PACEs

What gives me hope is that we have agency in this. We can make eye contact or provide physical touch, if those are appropriate and feel comfortable; we can be kind, we can bring intention to building connection – it all has ripple effects. And we can put.down.our.phones.!

Happening next week! In this workshop, we explore how the power of storytelling helps us make meaning of our lives and connect to our larger purpose. A special invitation to the PACEs community for complimentary registration with promo code "hellopaces."

Happening next week! A special invitation to the PACEs community: Use promo code hellopaces for complimentary registration. To better understand the brain and how its innate physiology impacts our day-to-day behavior, this workshop explores bottom-up regulation, the stress response, and how humans have evolved to thrive in reliable interdependent communities. This workshop will guide participants in practicing self- regulation skills, and invite thoughtful reflection around the importance of...

New book on education is being released. Webinar at Rutgers GSE offers discount code for book and PowerPoint deck.

The current conversation about anxiety and depression is lacking a vital dimension: emotions education. We are now learning that many instances of anxiety and depression are actually symptoms of buried core emotions. These types of symptoms could be prevented with more education surrounding emotions and trauma.

This splinter story is an APOE metaphor, a term I have coined as "adverse pre-onset experiences" aka APOEs. This builds on the term for our knowledge that ACEs (adverse childhood experiences) influence risk for chronic illness. This is about how chronic illness starts for many of us within weeks or months of a stressful or traumatic event. And how we think, very normally, that this particular event is the cause...

Often overlooked, intelligent self-care is vital during and after the recovery process. Tending to important needs optimizes mood, mental health, and the ability to handle everyday stress. These keys say, "I matter," and sustain you in your recovery journey.

A special invitation to the PACEs community: Use promo code hellopaces for complimentary registration. In order for us to become active participants in reframing and generating health, we must first begin with exploring the deceptively simple question, “What is health?” This session is designed to delve into the answers to this question and come to a more empowering view of health that accounts for connection to self, community, purpose, and the natural world as the essential building blocks...

A special invitation to the PACEs community: Use promo code hellopaces for complimentary registration. La Maida Project (LMP) is hosting three upcoming experiential workshops aimed to create a trauma-responsive and ACEs-aware culture in all the communities and settings where you engage. LMP is working to address the mental health crisis by healing our connection to self, community, purpose, and the natural world. Our experiential education workshops emphasize the participant's felt...

There's much to follow on the current health equity radar, from advancement of the HHS’s Equity Action Plan to concerning data validating the high incidence of discrimination by the health workforce toward patients. The onset of stress and vicarious trauma for staff witnessing these events was also identified. Each of these actions will provide pause to even the most seasoned health equity warrior.

A difficult past need not define you, nor determine your future. We explore three paths to building a satisfying life after hardship in childhood.

(Author’s note: Photo is of Jeff Linkebach, EdD, founder of The Montana Institute , and me following a three-hour long brainstorming lunch recently at the Whole Foods in Bozeman, Montana. I’d gone to visit my two adult children in the area. Linkenbach and his family have made their home there for more than 30 years. Linkenbach and I connected several years ago via PACEs Connection as he is one of the co-founders of the HOPE (Health Outcomes from Positive Experiences) research. The Montana...