After a series of widely publicized deaths of children in Arizona last year, Gov. Jan Brewer created a Child Safety Task Force last October. Child Protective Services had the children on its radar, but did not intervene soon enough to prevent their...
I am a retired consultant in child and adolescent psychiatry, who has mainly worked on the detection of violence/neglect at a prenatal time for preventing neonaticide, abandonment of children on a public place and the repetition of...
[This is cross-posted from ACEsTooHigh.com.] According to research of the last 15 years, there's no doubt now that toxic stress on the brains of babies and children causes short-term harm and long-term health consequences. So, it's not a big surprise that the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement. What's significant is the advice: Radically change how you do your job and take new approaches to protect those fragile developing brains. The report advised...
Welcome to ACEsConnection!! Before you get started, be sure to check out the Tips for getting around ACEs Connection , and an overview of the network at What is ACEsConnection? It's easy to start: Just sign up and fill out...
These handouts go with the following two videos: A Trauma Informed Approach to Children in State Custody - Part 1 (59 min) http://acesconnection.com/video/a-trauma-informed-approach-to-children-in-state-custody-part-1-1 A Trauma Informed...
It’s not enough to simply to believe compassion is important. We must transform our thoughts and behaviour on a daily basis to cultivate compassion without attachment. Before we can generate compassion and love, it is important to have a clear understanding of what we understand compassion and love to be. In simple terms, compassion and love can be defined as positive thoughts and feelings that give rise to such essential things in life as hope, courage, determination, and inner strength.
I just received a copy of Dr. Anda's most recent report "Adverse Childhood Experiences & Population Health in Washington: The Face of a Chronic Public Health Disaster" Results from the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveilance System, July 2, 2010. The most striking statistic from the original study at Kaiser with 51% of the participants reporting one ACE is the increase to the Washington State statistic of 62%. Those of us who are working with young children in Washington State are seeing...
It’s pretty striking, says Dr. David Brown, the lead author on research released by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine last week that examines the link between child trauma and early mortality. “It’s pretty striking that...
When we talk about the possible lifelong effects of Childhood PTSD (my own term for Complex PTSD originating from early abuse and neglect), we’re usually talking about things like depression, addiction and relationship problems. We now know there is an underlying symptom that plays a role in the outward signs of PTSD -- and that’s brain dysregulation. In most ways, brain dysregulation is a problem. It causes us to be overreactive or numb, to have poor judgment, and even to suffer with a...
Just like other people, most of us who grew up with childhood trauma want to be, or are in, a loving partnership or marriage. But for those of us prone to brain and emotional dysregulation, it can be hard to stay OK, even when we’re under stress, even when we feel ignored or abandoned, and even when we're in the middle of an argument. There are simple strategies (that take work) to stay present and keep your emotions level so that you can enjoy your relationship, and create a sense of...
There is an exciting conference coming to the Pacific Northwest, and I have been invited to present. The conference is called “Trauma and Resilience” and is hosted by the University where I am completing my Doctor of Ministry. CLICK HERE for more information on the conference. This conference aims to tackle some of the more perplexing issues surrounding the current discussion in multiple fields around trauma. It is often said that art is impossible to define, though "you know it when you see...