Blog

What happens in the brain to make shame benign or toxic? What parts of our brains are injured by chronically being shamed by our caregivers, and how does that change who we are?

While serving as a Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Mississippi, I first learned about the concept of "adverse childhood experiences" through a newspaper article. But when I wanted to learn more, I wasn't sure where to turn. After lots of research and trial and error, I found these resources to be some of the best. (Yes, ACESConnection is on the list!) If you would like your free copy of this PDF, just click the link and download: mrchrisfreeze.com/top38resources (Sometimes web links...

By Jennifer Moss, Harvard Business Review, September 28, 2020 How many of us are currently living without margins — the space to handle life’s simplest stresses. I know I’ve fallen into this trap myself. It can happen after being mentally stretched and dealing with chronic stress for too long. Basically, we are left with zero margin for error. It also means that we don’t realize we’re at our max until it’s too late. Before we know it, we’ve hit the wall. As part of the research that I’m...

Based on a longer white paper, this blog offers COVID-specific adaptations to trauma-informed approaches to improve human services that moved to the virtual space.

From Creating Presence, October 2020 Protects Clients: Clients who are exhibiting behaviors are often labeled or diagnosed without an understanding that many social disorders are a result of adversity and past traumatic events. These symptoms can best be understood with a trauma lens that recognizes the complex impact of trauma and other forms of adversity on the brain. Supports staff: Helping trauma-impacted children and adults is a difficult job that has a secondary traumatic effects on...

In August, the National Council on Behavioral Health released a new toolkit to help organizations create sustainable system-wide change that addresses trauma and fosters recovery for the people they serve. More from the NCBH: The opioid crisis has affected families across the nation. Approximately 10.3 million people live with an opioid use disorder and there were more than 46,000 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2018. We know that trauma is a significant driver of substance use disorders...

By Rebecca Vivrette and Jessica Dym Bartlett, Child Trends, September 30, 2020 Children and youth who become involved in the child welfare (CW) system often experience trauma as a result of maltreatment and other adversities while in the CW system, including removal from home and multiple out-of-home placements . Children and youth of color , particularly Black and Native American children, are disproportionally represented in the CW system and are more likely to experience trauma due, in...

Interested in Trauma-Informed Design concepts, but don't know where to begin? Check out this new website! www.https://traumainformeddesign.org/ Trauma informed design used to be a nicety, now it is a necessity. Businesses now have to deal with the wellbeing of its employees like never before. Seeing a need for a unified location to showcase the amazing work of designers, psychologists, educators, architects, and other professionals in the trauma-informed design world, the website was...

STRIVE (Supportive Trauma Interventions for Educators) FALL 2020 TRAININGS Trauma 101 Workshops for Massachusetts Early Education and Care Saturdays from 9:30-12:30pm September 26th - REGISTER HERE October 3rd - REGISTER HERE October 17th - REGISTER HERE November 7th - REGISTER HERE STRIVE is a collaborative project between Boston Medical Center’s Child Witness to Violence Project and Vital Village Network that aims to help schools and early education systems of care increase their capacity...

By Nick Huntington , Mikyung Baek 12.17.2019 Child Opportunity Index maps for the 100 largest metropolitan areas are avail­able below. You can explore the geography of child opportunity within a metro and where children of different racial/ethnic groups live in relation to opportunity. Use the pull down menu below the map to select a metro area. The small areas in the map represent all neighbor­hoods (census tracts) in that metro. Each neighborhood is shaded a color ranging from very light...

Are you curious about starting an ACEs Initiative in your community? Join one of these upcoming webinars to learn how to start an initiative. I'm Alison Cebulla, the Community Facilitator (CF) for the Northeast USA, Mid-Atlantic USA, and Canada for ACEs Connection. You are welcome to attend these webinars no matter which region you are interested in starting. After the webinar, I will put you in touch with the CF in your region who will help you get started if you choose to move forward. All...

The COVID-19 pandemic has called on us to find creative ways to connect and learn. In rural western Massachusetts I had scheduled a training for 20 practitioners who work with parents and infants to meet together for two days of learning on April 15 and 16th. Instead I rapidly adapted the training to the online setting. I have had the pleasure of meeting weekly with an extraordinary group that includes peer recovery coaches on the front lines supporting moms with opioid use disorders,...