With graduation season upon us, I have been thinking a lot about one of my favorite graduation speeches. It’s the speech that Shonda Rhimes, creator of Grey’s Anatomy, gave in 2014 at Dartmouth College. She references the typical expected advice from a graduation speech: “Follow your dreams. Listen to your spirit. Change the world. Make your mark. Find your inner voice and make it sing. Embrace failure. Dream. Dream and dream big...." And then she says, “I think that’s crap.”

Origins offers a number of training and consulting services. We developed The Basics as a half-day session to provide the foundation to support trauma-informed and resilience practices across sectors and industries. The session includes an overview of the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, the neurobiology of toxic stress, the impact of social and historical trauma, and the science of resilience. We have tested The Basics with two cross-sector audiences, in Los Angeles and Phoenix.

Chefalo Consulting, a leading provider of trauma-informed change solutions, and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC), Ohio’s prison system dedicated to reducing recidivism and crime in Ohio, have successfully launched trauma-informed training for agency staff across the state. After recognizing the residual effects of trauma on staff and incarcerated individuals, ODRC sought to establish a comprehensive and trauma-aware culture within its organization. Chefalo...