Here is a simple infographic (a link that Samantha posted on the ACEsConnection home page) but I wanted to highlight it here in Parenting with ACEs group. It is great tool to keep handy when the day isn't going as we had liked. Some simple things to do to shift our perspective. http://www.dailyinfographic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/how-to-turn-a-bad-day-around.png
During a family crisis or investigation, it can be hard to believe you have strengths. Investigations, by their nature, make parents feel attacked and ashamed. But all parents have strengths, and being able to show investigators what’s positive about you and your family is incredibly important. Investigators need a full picture of families’ “ protective factors ,” because those factors have been shown to help keep children safe. Q: How can parents show their “ protective factors ” to an...
For so many, traumatic stress and adversity don't end when childhood officially ends. Kids who age out of foster care are so vulnerable. This article is horrifying as is the fact that there is even such as thing as survival sex. Here's an excerpt from this article written by Fernando Hurtado. 'It's a real, real dark life' "It's not a want. It's a need." — Justina, former foster child Sofia, 23, was introduced to survival sex in 2014, she told us outside of a coffee shop in Los Angeles' Echo...
In Alice Miller’s classic book For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence, Miller hammers home her provocative stance that the root causes of ALL violence are a consequence of childhood trauma.
I'm thrilled to offer a workshop at Riverside Trauma Center in Massachusetts in Dec. I'll be speaking as a parent-writer-trauma survivor perspective about ACEs and parenting with post-traumatic stress. The talk, geared mostly to clinicians and social workers and I'm eager to talk about parenting with ACEs (this group and in general). More about Riverside Trauma Center and the workshop, below. Riverside Trauma Center . a service of Riverside Community Care, helps people in Massachusetts...
Here's another private email I got last week that I'm eager to share to keep this dialogue going. Clearly, people are looking for more about trauma-informed parenting and interested in the question posed by Colette Ryan. These are Heather Turner's thoughts. She shared them via email and I asked if she'd allow them to be shared with the wider group. Luckily, she agreed. Please add your own thoughts, feelings and insights to this conversation. I was forwarded a copy of your email in which...
Just a quick post to share this book resource I heard about this morning from Beth Grady . The author is Savannah J. Sanders and here's a bit more about her and this book, from Amazon (where I've just ordered my own copy): Drawing from her own experience being trafficked plus her insights gained from years of advocacy and anti-trafficking work, the author speaks directly not only of the realities of trafficking that occur in our own communities but also the solutions that we can all be a...
I finally had a chance to read this 34-page document. It's great to see parental engagement being addressed in such an in-depth way. While it might seem common-sense obvious that parental engagement efforts are crucial - they aren't always done well or at all. This toolkit is wonderful but it's not perfect. It asks a lot of important questions which help an organization think about what it does or doesn't do already. It offers a lot of resources for further research as well as some real-life...
When I made the decision to write a book that told my family’s story, I knew I had to do so in a way that was rooted in love and respect. Yes, it was a story about struggle, but it was also about so much more than that. It was also a story of family strength and resilience. That’s what drew me to Restorative Narrative — a narrative style that emphasizes strength in the midst of struggle. Adopting this perspective allowed me to tell my family’s story and to share the experiences of the other...
I got this email from Colette Ryan who gave permission for me to share it here. She asks the most important questions that are honestly what this group is all about. If you have ideas, resources, links, suggestions or just want to chime in on this conversation, please do! She wrote: In the service I work within we are making slow progress (but it is still progress) in working towards having a much more trauma informed organisation. Anyways, we also have the Supporting Parents, Healthy...
This beautiful essay was written by the same Heidi Aylward written about earlier this summer on ACEsTooHigh . I had a conversation several months ago with an old friend. He was talking about how fantastic his mom is and how she has always been at his side through everything. Good or bad, his mom has loved and supported him through everything. I’m lucky enough to know her. She is as amazing as he says. She is compassionate and empathetic and loving and supportive, no matter what he did or...
As a Certified Prevention Specialist for Wasco County, I am often asked at what age should a parent start talking to their child about the risks of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. My answer to that question has dramatically changed over the last several years and it has to do with a combination of 6 letters . . . SEL and ACEs. SEL stands for Social Emotional Learning and ACEs stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences. These two acronyms are receiving attention individually but YouthThink...
I spend a good amount of my time begging people to let me share details about the work they have done and are doing. I don't mind because there's so much that needs to be shared. Like the work of Pam Wessel-Estes, one of our own Parenting with ACEs group members. Please check out this You Tube video she produced with her son, entitled, Personal and Parental Reflections on Adverse Childhood Experiences. It's fantastic. It has all the personal warmth of a personal video but all the sound and...
Hi Everyone: Sometimes it feels like we're building structures out of nothing and we're not sure if they will work, hold up or even be seen. That's true in our personal lives, at times, and our professional lives as well. This is a place to share. i get A LOT of great emails and they are often filled with questions and comments. Please post to the larger group as you are comfortable. Please share YOUR work and expertise, your personal experiences or observations. There are programs and plans...
Russell Wilson, an ACEsConnection.com member from New Zealand, posted a question to the community in which he noted that a “heck of a lot of people” with ACEs who enter treatment are often never asked about those histories, and that this approach is not honoring their right to appropriate and adequate treatment. It’s an issue that’s come up often in many ways and in many settings besides mental health. Some trauma-informed training never mentions the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood...