Tagged With "Mr. Nice Guy thought patterns"
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The Relentless School Nurse: ACEs Impact Nurses More Than We Realized!
I ran across this message on www.acesconnection.com and not only did it catch my attention, but it also made me want to dig deeper. Could it be true that nurses have a higher ACEs score than other healthcare professionals? It seemed true in this small survey, but was this a representation of a trend? If it was, the implications in nursing practice could be tremendous and concerning. What I found was that there is a grand canyon gap in research. The minimal studies that do exist confirm that...
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Tools and how to use them is focus of second webinar on Community Resiliency Model, May 14, 2020
The second of two free Community Resiliency (CRM) webinars with Elaine Miller-Karas , key creator of the CRM, will be held Thursday, May 14, from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET, (10 a.m. CT; 9 a.m. MT, and 8 a.m. PT) and will include the practical application of tools of the model. CRM is an ACEs science-based biological model for helping individuals become emotionally regulated during natural disasters and other dysregulating times. Miller-Karas will be joined by CRM trainers from Wilmington, NC:...
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What a Pediatrician Can Do for a Child Seeking Asylum-And What She Can't [newyorker.com]
By Rachel Pearson, The New Yorker, October 8, 2019 On a cool spring afternoon, in a clinic that serves refugee and immigrant families, I sit across from a teen-age girl. She is otherwise known as an unaccompanied alien child, or U.A.C. She left her home in Central America, crossed the southern border, and was detained for a week—in Texas, she thinks—in a facility where breakfast was a cold bean burrito, lunch was a cup of microwavable noodle soup, and dinner was a cold bean burrito. She says...
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Why Emotional Eating Can Be a Consequence of Trauma
Research suggests that trauma can be a cause of emotional eating, or the drive to consume “comfort foods,” to manage the negative emotions directly related to past negative events.
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12 Things I Wish My Doctor Understood About Childhood Trauma
It doesn’t happen that often anymore, but one place where I almost always get triggered with my Childhood PTSD symptoms is when I visit the doctor. I could never even put this into words before. But now that I’m mostly healed from my Childhood PTSD symptoms, I want to express what I wish my doctors – all the doctors of my life – had understood about the effects of Childhood trauma, about me. Note: This is one of my most personal posts ever. Unless you’re someone who really prefers text, I...
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A View From the Sharp End of New Zealand's Suicide Problem [thespinoff.co.nz]
By Gawen Carr, The Spinoff, October 21, 2019 Last week, as I left yet another 3am crisis interview in ED as a psychiatric doctor for a suicidal teenager, I felt drained and weary. This was partly due to the time, but mostly something else: although I felt I had helped keep the young person safe in the imminent future, I was frustrated that I was unable to meaningfully address the reasons why they felt that way. I thought I’d look through the recently released Ministry of Health authored...
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Announcing Trauma and Resilience Competencies for Nursing Education
The authors are pleased to announce the Trauma and Resilience Competencies for Nursing Education. These competencies serve as a guideline of minimal expectations and reflect essential knowledge, skills and behaviors for three levels of nursing education: 1) undergraduate, 2) graduate, and 3) psychiatric nurse practitioner programs. The Trauma and Resilience Competencies, developed in 2018 at the Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies at Fairfield University in Connecticut by an Expert...
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Becoming Trauma Informed (Millstein JGIM 2020)
When I look at Victoria through a clearer lens, there are many clues—her anxiety, troubled marriage and family life, avoidance of physically intrusive examina- tions. I realize that I hardly know her at all. I focus on her health issues, and despite many stumbles, we have a nice rapport. I accept whatever she is willing to share about her tumultuous home life, but I do not ask how it all came to be so. Now I float with her in a reservoir of pain and shame.
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Cancer as a survivor
Many people use the phrase CPTSD to stand for PTSD from complex trauma. To me, C-PTSD means cancer and PTSD. I have cancer and I’m a trauma survivor. I’m a survivor with cancer but not yet a cancer survivor. Will I be a survivor squared?
