Tagged With "Black Americans"
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2 New Communities Join ACEs Connection: March 2020
Please welcome these two new communities to ACEs Connection . ACEs & African Americans ACEs Connection at Boston University School of Public Health (MA) ACEs & African Americans This group is focused on the descendants of Africans dispersed throughout the Americas during the Transatlantic Slave Trades. Topics include adverse childhood experiences, historical trauma, intergenerational transmission of trauma, African American parenting practices, health disparities, the effects of...
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2019 National Trauma-Informed Health Care Education and Research (TIHCER) Meeting – Tulsa, OK
A newly established national group of experts known as TIHCER (pronounced “tīs-er”) recently convened for a first-time working meeting at The University of Oklahoma in Tulsa to advance the important cause of T rauma- I nformed H ealth C are E ducation and R esearch. The gathering brought 26 members representing 10 states. This diverse group of experts comprise members from a variety of healthcare professions — medicine (physicians and residents/medical students), clinical psychology,...
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2019 State Trends in Child Well-Being [aecf.org]
By the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The 30th edition of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT® Data Book begins by exploring how America’s child population — and the American childhood experience — has changed since 1990. And there’s some good news to share: Of the 16 areas of child well-being tracked across four domains — health, education, family and community and economic well-being — 11 have improved since the Foundation published its first Data Book 30 editions ago. The rest of the...
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A Call to Children’s Residential Treatment Centers: Please, Please Do Your Own Trauma Work
The challenges of becoming an effective trauma-informed organization are considerable for sure. Taken as an opportunity, and not a burden, they present a unique platform for organizational learning, healing, and growth. Among so many other things, the efforts inure to the benefit of a milieu that becomes a sanctuary for healing and where little boys are not subject to blame for unintended treatment outcomes.
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A Police Department's Difficult Assignment: Atonement [witnessla.com]
By Michael Friedrich, CityLab, October 27, 2019 Standing before the congregation of the Progressive Community Church of Stockton, California, Eric Jones, the city’s police chief, apologized. It was July 2016, in the furious days after the police shootings of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Those were followed closely by the deadly ambush of police officers in Dallas, Texas, and in Baton Rouge after protests over the Sterling...
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ACEs & African Americans Community on ACEs Connection
ACEs Connection envisions a resilient world where ALL people thrive. We are an anti-racist organization committed to the pursuit of social justice. In our work to promote resilience and prevent and mitigate ACEs, we intentionally embrace and uplift people who have historically not had a seat at the table. ACEs Connection celebrates the voices and tells the stories of people who have been barred from decision-making and who have shouldered the burden of systemic and economic oppression as the...
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ACEs Connection's Inclusion Tool makes sure nobody's left out
We developed ACEs Connection's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Tool — called the Inclusion Tool, for short — to ensure that ACEs initiatives across the world focus on being inclusive when forming a steering committee, recruiting leaders, providing education about ACEs science, recruiting members, or providing resources and services within their communities. The more inclusive your ACEs initiative is, the more diverse it will be, giving your initiative a real shot at achieving equity and...
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ACEs Research Corner — January 2020
Research papers this month include links between ACEs and bullying, dropping out of high school, adult disability, and the effects of countering ACEs.
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ACEs Science and Racism
This is a collection of resources regarding structural racism and trauma. This list aims to give a broad overview and is not all-inclusive. We welcome suggestions; if you have any, please comment below! The titles below and the PDFs in attachments are in alphabetical order. BSC Full Report Trauma Resilient Informed City Baltimore: This is the full report of the work, data, lessons, and direct quotes from several teams of people from various backgrounds in the Baltimore community as they...
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Addressing ACEs as a Social Transformation Initiative
It's time for adult children to fully recover from the lies they were programmed to believe about themselves and others when they were developing, and to adjust the norms in our society to ensure the healthy development of our descendants and the recovery of the adult affected.
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American Academy of Pediatrics Addresses Racism and Its Health Impact on Children and Teens [aap.org]
By Maria Trent, et. al., American Academy of Pediatrics, July 29, 2019 Racism has a profound impact on children’s health. With the goal of helping all children reach their full potential, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is publishing new recommendations on ways to lessen the impact of racism on children and teens. In the policy statement, “ Racism and Its Impact on Child and Adolescent Health ,” the AAP calls on pediatricians to create welcoming, culturally competent medical...
