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Rick Alleva is a field specialist at the University of New Hampshire and co-author of a curriculum called “ Courage to Care ,” which promotes empathy for middle schoolers. He has been researching and promoting positive youth development and the use of mindful learning as well as social and emotional learning (SEML) for many years. After graduating from Tufts University with a degree in psychology, he traveled cross-country, coming across many teenage runaways. That later heightened his...

*** I had planned on writing part 2 of my post today. I value keeping true to my word and it’s rare that I can’t be held to it. Today is one of those rare occasions. An “I am…” statement I caught myself making is the reason I’m going to steer off course a bit. Next Friday I’ll post Part 2 with a link to Part 1.*** Last Friday, I wrote my 1st blog post on ACES connection. I’ve written a couple articles here and there but last week was my 1st official “blog” post. The topic was something I...

Please join us for a three -part learning series hosted by the California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity ( 4CAkids.org ) and ACEs Connection Network ( acesconnection.com ). Stay tuned for details on signing up for the webinars. We'll hear from states that are making great strides towards adopting trauma-informed policies and practices. Three-Part Learning Series: Webinar 1: National Landscape and State Level Efforts to Address Childhood Adversity Date: January 10th, 10AM PST...

My area of focus is infant and very early childhood trauma. The name of my non-profit is the "Early Trauma Institute." I would like for you to read my book Healing the Wound That Won't Heal: the Reality of Trauma . The cover photo is myself as a baby a few weeks before I watched my father die on the floor in front of my crib in a pool of blood. He had extreme PTSD from WWII and I was left alone with him every day while my mother worked. The mission statement of my non-profit is: "The mission...

"We are here because our communities have been resisting for forever... If they’re going to talk about intergenerational legacies, and if they’re going to talk about epigenetics, let’s have the entire conversation."

Morgan's note: This great article has a story about the Goldbergs and the Franks (as in Anne Frank, whose diary is widely read, and her family), and how the daughter of Hilde Goldberg seeks to share her family story as a way to find her voice, be liberated, and move forward. Read the rest of the article here . Morgan Vien, Practicing Resilience for Self-Care and Healing

Following a blog published on ACESConnection about my encounter with Harvey Weinstein, The Hollywood Reporter interviewed me for their 2017 Women in Entertainment issue. I didn't want to supply salacious details to the already much chewed over picture we have of the habitual, historical abuse. I wanted to take control of the narrative and use this opportunity to talk about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the patterns set up by this kind of toxic stress in later life. It is so...

STOUGHTON, Wis. - The city of Stoughton is training their staff to help end corporal punishment. The area is the first city in Dane County to become a "no hit zone." The policy passed City Council in 2016, however city staff just started training on the policy last week. The concept enables staff to offer help to parents in stressful situations, before they feel the need to use physical discipline. "We are not standing in judgement of anyone or anything like that. What we are saying is there...

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — It’s been 10 years since Teodora del Carmen Vásquez lost consciousness in a bathroom at work when she was nine months pregnant and delivered a stillborn baby. After police accused her of killing her newborn, she was sentenced to 30 years in prison. A third of the way through her sentence, she passes the weeks and months at the Ilopango Women’s Prison reading books. “In the 10 years I’ve been here, I’ve probably read 500 books,” the 34-year-old Vásquez told...

At the small home gatherings that are a center of evangelical Christian life across the United States, the topics of discussion range from the previous Sunday’s sermon to the latest Christian spiritual help book, from marriage to addiction to the Bible’s diet guidance. Add to the list: mass incarceration. Prison Fellowship, the nonprofit prisoner advocacy group, has created “Outrageous Justice,” a small-group study guide intended to transform more evangelicals into political evangelists for...

School districts had a year to implement a state law that banned zero-tolerance policies and emphasized restorative justice practices. We check back in with five districts we visited in the summer of 2016 to see how school discipline has changed. On the second day of the school year, Amber Owens got the kind of jolt every parent dreads. She was called to the nurse’s office at Champaign’s Bottenfield Elementary, where she found her 7-year-old son, Simon, sobbing uncontrollably and bleeding...

The best revolutions end in topplings—of statues, regimes, and Weinsteins. Others prove to be more smoke than flame. While heady days of Occupy Wall Street are long over, the national conversation they ignited about economic inequality still smolders. Since protesters decamped from Zuccotti Park, Thomas Piketty has become a household name, a populist has claimed the presidency, and universal basic income has gone from fantastical subreddit to serious policy proposal. Among developed...