Blog

The Self-Healing Communities Project in Crow Wing County was launched in late summer 2018, and our initial focus is in the neighborhoods around Garfield & Lowell Elementary schools. We need EVERYONE in our community to come together to work towards safer, healthier neighborhoods! Learn more

A post on Facebook literally stopped me in my tracks. Artist Annie Lightsey had turned target practice sheets into riveting works of art to counterbalance the impact of community gun violence. She is using art as her only weapon and it is powerful. I am honored that Annie is sharing her art, philosophy and vision with the readers of this blog. _________________________________________________________________________ Artist Annie Lightsey

By Traci Pedersen, PsychCentral, September 20, 2019 Dysfunctional eating habits in overweight and obese adults may be deeply rooted in one’s personality traits due to early life experiences, according to a new study published in the journal Heliyon. As a result, weight loss interventions like surgery and cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) might not be enough to guarantee long-term success. “While the biological and environmental causes of obesity are well known, psychological determinants that...

By Sue Burrell, The Chronicle of Social Change, October 4, 2019 California has taken dramatic steps over the past several years to reduce the transfer of juveniles into adult court system, ensuring that more young people accused of crimes can benefit from rehabilitation in the juvenile system. Sending youth into the adult criminal justice system can have a profound impact on the health and well-being of a young person, and alter the trajectory of his or her life. In 2015, Senate Bill 382...

By Heidi L. Allen, Erica Eliason, Naomi Zewede, and Tal Gross, How Housing Matters, October 8, 2019 As of August 2019, 37 states have adopted and implemented a Medicaid expansion that extends Medicaid eligibility to uninsured people whose incomes are at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Prior research shows that Medicaid expansion has numerous positive effects on health-related and economic outcomes, among which are reductions in uninsurance rates among people with low...

October 10th is World Mental Health Day. "Helpers need help, too. You don't have to kill yourself to end the pain. Let us all take good care of ourselves and may we all grow ever stronger in our love." Creative Life Lines ~ Diane Kaufman, MD (poet, artist, child psychiatrist) and Amanda Meador (artist). #worldmentalhealthday #suicideprevention #justlikethistree #helpersneedhelptoo

It is widely recognized that good outcomes for patients with complex care needs are achievable when health care providers work locally and in tandem with community, government, and other partners. Interprofessional, cross-sector, and cross-agency collaboration between organizations that share responsibility for serving a group of individuals living in a community or particular geography is an effective way to stabilize health, decrease unnecessary utilization, improve care delivery, and...

By Tugg Inc., October 10, 2019 October 10th is Mental Health Awareness Day, and in recognition we wanted to highlight our brand new ACEs documentary, CRACKED UP. The film creates an inspiring balance between comedy and tragedy helping us understand the impact of toxic stress and childhood trauma in a new light, breaking down barriers of stigma and replacing shame with compassion and hope. In CRACKED UP we witness the effects adverse childhood experiences can have across a lifetime through...

Alison created Full Potential Parenting to help other parents of children with emotional and behavioral challenges understand what's really going on with their children and what's going on for them.

By A. Hosack, K. Hecht, & P. Berman, It is so nice to stretch in bed and not have to get up right away! Saturday mornings were more relaxed at home. Davy didn’t set off his alarm. Of course, he still got up early, but he knew that his mommy liked to stay in bed longer. He waited patiently, for at least fifteen minutes, before sneaking into her room, and climbing into bed next to her. Claire pretended to be asleep. She rolled over so that her head lay on his stomach. Then, she reached her...

I was pleased to be able to connect with my friend and colleague in trauma-informed ministry, Sanghoon Yoo (@thefaithfulcity), a few weeks ago to present insights into how trauma-informed care connects with the heart of the Christian gospel. God is continuing to work through the amazing churches, pastors, ministry leaders, and participants in the Arizona Trauma-Informed Faith Initiative, and it was encouraging to see how many were able to turn out, even on a busy Monday afternoon. We...

Dr Felitti almost always talks about PREVENTION of ACEs when he speaks!!! It's a BIG WIN-WIN for all of us if we make a greater effort to show how much we care EVERY DAY in the precious formative years of our children. It brought Dr Anda and Dr Felitti to tears when their data verified how common ACEs were in the lives of their patients. I wrote this book because teachers said our children were so different in grade school...they watched over all of their classmates...even in 3rd grade. The...