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Here at the Kids First Center, an agency whose mission is to lessen the negative impact of divorce and parental separation on kids, we talk with parents every day who are dealing with one of the most stressful life events they will ever encounter. They worry about how they’ll get through the next week, month or year, and they worry about the long-term effects of their decisions on the kids. What do we tell parents? Keep your kids out of the middle and away from prolonged conflict. It’s not...

Children as young as 13 can be tried in adult criminal court for serious crimes in New York state. But instead of redirecting troubled kids, prison hardens them. That’s why the New York Foundling, a private children’s-advocacy organization, offers an alternative, Families Rising , a diversionary option that mandates family therapy in exchange for delayed sentencing and avoiding a criminal record entirely if the program is completed successfully. The program also costs significantly less than...

Dear President-elect: You have an historic opportunity to be the first president to make children’s mental health a high priority in your new administration. This is your chance to help unite a terribly divided nation around a critically important issue. Our kids are hurting. About 1 in 5 children suffer from some type of mental disorder. Some problems are mild, but others are serious, resulting in debilitating emotional and behavioral problems. Untreated disorders resonate throughout a...

Are you shocked by how much racism reared its head this past election? In hindsight, there were clues everywhere—even in the photo spreads of magazines aimed at women readers. Newly published research examines the images found in 17 popular publications. It reports more than 90 percent of black, Asian, or Latina women had either light- or medium-toned skin. Psychologists Leah Boepple and J. Kevin Thompson of the University of South Florida reveal their findings in the journal Psychology of...

When students returned to their two public high schools in Palo Alto, California in August, they found something new on campus: wellness centers. In this Silicon Valley town that has experienced too many teen suicides, the schools are trying to make mental health services as normal as eating breakfast or taking medicine for a physical ailment. At the wellness centers, students can visit a nurse, see a counselor, or just relax with a granola bar or cup of tea. “I actually come in here quite...

In the sullen basement of Louisville’s Hall of Justice, families reunite on a Sunday night. Scattered about, women and toddlers and a few others sometimes wait hours to see a loved one incarcerated in the next building over. No cuddles or hugs will occur during their few moments together. Just a picture on the screen and a voice through a phone give the most basic form of contact. While they bide their time, men on house arrest snake through a large gray room outlined with maroon plastic...

{Photo above is the visual depiction of my human design} Have you ever wondered how the day and time of your birth, coupled with the precise location in which you were born could help you enhance your own resilience? If you’re like me, that thought may have never crossed your mind. And until very recently, I had never heard of “this thing” called Human Design , a visual representation of how individuals function that names our feelings and provides insights into how we work as human beings.

I am excited to announce that ACEs Connection Network has partnered with the producers of the film, Portraits of Professional CAREgivers: Their Passion. Their Pain . to host a FREE SCREENING of the film for our members. If you have been t hinking of hosting a screening of CAREgivers in your community or are interested in learning more about secondary traumatic stress and what to do about it, join our ACEs Connection Network for a FREE screening of this film and a virtual chat with the...

Fifteen years ago, when our son began experiencing early signs of psychosis, options for help were scarce. In order for him to receive treatment of any kind, he had to be considered a danger to himself or others. He reached that threshold when he was 18, and how did the mental health system respond? The police arrived, handcuffed him and transported him to our state’s psychiatric hospital. During a hearing at the hospital, he was involuntarily committed. He lost his right to participate in...

There's new evidence that excessive screen time early in life can change the circuits in a growing brain. Scientists disagree, though, about whether those changes are helpful, or just cause problems. Both views emerged during the Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego this week. The debate centered on a study of young mice exposed to six hours daily of a sound and light show reminiscent of a video game. The mice showed "dramatic changes everywhere in the brain," said Jan-Marino...

For Freida Lockaby, an unemployed 56-year-old woman who lives with her dog in an aging mobile home in Manchester, Ky., one of America's poorest places, the Affordable Care Act was life altering. The law allowed Kentucky to expand Medicaid in 2014 and made Lockaby – along with 440,000 other low-income state residents – newly eligible for free health care under the state-federal insurance program. Enrollment gave Lockaby her first insurance in 11 years. "It's been a godsend to me," said the...

(Note: This is an excerpt from an article just published in PTSD Journal . The online version of the magazine is available for free. This article is on page 15. When it comes to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, most agree that the higher the “dose” of trauma, the greater the likelihood of getting PTSD. For this reason, studies of veterans focus on the amount of combat trauma. Rarely do studies consider the “dose” of predeployment trauma experienced at home. This is a mistake. Consider the...