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The Great Recession rewrote the American dream. Millions of Americans who thought they’d captured the flag instead got swallowed up by a national mortgage-foreclosure crisis. Many of those former homeowners are now renters, competing in ever-more concentrated job markets for ever-scarcer affordable housing. So perhaps it comes as no surprise that most Americans say that the housing crisis never ended. In fact, one in five Americans say that the worst is yet to come, according to a new poll...

Andy Stern has been part of the U.S. labor movement for decades. He was formerly the president of the Service Employees International Union, which represents nearly 2 million American workers. During his tenure at the SEIU, he was hailed as “the nation’s most politically influential union president,” which made his resignation in 2010 something of a surprise. Stern’s new book, Raising the Floor, details his views on the changing nature of work in America and explains why Stern has come...

Traumatic experiences in childhood increase the risk of developing behavioral and psychiatric disorders later in life. It is also known that the consequences of a trauma can likewise be observed in the children of people affected even if those children have themselves not experienced any trauma. However, childhood trauma in some conditions can also help individuals deal better with difficult situations later in life. This ability, too, is passed onto following generations. These findings...

The mass shooting at an Orlando gay club this month killed 49 people , wounded at least 50 others, and, in the minds of many within the LGBTQ community, violated a sacred space. In his comments following the tragedy, President Barack Obama called the Pulse nightclub, the site of the massacre, a “sanctuary,” a place to sing, dance, “and most importantly, to be who you truly are” that had been violated by a horrific act of violence. While a hideous reminder of unvarnished hate, the shooting...

Bullying and cyberbullying are major risk factors for teen suicide. And both the bullies and their victims are at risk. That's according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics that urges pediatricians and family doctors to routinely screen teenagers for suicide risks. "Pediatricians need to be aware of the problem overall," says Benjamin Shain , a child and adolescent psychiatrist and lead author of the report published online Monday in the journalPediatrics. "They should be...

Family secrets. Unspeakable truths. These are topics those of us with adverse childhood experiences contend with in childhood and as adults. Often. Some researchers argue that it's suppression and secrecy that burdens the body, can be toxic and part of the reason some of us get sick. It's one of the reasons writing can improve health. With writing, we can sometimes unburden the body of secrets without having confrontations before ready. Secrets are talked about in this Dear Sugar podcast...

As I read the post about young women who wanted to start an invisible self treatment program for some of their friends who suffered from addiction [ LINK HERE ], it reminds me of many conversations I have had with high ACE individuals, especially women, in rural Alaska Villages. When they told about the abuse they were subjected to, they were ordered not to talk about it. And if they persisted, they were shunned. Think about it. If a parent is abusing their children, and the other parent is...

I SHOT heroin and cocaine while attending Columbia in the 1980s, sometimes injecting many times a day and leaving scars that are still visible. I kept using, even after I was suspended from school, after I overdosed and even after I was arrested for dealing, despite knowing that this could reduce my chances of staying out of prison. My parents were devastated: They couldn’t understand what had happened to their “gifted” child who had always excelled academically. They kept hoping I would...

I’m still reeling with the shock of yet another mass murder in the U.S. As we learn more about what happened in Orlando, like many of you I want to do something to prevent the next tragedy. Many people will offer ideas and solutions and I’d like to share my own. I call this a modest proposal since this is a complex problem and there are no simple solutions. No matter what is done, it isn’t going to stop senseless killing. On the other hand, I think there is much we can do to make our country...

When the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015 was introduced in the United States Congress last year, Republican and Democratic senators backed the ambitious bill. Experts complimented its call for changes to mandatory minimums and solitary confinement and its proposal to thin the federal prison population . Lost in the praise, however, was a section that would radically change how the Bureau of Prisons tries to prevent recidivism. A proposed program instructs the U.S. attorney...

Jeffrey Michael Friedman of the East Coast Trauma Project and is a member here as well. We are friends on Facebook and he finds the most amazing articles and essays. Here's an excerpt from one he shared yesterday. There is also a story from when I was doing this work with a group of gang interventionists. This was a group of former gang members who worked in their community, in the places of their original traumas. One man had been shot on a particular street corner, and whenever he would...

I doubt there are more passionate people around than those who work with youth in our community: teachers, coaches, nonprofit workers and volunteers. It could be that we know they have time to live in abundance through good choices, having positive role models and having access to resources along the way. We can feel hopeful for our future through helping to shape lives one by one. It is with great interest that I have read many recent articles relating to our youth, among them on Gov. Bill...