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From Dec 31st, 2015. I've never posted this here before. My life is very different today but this was a pivotal moment in my healing journey because for the first time I didn't have to carry all the pain of trauma and abuse alone. I hope that if you are reading this that you can find strength in knowing that you are not alone. -M I am literally terrified right now. This is hands down the scariest thing I have ever done. I have spent my life being prideful and never asking for help. I have...

Abreaction – The discharge of emotion involved in recalling an event that has been repressed because it was consciously intolerable. https://www.verywellmind.com/understanding-abreaction-1065382 Acting out – Originally an analytic term referring to the expression of unconscious feelings about a therapist or other authority figures. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/traversing-the-inner-terrain/201204/acting-out Affect . – “A pattern of observable behaviors that is the expression of a...

The holidays can be an overwhelming time when we find our minds racing a mile a minute. Here are some tips on how to be present. While many take this time of year to look back (best-of lists, anyone?) or look ahead (are we making resolutions for 2021 or just letting it wash over us?), here’s an invitation to just be here. Right here, right now, in this moment . Some of these moments will bring great peace. Others will leave us in pieces. The more we can bring our focus and presence to these...

If you would have asked me in 2008, when I realized we were misdiagnosing trauma as learning disabilities, if I would have been writing this book, I wouldn't have been able to conceive it. Grounded Learning captures the observation, research, and insights gained over the last 12 years on this justice journey. It's a book about stories, stories interrupted. " Trauma unaddressed impacts student learning, multiplied across millions effects a system, unattended into adulthood influences cities...

From one of the world’s leading experts in meditation comes a roadmap for engaging in challenging times with clarity, calm, and heartfulness. Real Change guides us to embody the fundamental principles of mindfulness and lovingkindness meditation to create a better world for both ourselves and others. Sharon Salzberg is one of the mindfulness field’s most beloved teachers and prolific authors, with multiple best-selling titles including Real Happiness and Love Your Enemies . In her most...

By Gene Nichol, The Charlotte Observer, December 28, 2020 It doesn’t happen as often as one might wish. But, on occasion, you can still be surprised by what someone says. For example, earlier this month, the Donald Trump-appointed Chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, explained to the Senate Banking Committee: “Disparate economic outcomes on the basis of race, have been with us for a very long time, they are a long-standing aspect of our economy, and there is a great risk that the...

Toxic shame is chronic in nature. It resides in our unconscious, meaning, we are not consciously aware that we have, or are experiencing, shame. It exists ‘on the back burner’ of our psyche, causing havoc, and yet we do not even know it is there!

The Social Cure explores the latest research in the medicine and public health. A lot of this information is only understood by small groups of specialists, but I believe we can all use these insights to improve our personal health and happiness and the well being of the larger communities around us. Check out the first three episodes of The Social Cure: Adverse Childhood Experiences, How ACEs Work, and Toxic Stress and ACEs Go to: https://thesocialcurepodcast.com/episodes

From Executive Director Bryan Stevenson: Dear Friends: This has been a challenging and eventful year where we have alll witnessed much loss, fear and uncertainty. The legacy of our nation's history of racial injustice has been painfully evident in a series of disturbing incidents of police violence and racial profiling. People in jails and prisons have experienced devastation, disease and high rates of death as the COVID crisis has been especially challenging for the incarcerated. To read...

Stress? Mental Health 2021 New Year’s Resolutions Mornings, ask “What’s right about my life? Afternoons, ask others “What can I do to show you how much I care?” Evenings, ask “How relaxed can I feel right now?” Dreaming, ask “How can I make the world a better place?” Remember that you can always reach “out” for more resources: Teachers = VEBA Parents = ACEsConnection Remember that you can always reach “in” for more resources, as well: Inner Doctor = ACE Study’s Dr. Vincent Felitti discusses...

If not you, who? If not now, when? COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization. That was almost nine long, grueling, confusing and deadly months ago. In March, every elected leader in the country, including our mayors, city council members, county commissioners, school board members, state senators and representatives and all member of congress should have been focused on answering the following ten questions in order to develop a national, state, county...

By Tom Szaroleta, December 25, 2020, Florida Times-Union. JACKSONVILLE, Fla — While most trees are losing their foliage for the winter, a live oak in Riverside is blooming with messages of hope, grief and love. The Community Tree is in the front yard of the Yellow House art gallery at 577 King St. in Jacksonville. For the next few months, people are invited to stop by, jot a message on one of the 3-inch-by-4-foot ribbons and hang it in the tree. The idea for the project came from cultures...