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Excerpt: "In the end, it will not be enough that adult experts declare schools “safe”. In the final, trauma-informed analysis, each child in their own body, brainstem, limbic system and HPA axis, must feel safe. They must be part of the task force. If the children don’t feel safe, it is all for naught."

By Tracy O' Connell, MedPage Today, May 5, 2020 As someone trained in Brené Brown 's curriculum for helping professionals, vulnerability is my jam. As a physician? Not so much. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown already burned-out healthcare providers into the arena with more than just a shortage of equipment. We are now expected to risk our own lives caring for others, which was not part of the original job description. Medical providers are not Marines, nor do we work for the Secret Service;...

By Stephen M. Strakowski, Nassir Ghaemi, and Andy Keller, Medscape, May 8, 2020 Stephen M. Strakowski, MD: Hello. I'm Steve Strakowski, and I'm glad to be back with you all again here at Medscape. We are talking today about something that's obviously on everyone's mind: the COVID-19 pandemic, and particularly how it impacts mental health. I'm the vice dean for research and a professor of psychiatry at the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin. We, like everyone, are...

By Vernon M. Billy, Cal Matters, May 15, 2020 School trustees and educators serve our public schools because they care for children and are committed to their learning and growth. We’re eager to welcome students back to campus when we can do so in a safe and supportive environment – and not a moment sooner. We don’t want to resume school at any cost or for the wrong reasons. We cannot jeopardize the safety of students because of the adult desire for a return to normalcy. And when we reopen...

By Samuel Yamshon, Los Angeles Times, May 15, 2020 As I make my way into my building’s elevator after a long hospital shift, a neighbor throws his arm out to stop me. “Sorry,” he says, “only one person per elevator.” Seeing my confusion, our doorman kindly but firmly corrects him. “Two per elevator is fine.” I take a step toward the open doors, but the passenger again holds up his palm. “Please,” he pleads, his eyes glancing frantically at my scrubs. “Please, just take a different one.”...

By Patricia Escarcega, Los Angeles Times, May 15, 2020 Tony Ruiz doesn’t know where he’s going to sleep tonight. Two months ago, the 31-year-old had a steady job as a line cook at the San Francisco Saloon, the long-standing bar and grill on Pico Boulevard, and was renting a room in a home near the West L.A. neighborhood where he grew up. When he wasn’t working, he dreamed of someday opening his own restaurant. Now, with his job lost to the coronavirus outbreak and his savings eroded, Ruiz is...

TCTSY (Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga) is the practice of bringing our bodies into the present moment to integrate and recover from the harmful effects of adverse life experiences. This evidence-based method focuses on the felt sense of the body, also known as interoception. Exercising interoception helps inform one’s choice-making and allows participants to restore their connection of mind with body and cultivate a sense of agency that is often compromised as a result of trauma. Dion...

Donna Jackson Nakazawa was a featured guest in an online conversation about coping with COVID held on Twitter recently. It was hosted by KPJR Films . Donna was asked about "effective 'go-to' survival techniques" for parents and her Twitter thread response is comforting, centering, and compassionate. Her words are consolidated and shared, with her permission, below: Donna Jackson Nakazawa is a science journalist and the author of six books, including “ The Angel and the Assassin: The Tiny...

By Janis Gonzales, Santa Fe New Mexican, May 13, 2020 Over the past few weeks, pediatricians have been trying to raise awareness about the steep decline in vaccination rates that we have been seeing as parents cancel well checks and babies go months without being seen by a physician. But there is an equally alarming problem, one that also goes unseen and has remained largely under the radar while the news focuses on the more sensational COVID-19 headlines. The changes that have occurred in...

Debra Engle is the bestselling author of The Only Little Prayer You Need: The Shortest Route to a Life of Joy, Abundance and Peace of Mind (Hampton Roads Publishing), featuring a foreword by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, and an endorsement by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.

Thoughts to share - “The soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind.” - Caroline Myss “But one thing for sure, if you do not address your trauma, it will undress you.” - Sharon Wise “We can't always choose the music life plays for us, but we can choose how we dance to it.” - Unknown Compassion at the Mirror - Psychology Today - https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-clarity/201903/compassion-the-mirror "Having compassion for our own distress has...

The New Jersey Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics Healthy Spaces program offers this webinar to provide strategies for health care providers to provide trauma-informed care during virtual patient encounters. Drs. Nicole Leopardi and Ruth Gubernick will share guidance on outreach messaging, stress management, and positive discipline. Participants will also engage in thoughtful reflection on how to implement small tests of change to adapt patient care and support connections with families...