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Cultivating Deliberate Resilience During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic [jamanetwork.com]
By Abby R. Rosenberg, JAMA Pediatrics, April 14, 2020 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is affecting our health care community in unprecedented ways. As a pediatric oncologist who studies resilience in the context of illness, I started thinking about what this pandemic means for our professional resilience a few weeks ago, when the first US patient with fatal COVID-19 died in my home city of Seattle, Washington. Promoting resilience among health care workers and organizations starts with...
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Governor Cuomo’s Cancer Research Initiative Disappointing. No ACES included.
I attended the presentation of Governor Cuomo's Cancer Research Initiative at the Buffalo Science Museum October 22, 2019. Brad Hutton Deputy Health Commissioner State of NY presented. Erie County Health Commissioners in attendance. It had all the data on the 4 major cancers in the East Side of Buffalo, NY. https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/cancer/cancer_research_initiative/docs/erie_presentation.pdf I'm all excited. Prepared with 2 dozen ACE handouts. Sat quietly for the 45 minute power...
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How Can a Doctor Stop from Burning Out in the Pandemic? (greatergood.berkeley.edu)
Over the din of the negative pressure machine, I shouted goodbye to my patient. I zipped my way out of one of the little plastic enclosures in our emergency department (ED). With disgust and a bit of fear, I carefully shed my gloves, gown, and face shield. Only my precious mask remained on my face. I thought, This is a whole new world, and I hate it . The problem is that I’m losing that deep feeling of connection with patients, which is such an important part of this work. A few weeks ago,...
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How do these pediatricians do ACEs screening? Early adopters tell all.
Last week, three pediatricians — with a combined experience of 15 years integrating ACEs science into their practices — reflected on the urgency they felt several years ago that prompted them to begin screening patients for childhood adversity and resilience when there was practically no guidance at all. Along their journey , they accumulated a list of lessons learned for other pediatricians and family clinics to use. The three pediatricians participated in the ACEs Connection webinar,...
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My son was hospitalized and now he has PTSD
“Grant, do you remember when you were in the hospital?” “Yes… they came to take the blood and I turned into a werewolf.” Original Post It happened quickly. A year ago my three year old had a collarbone fracture, it became infected and within 24 hours the situation was emergent. A week long hospital stay, one month with a PICC line and two months on oral antibiotics. Finally, the labs finally came back normal. The X-Ray was clean. Gillette Children’s Hospital closed our case. But the healing...
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ACEs screening is about building relationships, says early adopter
Whether or not to screen for ACEs in primary care is an important debate—and I hear and respect the passion from both sides of the argument. I fall in the “pro-ACE assessments” camp, but with some important caveats. I think that assessments for ACEs are dramatically different from screening for autism or developmental delays. In my opinion, assessments for ACEs in primary care should be primarily about building relationships.
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Resilience for Children & Families: Being Brave When Things are Hard
Building Resilience with Children During Racial Discrimination & Violence: This attached Resilience Brief for Children has been the hardest one I have written yet. I have been an active advocate for the equal treatment of people from all backgrounds, religions, ethnic heritages, orientations, and families my entire life. It is hard to see the pain present today, not only due to COVID19 but also due to the harm and anger we see daily in the news. I want to share a story about the person...
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Help Navigating the Road to Community Resiliency
The first time I ever heard the words trauma-informed care and the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study was in the summer of 2014. At the time, I was working for the local Police Department as the Director of a grant-funded Crime Reduction Project aimed at reducing drug-related and violent crime. Of the many program goals, one was to develop a rehabilitative corrections program for felony offenders with addictions in order to reduce recidivism. Though I’ve lived in this region for...
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GUEST EDITORIAL: We need a new model for mental health [heraldtribune.com]
By Andrea Blanch, Sarasota Herald-Tribune, July 27, 2020 People are really stressed out right now. A recent national survey reports that “serious psychological distress” — the kind that can lead to longer-term psychiatric disorders — has more than tripled since this time last year. We are already seeing the consequences in Sarasota County, with the number of opioid-related deaths in the first half of 2020 more than double the number in all of 2019. And based on experience with SARS, experts...