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At an HIV Clinic, Patients and Staff Have a Voice in Shaping Trauma Informed Care
Dr. Edward Machtinger, director of the Women and HIV Program, front row, center and clinic staff To the casual observer, the offices of the Women and HIV Program at the University of California San Francisco look like any other primary care clinic. There’s a waiting room with vinyl-covered chairs for the clinic’s patients. Staff check in patients from a non-descript desk ringed with a bank of computers. A video screen promotes the clinic’s services. But as you make your way further into a...
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At an HIV Clinic, Patients and Staff Have a Voice in Shaping Trauma Informed Care
Dr. Edward Machtinger, director of the Women and HIV Program, front row, center and clinic staff To the casual observer, the offices of the Women and HIV Program at the University of California San Francisco look like any other primary care clinic. There’s a waiting room with vinyl-covered chairs for the clinic’s patients. Staff check in patients from a non-descript desk ringed with a bank of computers. A video screen promotes the clinic’s services. But as you make your way further into a...
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Author Hopes to Put Her Emotions Journals in the Hands of Girls in Every State
Back in the spring, I was in the middle of putting together a panel on community interventions for ACEs when the conference planning chair suggested adding Tara Shephard. We had an amazing panel that day, but Tara hit it out of the park. Her love and care for African-American girls in Arkansas and the adversities they face was apparent in every word she spoke that day. To give some background, Tara is an author, education and mental health advocate; an auditor for the American Correctional...
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COVID-19 and the Ten Principles of the CRISIS Framework Fostering Community Resilience and Preventing Vicarious Trauma
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about community-wide sorrow and vicarious trauma. In order to be prepared to manage traumatic grief and vicarious trauma, healthcare leaders, local behavioral health providers and other professions in related fields, along with individuals, families and organizations, need to take active roles in preparing for community-wide bereavement. The ten principles of Barbara Rubel's CRISIS Framework (Community Resilience in Situations Involving Sorrow) can help you...
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Criminal Records Create Cycles of Multigenerational Poverty [americanprogress.org]
By Jaboa Lake, Center for American Progress, April 15, 2020 As many as 1 in 3 people in the United States have criminal records, creating barriers across several domains. Certain groups in particular—including people of color , sexual minorities , transgender and nonbinary people , people with disabilities , people with serious mental illness , and people living in poverty —experience disproportionate, negative impacts related to the criminal legal system. These disparities reflect...
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Dissecting Racial Bias in an Algorithm Used to Manage the Health of Populations [science.sciencemag.org]
By Ziad Obermeyer, Brian Powers, Christine Vogeli, and Sendhil Mullainathan, Science, October 25, 2019 Racial bias in health algorithms The U.S. health care system uses commercial algorithms to guide health decisions. Obermeyer et al. find evidence of racial bias in one widely used algorithm, such that Black patients assigned the same level of risk by the algorithm are sicker than White patients (see the Perspective by Benjamin). The authors estimated that this racial bias reduces the number...
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Dr. Vincent J. Felitti, M.D. has been recognized with the Albert Einstein Award of Medicine by the International Association of Who’s Who [kentuckyreports.com]
By Kentucky Reports, November 9, 2019 Dr. Vincent J. Felitti has over 50 years of experience in the field of Internal Medicine with extensive knowledge in the areas of childhood trauma, the genetic disease Hemochromatosis, and obesity. Serving as a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California since 1982, Dr. Felitti’s knowledge and experience is broad and significantly biopsychosocial. Dr. Felitti achieved his Medical Degree from Johns Hopkins in 1962 after being inspired...
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Equity Lessons for Organizational Leaders [medium.com] & Question
(Cissy's note: I read the article below this morning and think it's excellent. It made me wonder who else is thinking more about equity issues as central to becoming/being trauma-informed? It seems for some organizations and communities this is required, recognized and prioritized from the start and for others, this is something not done at all or at least not done much until many years into the work of initiatives. For me, my ACEs awareness was not combined, from the get-go. I blame my own...
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Essentials for Childhood Framework
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...
