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For anyone interested in a sneak peak at my December Hope for Healing Newsletter, I will include a link in this post.

Why the holidays are stormy not joyous for some.

My New Video: The 7 Mindsets For Extraordinary Parenting, Teaching, And Living Bob Lancer on the Healing Place Podcast On this video I also discuss overcoming childhood traumas that hold us back, how to avoid passing those onto our children, and how to help children access their full positive power to overcome and recover from any trauma patterns they may have received. Paste this link into your browser: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Ub3-Y8s2Fs0&feature=youtu.be

The Hutchinson Community Foundation announced $255,881 worth of grants to 27 organizations on Thursday at the Cosmosphere . The HCF grants have awarded more than $3.5 million to 170 organizations since its inception in 1990. This year’s grants touch on education, healthcare, food insecurity and much more. To continue reading this article in The Hutchinson News, go to: http://www.hutchnews.com/news/20181115/community-foundation-announces-255k-in-grants.

The healing of trauma begins when the traumatized body can tell that it is safe. The body’s feeling of safety is not the same as the rational part of the brain thinking “I ought to feel safe now.” It’s also not the same thing as the rational part of the brain believing , “I feel safe now.” The body is safe when the reptilian part of the brain feels safe, and with it, the amygdala, and the limbic brain (which is connected to the reptilian brain through the amygdala). It takes practice for the...

Trigger alert: this article is about dismantling racism in white bodies. This is not to downplay that people of color have been and are the primary targets and survivors of racialized trauma. This article is an exploration into what it means as a white person to dissolve white supremacy inside my own white body, and what it might point to in terms of thawing white supremacy in our collective white bodies (churches, schools, communities). I am not new to conversations about race and racism.

Basically, if a person is in extreme distress and seeks help from a mental health professional, the odds of getting understanding and trauma-informed care are vastly enhanced if you can articulate your experience and pain in a way that the professional understands, is not disturbed by, and can fit into a checkbox or validated scale.

Today, we remember those who died by suicide — and the people who were left behind. We remember our loved ones and how they lived, the moments of joy that existed alongside the pain. We remember their death does not define them. We remember their death does not define us. We remember hope. Hope for healing, hope for recovery, hope for ourselves and for a better tomorrow. We remember to support each other through unanswered questions, complicated grief and the “new normal” that at times can...

Yay! The holidays are here and everywhere, people with some level of Childhood PTSD are facing the prospect of returning home. Let's say you've escaped a childhood that contained abuse, neglect, and exposure to parental violence and addiction, and let's say now you're living happy and free as a grown-up. You get an e-mail. It's your mother. She wants to know if you are coming home for Thanksgiving and you say yes, of course, and you jump right online and book a $400 plane ticket. And then...

The film "Cracked Up," produced and directed by Michelle Esrick, documents the pain and agony behind the jokes and smiles. Darrell Hammond, the comedian made famous by his Bill Clinton impersonation, talks to CNN's John Vause about years of self harm, drug and alcohol abuse and the memories of child trauma which were repressed for decades. Here are articles about the documentary: A private screening of a work-in-progress unveils the personal struggles of SNL veteran and comedian Darrell...

Understanding the long-term impact of developmental trauma, how trauma impacts the brain, and the science of resiliency is a powerful first step toward change. It is exciting to watch people begin to let this knowledge soak in… and even more exciting when they begin to ask “Now what?” As I have worked with organizations across the State of South Dakota, I have found that often what they are really looking for is the curriculum or recipe book that they can follow for their clients or...