Resources

This new resource from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network is hot off the presses! This Guide was developed for youth who have experienced—or know someone who has experienced—Complex Trauma. Older youth, adolescents, and young adults can explore the information in this Guide on their own to help them better understand Complex Trauma and the effects. Clinicians, caregivers, and other adults can also use the Guide to have conversations with youth about Complex Trauma and about the...

By Kristen S. Slack, Sarah A. Font, and Jennifer Jones TAKEN FROM REPORT: An extensive research base shows evidence of racial disparities in health outcomes, and a growing body of evidence points to associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and poor health. This study uses data from the 2011 and 2012 Wisconsin Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys to identify the relative contributions of ACEs, race, and adult income to predicting three sets of adverse adult...

Excerpt from this blog post, which I wrote earlier today: "This past week has been brutal, in terms of what has been coming across my newsfeed. And 2016 wasn't exactly a picnic either. So lately I've been thinking a lot about the mental health impact of a steady avalanche of Really Bad News. Many of us (myself included) deal with mental health challenges on a daily basis and being fed a steady diet of devastating world events only serves to make that harder. So I've decided to share a few...

We all know your mind will eventually forget some of the details of the abuse or trauma you’ve survived. But your body never forgets. Like I’ve mentioned in other blog posts, trapped trauma must be released. It’s nothing more than emotional pain. If allowed to fester in the body for weeks, years, or decades it will eventually manifest as physical pain in the form of illness, allergies, chronic pain, etc. TRE (tension & trauma release exercises) created a major shift in my healing from...

Okay, we’ve got it: Not “What’s wrong with you?” but “What happened to you?” That explosive outburst? The child who cannot concentrate at school? The domestic violence survivor who is in a constant state of hyper-vigilance? Yes, most of us in family services are now able to recognize trauma-symptoms and respond with empathy… most of the time. But what does it mean to be truly trauma-informed? For a start, it means that we have patience with others and ourselves as we seek to acquire the...

LucidWitness blogposts are designed for social media to help grow awareness of developmental trauma among your network(s).

Shared learnings from 14 communities across the country are now available on the Mobilizing Action for Resilient Communities (MARC) website . MARC is funded by the Health Federation of Philadelphia , through support from The California Endowment and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation . This month's shared learning focuses on the use of film to mobilize action across communities. Films like Paper Tigers and the PBS documentary series The Raising of America , just to name a few, have been...

Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) is the “emotional duress that results when an individual hears about the firsthand trauma experiences of another person.” Those who work in child welfare organization are at very high risk of developing STS, which when left untreated, can negatively affect their ability to continue their extremely important work. This factsheet provides on how STS manifests itself in child welfare, the kinds of staff who are at risk for STS, and strategies for prevention and...

This factsheet provides valuable information on cybersafety to caregivers of teens. Topics include “sexting”, app safety, parental monitoring, identity protection, and cyber-bullying.

From the CDC’s Injury Prevention & Control, Division of Violence Prevention: "Safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments are essential to prevent child abuse and neglect and to assure all children reach their full potential. The Essentials for Childhood Framework proposes strategies communities can consider to promote relationships and environments that help children grow up to be healthy and productive citizens so that they, in turn, can build stronger and safer families and...

An updated report (first one was in 2010 ) about knowledge of ACEs among providers in Maine, and how important the issues are. Also some input about the Maine Resilience Building Network and feedback about the educational efforts from the group. Happy Reading!

Working with children and families experiencing medical traumatic stress: A resource guide for mental health professionals What do mental health professionals need to know about pediatric medical traumatic stress? How can mental health professionals improve their collaboration with medical providers around pediatric medical traumatic stress? What resources and tools are available for professionals working with children and families who have experienced pediatric medical traumatic stress?