Blog

On February 14, a mass shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida that resulted in the deaths of 17 people and the wounding of 17 others. It became one of the world's deadliest school massacres on record, and just the latest in a continuum of school tragedies that have burned names like Sandy Hook and Columbine into the consciousness of America. As she watched the events unfold on television and social media over the next few days, Winden Rowe, M.S., a...

FRANKFORT – State Rep. Will Coursey’s effort to increase the number of mental-health professionals in Kentucky’s schools took a step closer to becoming law this morning when the Kentucky House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly for his House Bill 604. “In the days after that January 23 rd tragedy at Marshall County High School, I began meeting with mental health professionals, law enforcement, educators, and others to see what steps they might recommend,” Rep. Coursey said. “I wanted to...

I devoted half of my book, Childhood Disrupted , to science-based interventions on how individuals can heal from the effects of ACEs. Here are some of the basics. H ere are some really important healing steps we can all take – which the science shows can help reverse the changes to our brains and DNA that might have occurred, growing up with ACES Writing to heal. Research shows individuals who write about emotional upheavals and stressful experiences for 20 minutes each day, over a period of...

As we heal our childhood trauma we can move out of fear into LOVE!

If you don’t fix the hole in the soul… you’re working at the wrong thing . - Oprah Winfrey Far too many children are growing up with a “hole in their soul.” Nearly half the nation’s children have experienced at least one or more traumatic events, including physical or sexual abuse, or neglect. The more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) a child experiences, the greater the risk for physical and emotional problems, well into adulthood. To better understand the impact of childhood trauma and...

Speaking in New Hampshire on Monday, President Donald Trump laid out his long-awaited plan for addressing addiction and overdose deaths in the United States. Among the proposed policies: sentencing drug dealers in some cases to the death penalty. While this punitive strategy has dominated the headlines , Trump also spoke on Monday about a wide mixture of policies meant to tackle the overdose epidemic from every angle. Some of these ideas have research to support their implementation; others...

When I thought about locking up with a crew in 1996, I wanted to see a full initiation first, not parts I stumbled upon over the years. My friend Cliff and I arrived at a park not close from my home in Jamaica, Queens. Leaves danced with the wind around our feet, wafting an eerie feeling in my 14-year-old black body. The grounds of the initiation beckoned: a high-rise chain link fence, enclosing two basketball courts. Through the daylighted chain, I watched scowls and punches and stomps...

When Roger Severino tells his story, discrimination is at its heart. "I did experience discrimination as a child. And that leaves a lasting impression," he tells me. Severino directs the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. When I meet with him at his office in the shadow of the Capitol, he talks about his childhood as the son of Colombian immigrants growing up in Los Angeles. [For more on this story by ALISON KODJAK, go to...

When I saw the sign for the Emmett Till Museum, I knew I had to take the next exit. As a Ph.D. student in American history studying the civil-rights movement, it felt almost like an obligation. My only hesitation was that my 7-year-old son was in the car too. Was he ready to learn about one of the most notorious lynchings in the nation’s history? Could I bear to watch his eyes lose some of their glow? The road that led from the highway to the one-street town of Glendora, Mississippi, was...

How can we create a happier world? That question is on many people’s minds today, as we celebrate the sixth annual International Day of Happiness . This event grew out of a United Nations resolution affirming happiness as a fundamental human goal—and suggesting that we should approach economic growth in a way that promotes well-being for everyone. Social systems and institutions have a role to play in our happiness, and that’s evident in this year’s World Happiness Report . Researchers...

In today's current political and cultural climate, it's crucial that everyday Americans are engaging in important conversations about race, bias, discrimination, and privilege. For people of color, these conversations are nothing new; they are a requirement in communities where experiences of racism, bias, and bigotry are a part of everyday life. But for many white people who have never been burdened by a system built specifically to keep us down, these conversations can seem confusing,...

When I was eight years old, a parent from the YMCA reported concerns about my swim coach to law enforcement. This parent’s suspicions were correct ― I was being sexually abused by a predatory coach. My perpetrator had rendered my family dependent on him after he moved into my childhood home under the guise of helping my newly divorced mother. He found numerous ways to isolate me, taking me to travel meets alone, providing nearly all of my transportation to swim practice and babysitting when...