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I think many people, if not MOST people, who actually have very high ACE scores and don't know this part of their story, already know very clearly that trauma (even though they might never have used this exact word to describe their experiences) exists in their lives. What most of us have never had before is (1) a CONTEXT that can give us some sense of true meaning for this trauma, (2) a clear idea of the consequences on many levels for what this trauma "has done to us", and (3) a way out of...

From her home in Helsinki, Maria Jain began a correspondence with a death row inmate in the US. Now, they've co-created an art exhibit that explores the need for justice reform, the potential for personal transformation, and the intricacies of healing. We talk about our lives growing up. The era was the same, the 80’s and the 90’s; the places were very different. I grew up in Finland; he grew up in Texas. I share about my difficult teenage years when I turned to self-harming. I talk about my...

Around six months ago, the photographer Salvador Espinoza began spending a lot of time riding the Q100 bus through Queens, New York. The bus departs from Queens Plaza in Long Island City, winds north through Astoria, and ends at Rikers Island, the jail complex in the East River. The Q100 is the only form of New York City public transit that reaches the jail, Espinoza says. If inmates have no one to bring them home upon release, they’re handed a MetroCard and directed to the bus. As a kid...

[Photo by Beeblebrox at en.wikipedia ] Editor’s Note: MAPP, Mobilizing for Action through- Planning & Partnerships, is a local coalition that aims to use and build upon our strengths to improve our individual, family and community health. Health is defined broadly to include cultural, economic, educational, environmental, mental, physical and spiritual health. Tis the season of resolutions. I always hate to see how people start off with such positivity and idealism, plan to be stronger...

Napping for an hour in the afternoon may provide a mental boost for older adults, a new study suggests. This extra daytime sleep was linked to improved memory and ability to think clearly among the Chinese study participants, the researchers said. The study included information from nearly 3,000 adults aged 65 and older. The investigators looked at the participants' nighttime sleep habits and whether or not they took a nap in the afternoon to determine if this extra rest during the day had...

If you think you’re hearing the word “empathy” everywhere, you’re right. It’s now on the lips of scientists and business leaders, education experts and political activists. But there is a vital question that few people ask: How can I expand my own empathic potential ? Empathy is not just a way to extend the boundaries of your moral universe. According to new research, it’s a habit we can cultivate to improve the quality of our own lives. Over the last decade, neuroscientists have identified...

Tissue Alert! After telling the men sitting in the circle of chairs about my assault, I described its aftermath—the high-pitched anxiety and fear , the flashbacks and nightmares , the strain on my relationships, the bitterness of feeling reduced to a narrow identity : rape survivor. Their faces radiated with unmistakable empathy . The tall man in the baseball cap leaned forward. “What would you say to your rapist if he walked through the door right now?” he asked. I knew exactly what I would...

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence , in the United States alone, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by their partner. This comes out to more than ten million people each year. One in three women and one in four men have been victims of physical abuse by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. Given the frequency of incidents, then, how can health-care professionals, advocates, and attorneys best work with domestic violence survivors? Some...

Advancing social mobility—a phrase that’s shorthand for making it more likely that children will grow up to be better off financially than their parents—elicits universal approval as a virtuous endeavor. It’s a progressive cause that most people instinctively support without giving much thought to all that it signifies. The semantics partially inhibit critical faculties—“mobility” is preferable to inertia. Also, the idea of social mobility conveys a righteous alternative to the rigidity and...

As bad as inequality is across the United States as a whole, it is even worse in our major cities. The inequality of America’s metro areas mirrors that of the some of the most unequal nations unearth: New York’s is comparable to Swaziland, Los Angeles’ similar to the Dominican Republic, Chicago’s comparable to El Salvador, and San Francisco's similar to Madagascar. America’s largest, densest, most affluent, and most liberal-leaning cities are, in fact, the places where inequality is the...

I will take my oath of office today and have the honor of representing Silicon Valley in the U.S. House of Representatives. My political campaign succeeded because of the help of hundreds of students. Their ambition and drive will allow them to flourish, but I am concerned about their well-being. These students were volunteering because of a genuine passion for giving back to the community. But a few also told me that the campaign work was a release, or as one student put it “a respite from...

A new federal report recommends that schools emphasize building children’s “self-regulation” skills in order to increase opportunities for student success in a number of areas. The recommendation is one of several in the report, the fourth in a series on self-regulation research and practice from the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Researchers have zeroed in on the importance of self-regulation skills, which allow children...