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What comes to your mind when you hear the word trauma? Do you think of physical or psychological trauma? Do you have preconceived notions about how trauma may affect human development? [For more on this story by Támara Hill, MS, LPC, go to https://blogs.psychcentral.com/caregivers/2019/02/trauma-9-things-we-fail-to-understand/ ]

Teaching in the United States was once considered a career for men. Then the profession’s gender composition shifted dramatically around the mid-19th century, when the country’s public-school system was born. As schoolhouse doors opened to children of all social classes and genders, so too did the education profession. By the late 1880s, women made up a majority—63 percent—of all the country’s teachers (though men continued to make up most of the high-school teaching force until the late...

Late last year, the Trump administration moved to roll back Obama-era regulations designed to improve air quality and limit pollution. No one thought of it as an education story. But new research suggests it is, at least in part. While the health risks of air pollution have long been documented, two recent studies are among the first to directly connect two different forms of pollution to lower test scores and higher absence rates among exposed schoolchildren. Schools across the country —...

E ven as crime has dropped in L.A. over the last two decades, there are thousands of children who grow up with a constant drumbeat of death while navigating safe paths to schools in neighborhoods where someone has been killed nearby. The impact of close-up violence can be devastating and costly for students, schools and communities: Some students suffer PTSD-like symptoms. Schools have begun incorporating the inevitability of trauma into their design, with curriculum addressing stress...

The New Hanover County Resiliency Task Force has more than 200 members from just about every segment of the community, including schools, health providers, law enforcement, the courts, state and local government, social services, nonprofits, churches, nursing homes and even the county library.

Keeping your organization afloat in challenging conditions... Following up on "Adaptive Change in Behavioral Health Organizations Serving Survivors of Trauma" (posted 2/20/19), here is the first of 3 webinars Villa of Hope presented through the Alliance for Strong Families & Communities. It's called "REBUILD: Adaptive Change to Rebuild the Perspective, Courage, & Leadership of Your Organization." Enjoy!

Experts from the world of child mental health are coming to Scotland to find solutions to help overcome the impact of childhood trauma. Children’s charity Kibble is hosting the European Federation of Conflict Management in Education and Care (EFeCT) conference in May in Glasgow. The event focuses on research and best practise in trauma informed care for young people. [For more on this story by Susan Smith, go to http://thirdforcenews.org.uk/tfn-news/major-conference-to-tackle-childhood-trauma ]

ROCKFORD - Monday, the City of Rockford's planning and development committee passed a resolution to adopt a proclamation to become a trauma informed community. The Winnebago County Health Department is leading a collaborative effort towards becoming a better place for those who experience trauma. "It takes a look at how the adverse childhood experiences our trauma," said Winnebago County Health Department public health administrator Dr. Sandra Martel. "How it impacts and [how it] can be...

Take a deep breath and consider this: Perhaps the most innovative pilot program at Spokane Public Schools is commanded by a captain who tells his audience to reach for the sky. He also wears a flower in his hair and speaks passionately about the power of yoga. This is no ordinary captain. “My whole mission is friendship,” Captain Pat said after a mindfulness class last week with fourth-graders at Regal Elementary. “Yoga is pure friendship, loving and befriending yourself.” [For more on this...

By K. Hecht, A. Hosack, & P. Berman I hate Davy. I hate myself. It’s his fault! It’s my fault! What do I do? She had hit Davy. He had been driving her crazy refusing to listen. Davy was asleep now, looking so sweet and making her feel more horrible about herself. Claire had trouble all day in school; she couldn’t concentrate and she might have blown a math test because of it. She had been nagged all day by the fear that she was turning into her mother. What could she do to stop this? She...

This is just a quick note to thank ACEs Connection for the incredible resources that are offered simply as a result of joining the website. In Vermont we are busy with our "Building Flourishing Communities" initiative, built on Laura Porter's Self-Healing Communities model. We are 18 months into our work and have just secured a second round of funding by being part of a federal grant that our Child Development Division won. We are very small, and have very little bandwidth for anything other...

The experience of natural spaces, brimming with greenish light, the smells of soil and the quiet fluttering of leaves in the breeze can calm our frenetic modern lives. It's as though our very cells can exhale when surrounded by nature, relaxing our bodies and minds. Some people seek to maximize the purported therapeutic effects of contact with the unbuilt environment by embarking on sessions of forest bathing , slowing down and becoming mindfully immersed in nature. But in a rapidly...