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I’m somebody who’s struggled with feelings of loneliness my whole life. It’s a big part of why I decided to become a relationship coach. I wanted to understand why some of my relationships felt more substantial than others. I wanted to understand why sometimes I relished being alone, yet other times being alone evoked feelings of profound sadness. The question I wanted to answer was this: What makes some relationships feel better than others? It was a mystery I was determined to solve. I...

A few weeks ago I wrote this piece about the real reason personal boundaries are powerful: Because they help us define who we are. Boundaries also are “as much about what we let in as what we keep out,” according to psychologist Sherry Walling, Ph.D, in the same article. Which is a great perspective to have when contemplating what decisions to make and how to live our lives. That is, we can turn that sentence into two simple yet significant questions that we can ask ourselves regularly: What...

The Children's Village in the Bronx offers mentors to teenagers who face aging out of foster care. The mentors, or "credible messengers," are former foster children themselves. They use writing and conversation and draw from their personal experiences to motivate these foster teens. [For more of this story, written by Deborah S. Esquenazi, go to http://jjie.org/childrens-village-transformative-mentoring/206329/]

Copy and paste this link into your browser and find one fabulous suggestion for helping kids become more resilient. On the site are many more ideas and strategies! Enjoy! http://www.gozen.com/close-the-compassion-gap-to-boost-resilience-in-kids/ For more information and ideas for supporting the resilience of children and adults, visit www.centerforresilientchildren.org

Christopher Blodgett, a clinical psychologist and Washington State University (WSU) faculty member, spent most of his career working in areas of community violence, child maltreatment and adolescent substance abuse—issues that, too often, occupied separate professional realms. The ACE study put those pressing concerns together. “It gave us the integrating language,” he says. “It moved us from isolated, fragmented conversation to an organized, concurrent process.” New insights into trauma and...

[Photo by I nternational Fund for Animal Welfare Blog ] Summary What is already known about this topic? Sociodemographic factors and environmental influences in early childhood have been demonstrated to have significant impact on development, mental health, and overall health throughout the lifespan. What is added by this report? This report provides recent national data documenting significant associations of early childhood mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders (MBDDs) with...

A little research goes a long way. In education — and in editorials. Tuesday's editorial, "As governor stalls, education advocates propose measure to boost graduation rates," could have benefited from a little additional research itself. The editorial suggested that Gov. Kate Brown has done little or nothing to address Oregon's shocking absenteeism issue. That's not accurate. We know, because we've discussed this with her in person, hosted her education experts as speakers at our conferences...

In the decades after the Civil War, a lot of things were changing in the (re-)United States. The late 19th century and early 20th saw a huge increase in the country’s population (nearly 200 percent between 1860 and 1910 ) mostly due to immigration, and that population was becoming ever more urban as people moved to cities to seek their fortunes—including women, more of whom were getting college educations and jobs outside the home. Cars and planes were introduced to the public; telephones...

Following last year’s seminar on adverse childhood experience (ACE), with expert Robert Anda, Hanna Boys Center has planned an extensive collaboration with an expert in the field of trauma and healing. Robert Macy will lead five workshops with topics on youth violence, relationship-building, and healing in the family and community. “What we’re really talking about is the impact of adversity and trauma, and what you do about it. What are some strategies to get kids to make better decisions?”...

A new study has found that people with Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment have larger gray matter volume in key areas of the brain responsible for memory and cognition if their exercise-associated calorie burn was high. A growing number of studies indicate physical activity can help protect the brain from cognitive decline, said investigator James T. Becker, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. But typically people are more...

Social scientists have long pointed to economic inequality as a prognosis for lowered social mobility, given the rate that students from low-income communities drop out of high school. But until now, researchers have been unable to establish the mechanisms that drive that correlation. A new paper presented by the Brookings Institute Thursday ties income inequality to reduced rates of upward mobility using empirical data, specifically examining the role of students’ perception of their...

Moriah Barrett, then 14, woke up to burns on her body one night along with physical evidence that she had been raped. She had been invited to a party the night before by someone she considered a friend. She eventually came to realize that she had almost been looped into a human trafficking scheme. This event, among many other traumatic events, affected Moriah mentally, physically and emotionally. [For more of this story, written by Xin Li and Phillomina Wong, go to ...