Blog

By David Leonhardt, The New York Times, October 6, 2019 Almost a decade ago, Warren Buffett made a claim that would become famous. He said that he paid a lower tax rate than his secretary, thanks to the many loopholes and deductions that benefit the wealthy. His claim sparked a debate about the fairness of the tax system. In the end, the expert consensus was that, whatever Buffett’s specific situation, most wealthy Americans did not actually pay a lower tax rate than the middle class. “Is it...

By Emily Laurence, Well and Good, October 5, 2019 In the US, the average life expectancy is 78 years. But there are a few places in the world—specifically Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and Icaria, Greece—where living to be over 100 isn’t uncommon at all. In these regions, known as Blue Zones, the life expectancy isn’t just higher; centenarians are generally also healthy, their minds and bodies still working well. National Geographic journalist Dan Buettner spent years...

Oct 7, 2019 for Well Being Due to the very high levels of stress being reported in the solicitors’ profession in Ireland, the Law Society of Ireland has today launched a new initiative to promote wellbeing among practitioners. In all, 57% of solicitors have reported ‘very high’ or ‘extreme’ levels of stress in the course of their daily work. This is just one of the findings from independent research, commissioned by the Law Society, which examined the wellbeing of solicitors. The research...

For our second community spotlight interview, I spoke with Dr. Richard Honigman, a pediatrician at Central Nassau Pediatrics in Levittown and infant mental health advocate. We discussed the importance of addressing childhood adversity and the relevant work he is doing both inside and outside his practice. Please note that responses have been adjusted for length and clarity. Dr. Honigman is also the first recipient of the 2019 Ed Tronick Award for Distinguished Contribution to Infant-Parent...

Traumatized families often remain stuck in “now what?” After telling their story and identifying trauma, the question is “now what?” What do we do in the here and now to heal trauma and move forward? Therapists need tools to answer this question. In response, the Family Systems Trauma (FST) model developed playbooks. or written plans with concrete strategies to clarify roles and heal trauma in the here and now. Wednesday, October 9 1 - 2 pm ET Register HERE for free In this webinar,...

By Marketplace, October 7, 2019 It was midafternoon on Valentine’s Day when I heard an early news report about the school shooting. The particulars drifted in as I hurried my way through a pile of work that needed attention before I left for a long Florida weekend with my wife: students and teachers killed, number unknown. Panic in the halls. A gunman armed with an assault rifle. My first reaction was: Not again. I’d found myself thinking that too many times lately. Hadn’t we all? Four...

By Michael Painter and Priya Gandhi, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, September 3, 2019 Across the United States, people are recognizing that climate change is a major threat to any vision of a healthy future. They are responding by developing solutions to not only avoid the health harms from climate change, but also actively improve health and limit climate change. In Austin, Texas, city officials have grown increasingly concerned about their residents enduring more days with extreme heat.

In last week’s post, I talked about how COMMON it is for people with CPTSD and Childhood PTSD to experience being isolated, and being lonely. Loneliness is part of life, at least a little bit, for everyone. But for a lot of people who experienced early trauma, it’s like a curse we carry, that touches everything in our lives and almost never gets talked about. So in this post, I’m going to keep talking about isolation, along with one of the biggest obstacles to healing it, and that’s the fact...

I’ve been preaching self-care since the early 1990’s when I worked in residence life at a local college. I watched student resident assistants working for free room and board in the dorm give all their to care for their fellow students. I knew if they ignored their own needs it wouldn’t be long before they would knock on my office door asking to leave. So their self-care was in my best interest and theirs. Now you can find apps, Websites, life coaches, books, and youtube channels dedicated...

By Veronika Tait, Psychology Today, October 4, 2019 Groundbreaking research conducted in the 1990s found that the greater number of negative childhood experiences a person had, the more likely they were to experience poor health outcomes later in life such as heart disease, liver disease, and cancer. A new study published in the journal Child Abuse and Neglect has found that positive experiences, such as having a teacher who cares about them, can buffer against these negative outcomes.

By Nick Corasaniti, The New York Times, October 3, 2019 Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey rolled out a broad set of policy proposals on Thursday that seek to significantly reduce child poverty, including by offering a $300 monthly cash allowance to most families with young children. Though many of the Democratic presidential candidates have introduced proposals to help working families, few of Mr. Booker’s rivals have offered a policy specifically aimed at cutting the child poverty rate. The...

By Ping Chen and Mullan Harris, JAMA Pediatrics, October 7, 2019 Key Points Question How are adolescent family relationships associated with trajectories of depressive symptoms from adolescence into midlife for women and men? Findings In this cohort study of 18 185 individuals (9233 females and 8952 males), those who experienced positive adolescent family relationships had significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms from early adolescence to midlife (late 30s to early 40s) than did...