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Donald Trump is the product of abuse and neglect. His story is common, even for the powerful and wealthy.
“In order to cope,” writes Mary Trump, “Donald began to develop powerful but primitive defenses, marked by an increasing hostility to others and a seeming indifference to his mother’s absence and father’s neglect….In place of [his emotional needs] grew a kind of grievance and behaviors—including bullying, disrespect, and aggressiveness—that served their purpose in the moment but became more problematic over time. With appropriate care and attention, they might have been overcome.”
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Trauma informed pain treatment
A patient-centered approach to opioid tapers must account for the reality that many people who are given a prescription for an opioid to treat pain have significant mental health conditions—for which opioids act as a psychotropic agent. An opioid taper must therefore address psychological trauma, in particular.
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Does VP Candidate Kamala Harris know about ACEs? You bet!
Nadine Burke Harris, California’s Surgeon General, has a lot in common with the vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris—Jamaican heritage, surname, home state—and a commitment to addressing ACEs and toxic stress. As reported in the New Yorker article by Paul Tough, “The Poverty Clinic,” Dr. Harris told Kamala Harris, then San Francisco district attorney, about ACEs in 2008 and in response, she offered to help. District Attorney Harris then introduced her to professor of child and...
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Catherine Dulac wins 2021 Breakthrough Prize for Life Sciences (Harvard Gazette)
By Jill Radsken, Staff Writer, September 10, 2020. Rewarded for neural study of parenting behavior that reoriented field Catherine Dulac , Lee and Ezpeleta Professor of Arts and Sciences and Higgins Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, has been awarded a 2021 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for her pioneering work identifying the neural circuitry that regulates parenting behavior in both males and females. “One of the beauties of science is teamwork,” said Dulac, who described...
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Implementing the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics in Tennessee: Parent and Clinician Perspectives (Child Wefare)
Child Welfare publication, Child Trends, September 25, 2020. The QIC-AG is a five-year project working with eight sites that implemented evidence-based interventions or developed and tested promising practices which, if proven effective, can be replicated or adapted in other child welfare jurisdictions. Effective interventions are expected to achieve long-term, stable permanence in adoptive and guardianship homes for waiting children as well as children and families after adoption or...
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ACEs Champion: The reintroduction of Michael Hayes — from ACEs awakening to ACEs community service
It wasn’t until his fifth prison term in a North Carolina county jail — his fourth conviction for driving under the influence — that Michael Hayes volunteered to take an ACE survey that changed his life. The 48-year-old father of six sons and one daughter had spent a number of years in and out of prison. During his last term, to get some time out of the cell where he spent 16 hours a day, he volunteered to attend a class offered by RHA Health Services, a nonprofit that incorporates the...
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8 Categories of Adversity To Help Medicine Better Understand, Prevent and Treat Chronic Illness: ACEs, ABEs, Discrimination and More
I was a family doctor when the first symptoms of what would turn out to become a disabling chronic illness first began to arise. I didn't know about ACEs back then and even if I had, I would have thought my score was zero and that ACEs didn't apply to me. What I've learned in the 20 years since then is that my ACE score is actually a two, which increases the chances of ever being hospitalized for an autoimmune disease by 70%.
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A Once-in-a-Century Crisis Can Help Educate Doctors [nytimes.com]
By Molly Worthen, The New York Times, April 10, 2021 Over the past year, ordinary medical research nearly ground to a halt as researchers focused on coronavirus vaccine trials and treatments. Single-mindedness paid off. Drugmakers developed lifesaving vaccines in record time , and now a third of Americans are at least partially vaccinated. But ultimately, the pandemic is a once-in-a-century crisis that may force health professionals and medical schools to look beyond the traditional tools of...
