Blog

ITRC Seeks Organizational and Individual Endorsements for New Climate Change Mental Wellness and Resilience Policy! To read the complete policy and make individual or organizational endorsements go to: http://www.theresourceinnovationgroup.org/ Why the Need to Enact a Climate Change Mental Wellness and Resilience Policy ? The International Transformational Resilience Coalition (ITRC) seeks organizational and individual endorsements for its new Climate Change Mental Wellness and Resilience...

Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg (Keynote speaker from the recent Creating a Resilient Community Conference) shared the excerpt from his book Reaching Teens titled The Traumatic Impact of Racism on Young People and How to Talk About It. This is a valuable resource for anyone interacting with youth and we are providing the excerpt as an attachment here for you to read and share. Also, Dr. Ginsburg will be coming back to our community (virtually) and you’ll be invited to his workshop. Look out for the...

Being Anti-racist is the first step in taking steps to end racial trauma as an adverse childhood and adverse community experience. In the Building Community Resilience Networks and in the work of the Center for Community Resilience we are dedicated to confronting the root cause of racial trauma in our country and across the globe-- the belief in White supremacy that is empowered by structural racism to produce the outcome of White supremacy. This is the vicious cycle of American life. To...

The Alliance for Strong Families and Communities will be launching a monthly e-newsletter at the end of June. You can now subscribe online . Created for policymakers, practitioners, and advocates, this e-newsletter will delve into the public health approach to child welfare transformation. We’ll feature innovative efforts being led around the country to bend the arc of policy and practice toward prevention so that all families can thrive. We encourage you to sign up and share with your...

By P. Berman What should I tell him? Will he be jealous? Will he get scared? Claire had just put away the last grocery as Davy came in from the backyard with Mr. Carson. “Mommy can you play a board game with me? Mr. Carson says he is too tired.” Claire look into Mr. Carson’s face. He did look very tired. Claire was worried about him; he should sit down and relax.“What did you do to tire our Mr. Carson out?” Davy started laughing. “Well, maybe I did run after a squirrel into the forest and...

By Jenn O'Connor, The Washington Post, June 6, 2020 You know what stress is, right? You’re late for work, your car won’t start, gas costs more than you expected. We’ve all been there, and it’s not pleasant, that palm-sweating, heart-racing anxiety. Luckily, it’s not long-lasting — not toxic. What is toxic stress? It’s prolonged adversity and/or abuse — not having enough to eat or being exposed to violence. It’s the kind of stress that puts you on edge and keeps you there, day after day after...

By Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, June 2, 2020 Melvin Carter, the mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota, took office in January, 2018, promising dramatic change to the city’s racial and economic inequities. Carter, who is forty-one and St. Paul’s first black mayor, was sworn in on the same day as Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a civil-rights lawyer who also ran on a progressive platform. In the wake of a series of high-profile police shootings in the area, including the killing of Philando Castile in...

By Sarah Holder, Bloomberg Businessweek, June 4, 2020 Across the U.S., protesters have taken to the streets to express rage after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin. The demonstrations themselves have led to more police shows of force. In Brooklyn, two cops rammed their New York City Police Department SUVs into a crowd of protesters. In Philadelphia, officers sprayed tear gas at demonstrators who were penned in between a highway and a fence. But across...

By Adam Harris, The Atlantic, June 4, 2020 O n January 29, 1943 , Robert Hall was seized from his home in Baker County, Georgia. Three white police officers, charging Hall with the theft of a tire, drove him to the county courthouse. When they arrived, officers pulled him from the squad car and pummeled him with their fists and a two-pound baton for nearly 30 minutes. Hall fell unconscious. The officers dragged him feet first through the street to a cell inside the jailhouse where he would...

The Art of Yoga Project has online trauma-informed yoga classes available to everyone. Please share widely! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF1pjwgrZNfS_gGYx9mnB_g

There are many theories about childhood trauma and how it affects the bodies and minds of children and how these experiences shape adults. One of the most interesting of all of them is what is called the polyvagal theory. First described in 1994 by Stephen W. Porges, a distinguished university scientist, the polyvagal theory has caught the attention of millions including therapists and theorists of all types.

I invite you to notice the feeling you have when I say vulnerability is strength! Does it feel like a pit in your stomach? A lump in your throat? Does the idea of being vulnerable scare you? I am asking you to think about what’s not working for you in your life. Have you been trying to handle everything yourself? Do you think that is what strong people should do? Are you keeping secrets so that others only know the person you think you’re supposed to be ? Are you trying to seem “perfect”?