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In the minds of many, the South Side of Chicago has descended into a type of madness. While crime doesn’t define the vibrant, inspiring city, violence clings to certain South Side streets where shootings have become commonplace. President Trump referred to parts of the city as “worse” than areas in the Middle East. A few weeks ago, two men shot a young man named Daniel Cardova, and when a group gathered to mourn Cardova some hours later, yet another shooting occurred, killing two people and...

Sometime around 2010, about two-thirds of the way through his 13 years at the helm of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)—the world’s largest mental-health research institution—Tom Insel started speaking with unusual frankness about how both psychiatry and his own institute were failing to help the mentally ill. Insel, runner-trim, quietly alert, and constitutionally diplomatic, did not rant about this. It’s not in him. You won’t hear him trash-talk colleagues or critics. [For...

What is often deemed the most intoxicating part of weight-loss stories is the moment of triumph. Think, confetti showering the winning contestant on a reality show, a newly svelte celebrity swimming inside their “fat ” jeans, or Oprah underscoring in a Weight Watchers ad that she can, in fact, eat bread every day. At a time when there is no shortage of recommendations for women on how to discipline or make peace with their bodies, Roxane Gay’s book, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, stands out...

The 2017 KIDS COUNT Data Book urges policymakers not to back away from targeted investments that help U.S. children become healthier, more likely to complete high school and better positioned to contribute to the nation’s economy as adults. The Data Book also shows the child poverty rate in 2015 continued to drop, landing at 21%. In addition, children experienced gains in reading proficiency and a significant increase in the number of kids with health insurance. However, the data indicate...

You know that sinking feeling you get when you say yes to too many requests, take on too much when you know you won’t be able to tackle it all, feel obligated to push yourself to the limit out of fear, anxiety , depression, loneliness, competitiveness or something else? Being in over your head is never pleasant, yet it doesn’t have to reduce you to a blubbering mess. [For more of this story, written by Suzanne Kane, go to ...

One Spot Left in the week long Level 1 Residential Training at Myrna' home in Vancouver Canada... The training provides an opportunity to understand the primal period, from preconception through the first year of life is vital for anyone who works therapeutically with people, including infants, children, families or adults.

"If you were to ask me what my thoughts are on the most effective public health advance that I can think of in current times, I would say to figure out how to improve parenting skills across the nation." Vincent J. Felitti, MD ACE Study author Visit advancingparenting.org to read about what we do, why we do it, and our plans for the future.

People recover from the everyday traumas of childhood in many different ways. Here's a personal experience I thought to share. Although it is slightly embarrassing for me to admit certain aspects of myself in this post, I feel proud of it too. This might resonate for you if your curious about your response to disappointment.

On June 20th in Rogers, Arkansas, Gundersen National Child Protection Training Center will be kicking off their Violence Intervention and Prevention Summit. As a leader in the field of child protection, Gundersen National Child Protection Training Center has developed advanced courses in forensic interviewing, prevention, addressing the spiritual needs of maltreated children and reforming undergraduate training of future child protection professionals. Offering a broad variety of session...

Parents with PTSD from ACEs sharing what's hard about parenting while post-traumatically stressed: "Managing the terror around the possibility of everyone being a perp." "How to talk to children about why they won't meet X relative." “There was a point when I would feel completely overwhelmed by something as simple as having to make breakfast and school lunches at the same time.” "I didn't understand that not all parents reacted or were triggered the way I was." "was stone set on not...

Dr. Tasneem Ismailji talks about the creation of the Academy on Violence and Abuse (AVA) and becoming an advocate for Family Violence Prevention.

County jail is the last place someone experiencing a mental health crisis should end up. Emergency rooms are better, but still not ideal as people experiencing mental health crises are often relegated to windowless rooms with limited treatment options and minimal exercise for days, and sometimes even weeks. Both systems can be dehumanizing and traumatic at a time when people in crisis are the most vulnerable. All too often, there is a revolving door between the ER, jail and the streets. [For...