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Examining the Theory of Historical Trauma Among Native Americans [tpcjournal.nbcc.org]
By Kathleen Brown-Rice, The Professional Counselor, February 2020 The theory of historical trauma was developed to explain the current problems facing many Native Americans. This theory purports that some Native Americans are experiencing historical loss symptoms (e.g., depression, substance dependence, diabetes, dysfunctional parenting, unemployment) as a result of the cross-generational transmission of trauma from historical losses (e.g., loss of population, land, and culture). However,...
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Experts Say Health Equity Strides During Pandemic Unlikely to Permanently Improve American Healthcare
Even before the global COVID-19 pandemic, scholars, healthcare experts and everyday citizens were already turning their attention to some of the deep flaws in the American healthcare system. It is well-known, and well-documented, that healthcare in America is expensive, broken and riddled with inequality. Anne Case and Angus Deaton, authors of the recent book, Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism , summarize the state of our for-profit, employer-based system: “We believe that the...
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From the Archives: Dr. Kenneth Clark on Racism and Child Well-Being [hogg.utexas.edu]
From 1971 to 1983, former Hogg Foundation program officer Bert Kruger Smith hosted The Human Condition , a radio show that, across a span of 400 episodes, engaged a variety of notable guests in wide-ranging conversations on the things that make us human. In recognition of Black History Month, this episode of our Into the Fold podcast takes us back into The Human Condition’s archives with a 1974 broadcast featuring the late African American psychologist Dr. Kenneth Clark, whose innovative...
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How Racism Is Shaping the Coronavirus Pandemic [newyorker.com]
By Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, May 7, 2020 Evelynn Hammonds, who chairs Harvard’s department of the history of science, has spent her career studying the intersection of race and disease. She wrote a history of New York City’s attempt, a century ago, to control diphtheria, and is currently at work on a book of essays on the history of race, from Jefferson to genomics. Hammonds’s area of expertise is especially relevant today: while the data is incomplete, at this point in time,...
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How to Put Racial Equity at the Center of Neighborhood Investment [housingmatters.urban.org]
By Kimberley Burrowes, Housing Matters, February 19, 2020 The effects of discriminatory policies limit opportunities for people of color and their communities. The lingering effects of redlining and racial covenants have left many historic, once-thriving Black neighborhoods in need of revitalization as hypervacancy, blight, and neighborhood social and economic distress restrict opportunities for residents to build wealth for future generations. New investments can revitalize neighborhoods...
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Inside the Adverse Childhood Experience Score: Strengths, Limitations, and Misapplications [ajpmonline.org]
By Robert F. Anda, Laura E. Porter, David W. Brown, et al., American Journal of Preventive Medicine, March 25, 2020 INTRODUCTION Despite its usefulness in research and surveillance studies, the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) score is a relatively crude measure of cumulative childhood stress exposure that can vary widely from person to person. Unlike recognized public health screening measures, such as blood pressure or lipid levels that use measurement reference standards and cut points...
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Medicaid Expansion Could Prevent Evictions [howhousingmatters.org]
By Heidi L. Allen, Erica Eliason, Naomi Zewede, and Tal Gross, How Housing Matters, October 8, 2019 As of August 2019, 37 states have adopted and implemented a Medicaid expansion that extends Medicaid eligibility to uninsured people whose incomes are at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Prior research shows that Medicaid expansion has numerous positive effects on health-related and economic outcomes, among which are reductions in uninsurance rates among people with low...
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New County Health Rankings Show Differences in Health and Opportunity by Place and Race [rwjf.org]
Princeton, N.J. and Madison, Wis .—For nearly a decade, the County Health Rankings have shown that where we live makes a difference in how well and how long we live. This year, our analysis shows that meaningful health gaps persist not only by place but also by race and ethnicity. These health gaps are largely influenced by differences in opportunities that disproportionately affect people of color, such as access to quality education, jobs, and safe, affordable housing. This year’s report...
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Podcast: "Honoring Culture, Language, and Family: Stories from the Navajo Nation" (30 min)
The Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing (NOW) is excited to share the fifth episode of In the Arena with NOW , a podcast series that lifts up the voices of community leaders who are “in the arena” -- in classrooms, playgrounds, Congressional halls, hospitals, and neighborhood streets -- working to make sure that all children and families can live healthy, thriving lives. In our fifth episode, Honoring Culture, Language, and Family: Stories from the Navajo Nation , we speak with...
