Blog

I love the idea of having a trauma-sensitive society. "Trauma-sensitive" is another one of those buzz phrases making its way into the mainstream.

“With Trauma-informed yoga therapy, we can tap into how our stresses are stored in the body, and find healing and relaxation,” Kelly Kreutz asserts. Kelly, a yoga instructor and an LICSW, will be teaching morning yoga and mindfulness classes at CRI’s Beyond Paper Tigers (BPT) conference later this month. Her interest in yoga developed alongside her work as a counselor specializing in trauma, grief, and anxiety. As she witnessed the benefits of yoga in her own life, she felt inspired to blend...

This is what happens inside children when they are forcibly separated from their parents. Their heart rate goes up. Their body releases a flood of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. Those stress hormones can start killing off dendrites — the little branches in brain cells that transmit mes­sages. In time, the stress can start killing off neurons and — especially in young children — wreaking dramatic and long-term damage, both psychologically and to the physical structure of the...

ProPublica - a remarkable nonprofit investigative journalism organization - has released audio of young children weeping and begging for their parents - being held in detention by US officials for seeking asylum here. After listening for perhaps 30 seconds I could not bear it - this is such a huge trauma trigger. However that doesn't mean I can't take action to fight for an end to the trauma being inflicted on these children. Everyone on this site understands the lasting harm being done to...

In our next edition of Anna, Age Eight , we might change Chapter Ten’s title Experience being courageous preferred, but not essential. A more accurate title is Courage required. In The Republic , Plato describes civic courage as a sort of perseverance. We agree. We don’t underestimate the bravery and fortitude it will take to prevent the epidemic of childhood trauma and ensure that a fatality like eight-year-old Anna never happens again. I offer a slightly modified excerpt from our final...

Garry Powers stands on Alameda Street near the North Vignes Street overpass, across from a smoke shop and a Vietnamese restaurant. He’s on the edge of Chinatown and a couple of miles north of Boyle Heights, a neighborhood once rife with gangs. The wall behind him is a glowing yellow-gold. Painted on it are outspread blue wings that nearly match the faded tattoo on his neck. He looks swathed in wings. A halo on the wall seems to hover above his head. Powers grew up in Baldwin Park outside Los...

Ben Zimmerman lives in a suburb of Chicago. Like a lot of 9-year-olds, he's fond of YouTube, Roblox, and Minecraft. And, like a lot of parents, his mom and dad wanted to make sure Ben wasn't spending too much time on those activities. They tried to use Google's "Family Link" parental control software to limit screen time for Ben and his older sister, Claudia. Ben went on YouTube to search for a workaround. When he couldn't find one, he figured one out himself. His dad, who happens to work in...

U.S. immigration agents raided an Ohio gardening company on June 5, arresting 114 suspected undocumented workers. This followed other large workplace raids , including a raid on a rural Tennessee meat-processing plant in April. The raids suggest the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is returning to sweeping immigration enforcement tactics not seen since the George W. Bush administration. While the immediate shock and trauma of these raids is visible, there are also longer-term impacts on...

After celebrities Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain died by suicide within days of each other last week , thousands of people picked up their phones. Messages to the National Crisis Text Line more than doubled. Calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline jumped 65 percent. Social media was flooded with news reports and personal messages encouraging people to reach out for help. Mental health advocates hope this bit of viral attention can be harnessed for lasting changes. Dr. Steve...

In 2016, high school rising junior Hank Sanders had an inkling of an idea. He wanted to take his school’s popular culinary arts class and give the food to people experiencing homelessness. As it stood, students ate the food they cooked. Outside Portland, Oregon’s Lincoln High School, where Sanders attends, he saw people who were sleeping on the streets. He approached his friends with his idea and they ran with it. As with many cities across the U.S., Portland has a homelessness problem. In...

An immigration official announced this past Friday that, in the 42 days between April 19 and May 31, approximately 2,000 immigrant children were removed from the care of their parents and taken into federal custody, At the same time, 11,000 immigrant children are now in shelters, according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. “Shelters,” however, appears to be a catch-all term for a wide variety of facilities that vary from small, generally child-friendly structures, to a converted Walmart...

“Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able” – Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the Yellow Wallpaper, 1892 It is wonderful to see the birth of a child greeted with warm enthusiasm and support. We celebrate the joy of a growing family, and the excitement of a new life. Relatives and friends often provide gifts and extra help. But for some new moms, motherhood brings on many complex emotions besides the happy ones. While we may greet a new baby with happiness and delight –...