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Representatives from trauma-informed community networks throughout eastern Virginia engaged in a community conversation on October 21 as part of First Lady Pamela Northam's On the Road to Resilience Tour. The conversation was moderated by Melissa McGinn, Director of Community Programs at Greater Richmond SCAN and State Coordinator for Virginia's Trauma-Informed Community Networks . Participants included Senator Montgomery ‘Monty’ Mason; Dr. Janice Underwood, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s...

IF WE CAN FACE OUR TRAUMAS, WE LESSEN THE RISK FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS, CHRONIC ILLNESS, AND MORE By Sue Morris We all enter the world a blank slate, free of thoughts and ideas. Who we eventually become is determined by the upbringing and experiences that fill that slate. We don’t get to choose who will raise us. We don’t control whether they’ll be caring and loving or distant and rejective. If you were born lucky, a home could be a pillar of strength. Supportive, safe, nurturing, and...

It’s not time, but an integrated recovery plan that heals.

When articles on self-harm are posted, I recommend we understand that diagnoses are merely labels for symptom clusters, almost always resulting from early trauma. Professionals use labels primarily for billing. They are also used widely as derogatory terms, at least when I was working as a mental health professional. "Borderline personality," "dissociative disorders," etc. are shorthand descriptions of desperate coping measures that survivors use to manage the pain from early extreme abuse.

Reimagining Resilience 1: Using a Trauma Lens November daytime option - Mondays, 11/8, 15, & 29 11am - 12:15pm https://www.eventbrite.com/e/194069215247 November evening option - Tuesdays, 11/9, 16, & 30 5pm - 6:15pm https://www.eventbrite.com/e/180398666267 You will leave this training series with a deeper knowledge of trauma’s impact on developing brains, a better analysis of your own behavior and triggers, and concrete next steps to improve your relationships with kids. The course...

By The Transylvania Times, October 20, 2021 What helps you cope and get through hard times? How do you face life’s challenges, adversities and crises? The ability to be resilient in times of stress, adversity, failure, challenges or even trauma is a skill that not everyone has. Studies have found that 45% of North Carolina children have experienced one or more adverse childhood experiences and only 57% of adults studied exhibited strong resiliency. Smart Start of Transylvania County (SSTC)...

Often, we are confronted with dehumanizing practices in education setting—practices that cause trauma, induce shame, and contribute to the adversity that many children and adults already face. Practices that push us away from our better selves, and strip others of their dignity and humanity. Practices and institutions that punish, harm, exclude, degrade, dismiss, disrespect, and disregard. Educators and students alike have experienced being dehumanized in their school environments at some...

Raging wildfires in California and Turkey, hurricanes in the U.S. southeast, flooding in West Africa, droughts in Iraq and Syria and other environmental catastrophes across the globe traumatize hundreds of thousands of people. Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, founder and director of Indigenous Climate Action , has a different view of these events than what we typically see. She says the trauma of climate change spans generations and is interwoven with colonization in the form of modern extraction...

[Editor's note: Dr. Harise Stein at Stanford University edits a web site — abuseresearch.info — that focuses on the health effects of abuse, and includes research articles on ACEs. Every month, she posts the summaries of the abstracts and links to research articles that address only ACEs. Thank you, Harise!! — Jane Stevens] Child abuse Ghanem N. The effect of violence in childhood on school success factors in US children. Child Abuse Negl. 2021 Oct;120:105217. PMID: 34293551 From a study of...

See below for links to video and other resources! Thanks to everyone who attended Bounce Grand Rounds last month as we discussed supporting foster youth and families who have struggled with adversity. In case you missed it, watch the recording here . Special thanks to our panelist Sarah Stalker, child advocate and Kentucky Department for Community Based Services foster parent. Tip of the Month There are lots of different ways to teach our kids how to take deep breaths. One of the best ways...

Please join us for a new series entitled: Trauma-Informed Criminal Justice. This monthly series will feature conversations facilitated by Porter Jennings-McGarity, PACEs Connection Midwest and Tennessee community facilitator and criminal justice consultant, with special guests to discuss the need for trauma-informed criminal justice system reform. Using a PACEs-science lens, this series will examine the relationship between trauma and the criminal justice system, what needs changing, and...

The state’s unprecedented investment in children and youth , which will roll out over the next few years , represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine our mental health system centered on equity and justice. California's bold action acknowledges a growing national consensus that the mental health crisis among children has become a national emergency. Key to achieving the state's vision is creating a workforce that engages people with lived experience as peer providers,...