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Research from San Bernardino pediatric population
Sharing our recent publication of data on ACEs and immune cell gene expression
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ACEs Parent Handouts & ACEs One Pagers & Link to GRC (UPDATED 4/28/21)
We have so many wonderfu https://www.acesconnection.com/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/508261416693856202/filePointer/508261416693856263/fodoid/507698389112989542/Coping%20With%20Stress%20During%20the%20COVID-19%20Pandemic%20One-Pager_Accesible_English.pdf l resources shared by members. However, a few of you have asked me for help in retrieving them. Here's several of the most commonly shared ACEs handouts, info graphics and one pagers, with links to download. PLEASE share yours! I'm working...
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A Trauma-Informed Approach to Vaccine Hesitancy (Sign On Letter Attached In First Line)
Please sign onto and share this memo supporting using a trauma-informed approach to decreasing vaccine hesitancy! Many of the challenges we are facing with vaccine hesitancy can be better understood by looking at the issue through a trauma-informed lens. The following memo has been developed with input from many of the clinical and academic thought leaders from the trauma healing field to offer supportive guidance to the Administration. To successfully address this challenge, we need to...
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A Trauma Informed Approach to Vaccine Fear
PLEASE SIGN ON TO THIS MEMO TO SUPPORT OUTREACH ALONG THESE LINES TO THE ADMINISTRATION! If the goal is to impact meaningful change, it might prove helpful to view vaccine fear through a trauma informed-lens. There is an intentional shift from the use of the word “hesitancy” and instead using the more specific and appropriate term “fear”. We are more likely to change that which we better define and understand. The following memo has been developed with input from an interdisciplinary team of...
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Ethical Self-Care
Hello, The Ethical Self-Care training has been updated, and while I don't have it set up as a webinar yet for CEUs, the video of the live training from 12.29.21 is available here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktkBwFjh5HA for learning purposes. Whether you want to be as ethical as possible in your field, or be more informed and able to hold others accountable as needed, the materials provided in this training are for you. Description for the training: To optimize ethical practice, it is...
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Doc on a Mission: Helping Parents Break the Trauma Cycle
Scott Grant, MD., MPH joined us on the Less Stress in Life Podcast for a conversation on childhood trauma, how he approaches incorporating trauma-informed care into his practice, the transformational power of parenthood and his new Docs2Dads podcast. Dr. Grant is a Board-Certified pediatrician who works in primary care and hospital pediatrics in Southeast Michigan. Professionally, Dr. Grant is interested in learning how childhood adversity and toxic stress affect children into adulthood, and...
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My positive childhood experiences tree
This is the third of three stunning illustrations showing how PACEs (positive and adverse childhood experiences) affected the family of Cendie Stanford, graphic artist and founder of the nonprofit ACEs Matter. This one looks at her positive childhood experiences. The day before her 16th birthday, Cendie Stanford’s older brother was shot and killed by a young man who, just two years earlier, had been her boyfriend. “I was heartbroken that two people I loved were out of my life forever,” says...
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Georgia Reads "What Happened to You?" and Parent Leadership Month
Since late 2021 and into 2022, the Georgia Essentials for Childhood Initiative has been encouraging parents, caregivers, professionals, all those who work with or around young people, and all those who may have experienced their own trauma to read the book "What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing" , coauthored by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD. The inaugural Georgia Reads initiative was launched in November 2021 with a webinar hosted by the Georgia...
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Research shows only a tiny percentage of physicians integrating PACEs science
Three relatively recent studies from different parts of the U.S. show that only a tiny percentage of physicians, medical school faculty and other healthcare providers are integrating practices and policies based on the science of positive and adverse childhood experiences (PACEs). Why it matters: For people in the PACEs community, the following is news that’s 20 years old: Adverse childhood experiences are common, preventable and linked to six out of the top ten leading causes of death in...
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Neuroplasticity, Imagery, and Adverse Childhood Experiences
The disturbing neural imprints from adverse childhood experiences need not be a life sentence. Imagery is an extremely helpful tool to modify the circuitry of the brain, utilizing the principle of neuroplasticity. Imagery strengthens and stabilizes the brain, while laying down alternative neural pathways.
