Blog

Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) is the “emotional duress that results when an individual hears about the firsthand trauma experiences of another person.” Those who work in child welfare organization are at very high risk of developing STS, which when left untreated, can negatively affect their ability to continue their extremely important work. This factsheet provides on how STS manifests itself in child welfare, the kinds of staff who are at risk for STS, and strategies for prevention and...

This factsheet provides valuable information on cybersafety to caregivers of teens. Topics include “sexting”, app safety, parental monitoring, identity protection, and cyber-bullying.

My article “Faith and mental health: Creating a culture of encounter and friendship” has been published in the May issue of Review & Expositor: An International Baptist Journal. Article introduces the Mental Health and Faith Community Partnership which the Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition helped launch with the American Psychiatric Association and focuses on how congregations and faith leaders can work with psychiatrists and the mental health community to reduce stigma and...

I have written before about a growing trend in education, mental health, social services, and health care that has now extended to ministry settings: becoming trauma-informed . Trauma results when we experience something as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening. A traumatic event, circumstance or series of events leaves a lasting effect on our ability to experience “life to the full” as Jesus intended (John 10:10). Adversity, and particularly traumatic stress in childhood,...

Since I came on board as communications manager at the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, two and half years ago, I’ve been struggling to reconcile the language the foundation and its allies use to talk about mental health with my own notions about how we should be talking. I do my best thinking through writing, so in order to work through some of these tensions and questions, I wrote a long essay, which I ended up calling “ Too Human .” [For more of this story, written by Daniel...

Illinois, a state that gutted mental health funding by 31.7 percent between 2009 and 2012, will soon guarantee specialized mental health services for 11,000 prisoners . Under the terms of a final settlement recently approved by a federal judge, Illinois will spend $40 million on brand new mental health facilities at four state prisons, including one youth facility. Another $40 million will be spent on hiring 300 clinical staff and 400 security staff. With the additional funding and...

Significant strides have been made recently in reducing the stigma and shame associated with seeking mental health treatment, both in our community and nationally. Locally, Tykes & Teens alone has more than 900 active clients. While it can seem concerning that so many youth in our community are receiving counseling, this is a positive step, as parents are seeking help sooner when early intervention can impact brain development and prevent more severe mental and physical health issues...

Collaboration at its finest... Randomly placed placed groups working their way through a case study, "Stacy" to exchange ideas & find services available.

When I first started out in the poverty and self-sufficiency field almost 30 years ago, I helped facilitate a focus group in Philadelphia at a transitional work/homeless women’s shelter. Today, one woman still stands out. She had several children, but each had been removed from her care and her parental rights terminated. Although she was only in her 30s, she looked much older. During the focus group, she shared how she had finally turned a corner — was working and ready to find her own...

Anyone who works with adolescents knows what recent science has confirmed: Teenagers just don’t think like adults. In fact, researchers have known for awhile now that the teenage brain is wired differently; it remains under construction during adolescence and won’t develop completely until a person’s early 20s. That explains a lot about the often-bewildering actions of tweens and teens as they seek out novelty and test limits, often without regard to risk. The American College of...

Battered senseless, choked into unconsciousness over and over again, bones broken repeatedly, American mother, Holly Collins, received no justice, no protection, in Minnesota. She lost custody of the two children she was trying so hard to protect from their father’s rages and beatings. When Collins believed that her children might not survive another week — or another day — she fled and received political asylum in Holland. A powerful documentary exists about her case. Collins was the first...

One of my children is spinning in a circle, creating a narrative about a princess as she twirls. The other is building a rocket ship out of a discarded box, attaching propellers made of cardboard and jumping in and out of her makeshift launcher. It is a snow day, and I’ve decided to let them design their own activities as I clean up and prepare a meal. My toddler becomes the spinning princess, imagining her character’s feelings and reactions. What seems like a simple story involves...