Blog

The longer the COVID-Crisis Continues with lock downs for families and individuals the greater the stress and greater the risk. In Livingston, MT our MH community is experimenting with the idea of Drive Thru Support Counseling. We are taking inspiration from the Peanuts character Lucy who had a unique Drive Thru idea. Join us in this panel discussion as together we discuss replicating this idea for your community. Date/Time: May 1, 2020 09:00 AM Mountain Time (US and Canada) Register here.

Most of us are looking for answers on how exercise is beneficial for health. We want to look after our health, to be fit and healthy, but sometimes we fail to make the right decisions. According to studies conducted, those who do not take care of their health suffer from illnesses, and even a number of deaths, as compared to healthy people. And you may wonder why. The unhealthy lifestyle of most people has affected their bodies. And a number of diseases and other conditions were also...

People are beginning to be aware that one result of the increased stress around COVID-19 is the tragic fact that child abuse and neglect is increasing, but the safety net provided by schools is no longer in place. Teachers and counselors can continue to be a hero to students in this time of crisis, and can help mitigate the negative impact of traumatic events and stress. Caregivers might not be able to do it alone. We (Dr. Rachel Gilgoff, a child abuse pediatrician and trauma expert, and...

By April Simpson, April 18, 2020, PEW Trust Black women are two to three times more likely to die from causes related to pregnancy than white women, regardless of income or education. Black midwives could be part of the solution, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, but restrictions on midwifery make it difficult to practice in many states. Pregnant women in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi have been calling nonstop to CHOICES Midwifery Practice in Memphis, but the center is...

How can we heal from the implicit bias of “ Mental Illness ” and “ mentally ill ”? I hear these words and it sounds like fingernails scraping down the chalkboard. “ The stain of dehumanization colors the mind, body and spirit and it is not so easily washed away.” - Michael Skinner Recently I read a blog post at the ACEsConnection website, “Erasing My ACES” by Sirena Wheeler. It was posted on April, 19, 2020. It struck a chord with me, many in fact and it put me on a spiral down memory lane.

We have two upcoming live webinars on Trauma Informed Care designed to help YOU implement trauma informed care! Join us This introductory level course is essential for anyone who works with the public. Participants will learn what trauma is, understand its possible effects, recognize the signs, and learn how to respond appropriately. Ever timely, due to the increased impact of trauma our society is facing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this live webinar will help you support healing...

By Jing Wang, Steven A. Summer, and Thomas R. Simon, JAMA Psychiatry, April 22, 2020 Key Points Question Are increases in suicide rates associated with more suicidal acts, suicidal acts becoming more lethal, or a combination of both? Findings In this cross-sectional study based on national representative data of 1 222 419 suicidal acts, increased suicide rates were associated with an increase in both incidence rates and lethality of suicidal acts from 2006 to 2015. In subgroup analyses,...

By Elizabeth DeKonty, April 14 2020 When asked what she is struggling with the most right now, first grade teacher Katherine Semenek focused not only on her students’ academic needs, but their basic needs to feel emotionally and physically safe and supported during this difficult time. We know she is not alone in her concerns as teachers all across our state, and our country, are stuck at home wondering if their students are safe, being fed, and being cared for after an abrupt closing of...

By Eva Raggio, April 23, 2020 Thanks to Netflix series Unorthodox, religious trauma is a topic that’s fresh on people’s minds, even if we haven't identified the show's takeaway message in that exact term. The drama details a young bride's life and subsequent escape from a deeply orthodox Hasidic community in Brooklyn. The show became a hit in part for its main character’s gripping story arc — based on a true tale — and because of the profound interest in the curiously foreign ways of the...

By Stephanie Sy, Lena L Jackson, and Casey Kuhn, PBS News Hour April 24, 2020 COVID-19 is ripping through the Navajo Nation, infecting and killing people at rates that are above U.S. averages. Located across three states, the Navajo population is already vulnerable, with a high prevalence of underlying disease, a lack of infrastructure and limited access to care and supplies. Stephanie Sy reports on how the Navajo community has taken on the challenge of caring for its own. Read the Full...

Barbara Rubel is a suicide loss survivor and leading thanatologist. Thanatology is the scientific study of death. As a thanatologist, Barbara Rubel specializes in suicide loss survivor grief and educating professionals about traumatic loss. The third updated and revised edition of her book, But I Didn’t Say Goodbye: Helping families after a suicide, just launched on Amazon.

I read a short story last week that was about emptiness and love. That funny thing that happens sometimes, happened, and three different people wrote to me within about 24 hours about… emptiness and love. They were feeling -- and I think a lot of us are feeling it -- a harsh, empty, loveless feeling that keeps swooping into their consciousness during this quarantined period, sounding the alarm that something HUGE is missing from our lives. One woman even said “I know you’ll think I’m crazy...