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Emotional Intelligence and Healing Hidden Wounds
What is emotional intelligence? How does it help us cope in the present and heal the hidden wounds from childhood that continue to disturb us?
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Taming Underground Shame from the Early Years: Healing Is As Much About the Heart As It Is About Logic
Deeply rooted shame from childhood adversities can lurk beneath conscious awareness, even after early memories are reworked. New understanding of the brain provides hope for breaking the painful grip of shame that’s imprinted in childhood. Traditional therapeutic strategies might not be the best starting point. This blog introduces the first of several healing strategies.
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Rewire Hidden Shame from Adverse Childhood Experiences
Deep-rooted shame resulting from adverse childhood experiences can weigh you down. These skills can help.
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3 More Ways to Rewire Shame from Adverse Childhood Experiences
These three cognitive countermeasures round out the skills for neutralizing shame imprinted in the first 18 years of life. They complement the right brain strategies described in recent articles.
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Moving Forward After Adverse Childhood Experiences: How to Move from Suffering to Flourishing
Once the suffering resulting from adverse childhood experiences is managed, we can turn toward creating a more satisfying life.
Pursuing the honorable life leads to self-respect and inner peace. Compassion for mistakes, understanding their reasons, and applying integrity skills starts us on the path to flourishing.
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Adverse Childhood Experiences and Care for the Soul
Strengthening the wounded soul can improve psychological and physical wellbeing and help to complete the recovery process. Although ACEs, understandably, can numb feelings, including spiritual feelings, once healing has progressed, spiritual feelings can often be successfully cultivated.
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Bouncing Forward After Adverse Childhood Experiences
Once the healing of hidden wounds from adverse childhood experiences has sufficiently progressed, attention can turn to developing a richly satisfying future. Your innate inner strengths, experiences, and acquired skills will help rewire your brain for a brighter future.
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A Promising Treatment for Hidden Wounds from ACEs
Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is an emerging trauma therapy for the hidden wounds resulting from Adverse Childhood Experiences. Research to date shows ART for traumatized adults is quick, effective, safe, and well-tolerated. Consistent with new understanding of the brain and body-centered treatment approaches, ART primarily targets trauma images and associated physical and emotional sensations, creatively and efficiently using eye movements and strategies from other trauma treatments.
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How much would the NAS poverty reduction packages reduce referrals to CPS and foster care placements? Would they reduce racial disproportionality in child welfare? (nasonline.org).
Because of a collaboration with Columbia University and UW-Madison, we have answers to these questions. By Peter Peter Pecora, Casey Family Programs, March 17, 2023 - Overview The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recently released a “ roadmap ” to reduce child poverty by as much as half through the implementation of a series of social policy packages. The aim of this study was to simulate the reductions in Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement and foster care placements that are...
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Drug Addiction and ACEs: A Journey Through the Gates of Hell to Redemption
Attachment disruptions and other hidden wounds from ACEs can render one more vulnerable to drug addiction. Genuine, mature love from others, and for oneself, can change the course of one's life. A recent book highlights the path from childhood trauma to addiction to recovery.
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Quick Focus Group on ACEs & Successful 60+ Year Olds
Are you over 60 and successful despite your Adverse Childhood Experiences? Are you realizing that it’s truly now or never for your Soul’s original desire? Do you want to secure your Soul’s full incarnation before you leave this Earth? Are there family relationships you’d like to mend?
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PACEs Research Corner — May 2023, Part 2
[Editor's note: Dr. Harise Stein at Stanford University edits a web site — abuseresearch.info — that focuses on the effects of abuse, and includes research articles on PACEs. Every month, she posts the summaries of the abstracts and links to research articles that address only ACEs, PCEs and PACEs. Thank you, Harise!! — Rafael Maravilla] Domestic Violence – Effects on Children Makris G, Eleftheriades A, Pervanidou P. Early Life Stress, Hormones, and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Horm Res...