become quite overwhelming to think of the many ways of comprehending the nature of reality. What is life all about? How do we create well-being in our individual and collective lives? How do we stay aware of what is happening in a complex world, yet not lose hope? For my own journey, as a scientist and physician, as a psychotherapist and educator, I have found a process of weaving various...

From the outside, it seems puzzling that any person could develop an eating disorder like anorexia, bulimia or compulsive overeating. When we see someone starving themselves or eating themselves into obesity, the temptation is to criticize or correct them: “Just stop it! Can’t you see you’re hurting yourself?” But criticism or judgment is the last thing a person with an eating disorder needs. If we want to help people suffering to recover, the best, strongest healing forces we can bring are...

Join the Center for Youth Wellness and ACEs Connection at the 2018 ACEs Conference , "Action to Access", in San Francisco, October 15-17. This conference offers experts and practitioners working in healthcare and other sectors a hands-on opportunity to deepen their understanding of the life-long effects of ACEs, so that they can help build a better future for all children exposed to early adversity and trauma. Participants will connect with experts in health, early childhood education, child...

[Ed. note: This is from the MRBN newsletter.] In 2017, Maine Resilience Building Network received funding from the Bingham Foundation to develop Community Resilience Facilitators throughout the State of Maine who would be available to present basic information about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Resilience and help to begin conversations and facilitate dialogue around ACEs and Resilience within communities. This past May, Sue Mackey Andrews, MRBN Co-Facilitator, and Joy Anne...

Thank you for joining us on June 21, 2018 for A Collaborative Model for Success: Magnolia Community Initiative The SoCal Learning Community was so pleased to showcase the Magnolia Community Initiative (MCI) at the convening last week. With over 70 partners of residents, and public and private organizations, MCI covers a 5-square mile/500 block catchment area that includes 35,000 youth and children in Los Angeles. MCI is improving outcomes for an entire community of vulnerable, low income...

Exercise may be just as crucial to a depression patient's good health as finding an effective antidepressant. A new study of nearly 18,000 participants found that those with high fitness at middle age were significantly less likely to die from heart disease in later life, even if they were diagnosed with depression . The research—a collaboration between UT Southwestern and The Cooper Institute—underscores the multiple ways in which depression may ultimately impact health and mortality. It...

Women in the postpartum period should be screened for anger in addition to depression and anxiety, new research from the University of British Columbia suggests. Although anger has been recognized as an element of postpartum mood problems for some women, it has not been well studied and is not included in the widely used Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale screening tool. In a review of existing research, UBC nursing PhD student Christine Ou found anger to be a significant feature in...

Hi all, Too often in our work we deal with the negative impact of epigenetics. Dr Ken Pelletier has written the book listed below, to help us address those negative impacts. (Full disclosure, I worked for Dr. Pelletier many years ago. I have the utmost respect for his work.) I am looking forward to reading it and learning new tools that can enhance resiliency and mitigate the impact of ACES. I have included the blurb about the book below, but you can check out his website and reviews for...