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I don't have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness - it's right in front of me if I'm paying attention and practicing gratitude - #CPTSD #Healing #Gratitude #ComplexTraumaRecovery #MentalHealth #BecauseWeAreWorthIt

Since 2012, the Central Iowa ACEs 360 Coalition has brought together diverse partners to identify and seize opportunities for responding to the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study. While we remain committed to our mission, we will be formalizing how we do our work as we become a 501(c)3 and transition to Iowa ACEs 360.

By Danielle Prokop, Santa Fe New Mexican, November 30, 2019 The woman clutched her arm as she told the story of a mother’s worst nightmare: the sexual abuse of her children by their own father. Her kids were further traumatized by a New Mexico judicial system that she and other critics say is failing to support vulnerable kids. “We’ve just gone through a hurricane and now we’re in post-hurricane wreckage,” said the woman, who asked to be identified only as Eliza to protect her children’s...

By Cathy Thomas Brownfield, Salem News, November 30, 2019 Our region has recognized the realities of the opioid epidemic, and that it spreads across the country, not just in our area. There has been a lot of discussion about overdose deaths and Naloxone. But how much discussion have you heard about the effects of the opioid epidemic on the children, adolescents, indeed, the family of the person who is caught up in the abuse of opioids? The National Institutes of Health’s U.S. National...

By Hadley Barndollar, Fosters, November 30, 2019 “How many of you have been homeless?” was the question. Half of the group raised their hands, not a one older than 18. “My father was a drug addict and my mom was associated with bad people and was never really home,” said one student, who has attended eight different schools. “And then my parents were scattered all over the news. Kids picked on me. I was known for that at school, so I just started fighting people.” [ Please click here to read...

When a journalist contacts a nurse for an interview, we have to be ready to meet their tight deadlines. This is one of the media competency nuggets that I have learned through the guidance of Nurse Media Strategist, Barbara Glickstein . I was channeling Barbara when I found out that Mike DeNardo of KYW NewsRadio wanted to interview me about active shooter drills. I had a narrow window to meet his availability and I jumped into the conversation with the intention of sharing a specific...

The Washington Post online ran an article November 26th, titled "' There's something wrong:' Americans are dying young at alarming rates ." The article talked about a recent report published in Journal of the American Medical Association, titled " Life Expectancy and Mortality Rates in the United States, 1959-2017 ." I've copied the report's findings are below: Between 1959 and 2016, US life expectancy increased from 69.9 years to 78.9 years but declined for 3 consecutive years after 2014.

Children don’t come to live with their grandparents or relatives because everything is going great. The transition can be tough for the new family. As a grand“Parent” guardian of my grandson, I’ve written previously about the sad stuff, the tough stuff, and there’s a lot of it. It’s easy to get sucked into the negative, rehashing the entire past, the guilt, the anger, and projecting into an ugly future. Today is the last day of National Adoption Month. It is a month I celebrate, not as a...

Almost from day one, boys born into modern society are bombarded with the idea that they are different from females. Not that females are not made to feel odd about themselves, but boys have it much harder in many ways. We give boys guns, cars, fire engines, and other “manly” conventions and expect them to live up to what the symbolism these things infer. When something horrible, such as sexual abuse occurs, boys receive two messages, each destructive in their own way.

We all know that addiction is an incredibly complex disease, however, some people still wonder what causes this problem. This is a valid question but it is also one with a complex answer. There are a number of different factors that can cause and trigger someone’s addiction, everything from biological changes, family history, environmental factors, and more can all contribute to this problem. As we know from ACEs, or Adverse Childhood Experiences, there are many environmental factors that...

Hi Folks, The latest edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2019-11-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_November_2019.pdf To sign up for an e-mail copy, please write to me @ mikeskinner@comcast.net or sign up @ Website via Contact Us, Thanks! Michael. Healing the Heart Through the Creative Arts, Education & Advocacy Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse &...

As the brain science on adverse childhood experiences evolves, teaching must, too By Jim Hickman & Kathy Higgins We all know that when children aren’t well, they’re less likely to learn. More and more teachers recognize that children who can’t sit still in class, act out, or have asthma may be showing warning signs of a toxic exposure to childhood trauma. More than two decades ago, landmark research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente found that...