Blog

I know that you have thought of the childhood roots of your toxic ties in adulthood. A toxic tie is when you feel yourself being held hostage in a relationship in which you feel yourself losing power. You don’t want to feel this way, but you don’t seem able to stop. One common root of this is being raised by parents who had a toxic tie to one another. We cannot change our past, but we can change our present for a brighter future, and in so doing. support our children in developing healthy...

By Shauna Johnson in News | October 17, 2018 at 11:25AM CHARLESTON, W.Va. — President Donald Trump is expected to soon sign into law the 2018 SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, the comprehensive, bipartisan legislation aimed at addressing the opioid epidemic across the United States on many fronts. Included in it is funding to support programs that offer trauma-informed care for young people, specifically programs like Handle With Care which got its start in West Virginia and has...

On the heels of a state policy victory , grassroots advocacy led by the Alaska Resilience Initiative continues to move toward the goal of systemic change by publishing a brief for people who occupy strategic positions across the state. While Alaska Senate Bill 105 builds a framework for changing the system, that's only a beginning. A new document, “ Toward a Trauma-Informed, Resilient, and Culturally-Responsive Alaska ,” authored by Andrea Blanch, is designed to help elected officials,...

The Urban Institute recently conducted an implementation analysis, Early Adopters of Trauma-Informed Care: An Implementation Analysis of the Advancing Trauma-Informed Care Grantees, to better understand how participating pilot sites adapted clinical and organizational practices to advance trauma-informed care. This blog post summarizes findings from the study, which reveals key elements that successful trauma-informed organizations have in common.

Today's guest blogger is the incomparable Janai Mestrovich. Her story is powerful and speaks to how adversity can be used to create post-traumatic growth. Our ACEs can be our superpowers – the fight or flight response is designed to give us an adaptive advantage. Here is the lived expertise of an incredible pioneer in the work of overcoming adversity to create sustainable change in the lives of our most vulnerable population, our children. Janai 'Grandma Boom' Mestrovich Birth Trauma...

I thoroughly enjoyed this enlightening interview with ACEs Connection member, Cortney Edmondson - advocate, speaker, survivor, activist. Please join us as we discuss Cortney's healing journey from trauma to triumph, her mission to provide others with a space to share their stories, her speaking joys, and much more!

I am sharing the notes I took during the ACEs Conference as a snapshot of the collective wisdom of this event. Feel free to add to the list. Let’s create a shared document that archives the notes that each of us took. What messages resonated with you so strongly that you took a moment to write it down? I would love to read what others found to be helpful, hopeful and memorable. ACEs is a social justice issue We do this work because it is personal We are building the ship as we are sailing it...

"Change moves at the speed of trust, and trust moves at the speed of relationships." - Dr.William Dietz It is ALWAYS about relationships, always and forever. That has never been clearer to me than this moment, as I sit at the San Francisco International Airport waiting for my flight to depart back home to Philly. I really don't want to go home and break out of the incredibly loving, supportive and trauma-responsive bubble that I have been in the last 48 hours at the 2018 ACEs Conference. I...

Most people have dealt with some form of trauma in their lifetime. Some have sought professional help while other people relied on their support system of family and friends to assist them through healing. Others may have never dealt with their trauma at all. They may have found a way to numb out their reactions to their trauma (e.g. substance use, intimacy disorders, overworking, eating disorders, etc.). Or they may have forgotten memories of the traumatic event. Dr. Tian Dayton recently...

On days one and two of the 2018 National ACEs Conference attendees were wowed by an excerpt of the stage play, TRIGGER. Written and directed by @DeAngelo Mack and performed by youth actors, Mercy Lagaaia and Alana Smith (pictured with Mack), the play illustrates the emotional and mental trauma experienced by youth. The play premiered in Sacramento in March 2017 and was inspired by Mack's work providing trauma-informed care to youth impacted by violence through the WellSpace...

Friend and trauma-aware health and fitness coach Renee McLaughlin created this 20-minute light stretching and brain-body connecting workout for ACEs Conference 2018 attendees. We shared it this morning in a session hosted by ACEs Connection. Click to join Renee in a series of moves to get your day off to a relaxed but “woke” start, or to wake up anytime you’re feeling stressed or foggy. That Renee says, “you can’t build strength in tense muscles” makes me think of why these moves would be...

There is less fighting among young people in countries where there is a complete ban on all corporal punishment of children, according to a new study of more than 400,000 youth in 88 countries. 2 years ago (Oct 2016) ACEsTooHigh posted "Parenting's troubled history : Why changing family patterns is our most important work" The debate on Banning Corporal Punishment precedes the ACEs movement by at least 20 years, yet receives little attention in our circles. It remains a fundamental element...