Blog

Black HIS-Story Week begins today! There are so many amazing events to tune into each day this week. We've shared a few below. Be sure to check out the full schedule of events on the Black HIS-Story Week website ! Watch this event, featuring individuals from across Virginia, on SCAN’s Facebook page ! Self Care: Healing Racist Wounds Wednesday, February 24, 7:00 p.m. Beyond the obvious effects of racism is an underlying reality — people affected by the stress of racism show signs of...

Dear Friends and Allies, This is a moment for transformation led by youth advocates—those with lived experience—to reimagine a mental health system centered on equity and justice. While concerns remain with the state's proposals on both Telehealth and CalAIM, there are some hopeful signs of reform on the horizon including: $700 million proposed in the Governor’s budget to support student mental health in schools. The updated CalAIM proposal which advocates for the removal of a diagnosis for...

Registration is Now Open! Please join us for the 2021 virtual National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence (NCHDV)! Futures Without Violence is putting together an engaging virtual experience featuring 250+ speakers from across the country in the fields of health and anti-violence; 5 keynote and plenary conversations with visionaries such as Tarana Burke, Beth Richie, Joia Crear-Perry, Amita Swadhin, and more! Other conference events will include: a virtual poster hall of 180+...

From Kidsdata, February 23, 2021 Kidsdata introduces a new category to our site, COVID-19 Pandemic . The category features data that describe child and family well-being in California during the pandemic. We will regularly release new data over the coming weeks. Click on the hyperlinked text below to access data that are currently available. As the pandemic unfolds, caregivers reflect on: Education, Health Care, and Social Activities Supportive Services Positive Childhood Experiences...

We are still debating if diversity, equity, inclusion is necessary and struggling to include anti-racism as a standard component of the work. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism (DEIA) committees have an important role to play in trauma-informed care. Following the social unrest of 2020, organizations issued passionate statements about the evil of anti-Black racism and committed to amplifying diversity and fighting racism. A lot of this was lip service—corporations doing symbolic...

I would love pain-free liberation—to experience an abundance of joy, a life that comes easy, for a lifetime forever. I would love a limitless vision of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I want to say: I lived happily ever after. In my 31 years of experiencing adversity, this pain-free liberation has been impossible to obtain. Yet the ideal of it provides an opportunity to reach. Not just for myself, but for everyone, together. As the Executive Director of the California Coalition...

Far too many people are walking around with unhealed, hidden wounds from toxic childhood stress. For some the pain is obvious. Others might look outwardly strong, capable, and in control. However, unhealed inner wounds inevitably cause untold and needless suffering and can lead to a dizzying array of psychological, medical, and functional problems. In this three-part blog, we’ll discuss the road to recovery. This blog is Part I: The Principles of Healing. Part II will explain why traditional...

“ Our fingerprints don't fade from the lives we touch.” - Judy Blume Hope, healing & help for trauma, abuse & mental health. The latest edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php & here's the PDF - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2021-02-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_February_2021.pdf “ Our brains developed along with music and singing as a survival mechanism.” - Tania De Jong To sign up for...

This episode continues to explore Matt’s journey into HRV! Conditioned fear responses and learning safety cues are critical components of both the etiology of trauma-related dysfunction and recovery from traumatic experiences. Can inter-individual differences in physiological measures predict our ability to extinguish conditioned fear responses and to learn new safety cues? In this episode, Matt, Jerry & Curt discuss an article describing a study that asked these very questions. ...

Today is Pink Shirt Day, a day to remind us adults of a child's need for safe and nurturing environments , including the children who have difficulty regulating their emotions. Here is a great article to help us understand the needs of children with bullying behaviours. ------------- "One of the most effective ways to increase the vulnerability of a bully and bring down emotional defenses is through the caring relationship with adults. It will fall to these adults to find a way to cultivate...

There is something unfair that happens when you’ve survived traumatic times. Even when the abuse wasn’t in any way your fault, people stop trusting you. You get abused and they don’t trust you. And you might think this is just because they were horrible people who don’t understand — and sometimes they don’t… But when you look a little deeper, there are some very real signals you might be sending. Living through trauma has a way of leaving scars on you that influence your perception, and they...

By Washington Post Live, The Washington Post, February 19, 2021 As California surpasses New York in the number of deaths due to COVID-19, the state continues to grapple with vaccine shortages, disparities in immunizations, and the rapid spread of coronavirus mutations. California Surgeon General Nadine Burke Harris, MD, who advises the governor on matters of public health, joins Washington Post Live for a discussion focused on the state of California’s battle with COVID-19. She’ll discuss...