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Psychologists' advice for newly remote workers [apa.org]
By Zara Greenbaum, American Psychological Association, March 20, 2020 With millions of Americans under social isolation or shelter-in-place orders in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, employers across the nation are scrambling to establish protocols for remote work. Productive teleworkers will be necessary to keep the economy going as companies strive to maintain business continuity. And, staying engaged with daily work could be an important source of stimulation for isolated...
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Report: ACEs and trauma-informed care across 8 countries
The International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL) is a virtual international collaborative which aims to strengthen leadership and thereby improve services for people with mental health or addiction issues. Eight countries belong to IIMHL: Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden and the US. Countries’ pay a small amount to belong and in exchange there are regular communications on innovation, research and national work plus every 16 months a...
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Resource List -- ACEs Science Videos & Documentaries
You can find videos and video clips of ACEs presentations and on-air segments listed here.
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Resource List -- Trauma-Informed Guides, Presentations, & Self-Assessment Tools
The resources listed in this blog focus on how to implement trauma-informed and resilience-building practices based on ACEs science.
These materials can be used by organizations, agencies, programs, and communities to better understand how to bring a trauma-informed lens to their work.
Resources are divided according to format type (guide/toolkit, presentations, videos, webinars) and organized alphabetically.
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Road Map to Trauma Informed Care [Trauma Informed Oregon]
Programs, organizations, and systems that make a commitment to implementation will differ in many ways–from the service context, to the motivation for change, to hoped-for outcomes, and resources available. Nonetheless, in a developmental way, implementation moves through a number of common steps that we’ve tried to reflect in the Road Map below. The Trauma Informed Care Screening Tool (found below the Road Map) builds on the Road Map by delving into each phase and offering a series of...
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Self-Care Resources
Self-care is a key element of a trauma-informed approach, at individual, organization, and community levels. This internet resource list includes links to introductions to ACEs and the ACE Study, self-care, secondary trauma and mindfulness. Self-Care - General Self-Care Starter Kit, School of Social Work, University of Buffalo http://socialwork.buffalo.edu/...are-starter-kit.html Relaxation Tool Kit, Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center...
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Sheltering in Place: ACEs-Informed Tips for Self-Care During a Pandemic
Millions of lives have been affected in unprecedented ways by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). We are all grappling with uncertainty—our daily routines interrupted, not knowing what is to come. For those of us who have Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), these times can be particularly distressing. At the Center for Youth Wellness (CYW), we know that childhood trauma can have a significant impact on an individual’s health and well-being – both physiologically and psychologically. Since the...
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Social policies to prevent adversity -- see Open Access link (until July 1) to “A Critical Assessment of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study at 20 Years”— in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine
The ACEs research by Drs. Felitti, Anda and colleagues focused attention on the important consequences of childhood adversity for adult health. Of course, as many in the resilience-building movement recognize, adversities affect children’s health and life trajectories as well. When we recognize the powerful impacts of harsh life circumstances for children and families, it becomes clearer that social policies to strengthen household and community resources are needed as well as...
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Spotlight: An ACEs Connection community, Resilient Sacramento, tackles the issue of the traumatic impacts of racism and oppression
Resilient Sacramento has recently made explicit, their commitment to doing trauma-informed education & engagement that centers race, and other forms of structural oppression, as sources of trauma. The resources shared in a recent Resilient Sacramento meeting are described here for the entire ACEs Connection community. Please add your resources to the comments!
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The AAP opens up access to ACE studies to highlight long-term impact of family separations and detentions at the border
Photo by Gerald R. Nino/Wikimedia.org "We have created a collection of articles on toxic stress since the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, the Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption and Dependent Care, and the Section on Behavior and Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics published their landmark policy statement, “ Early Childhood Adversity, Toxic Stress, and the Role of the Pediatrician: Translating Developmental Science into...
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The Absence of Punishment in Our Schools
Where to begin... My heart is full of hope and joy as I watch the trauma-informed schools movement swell across our nation and planet. The science of ACEs is mind-bending to say the least and we are now able to open up a much deeper dialogue about human behavior and health. Ultimately this work is about healing… All. Of. Us. A new consciousness is taking root around ending the “us vs them” construct. The idea is growing that we’re all on this journey together and that no matter where our...
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The American Health-Care System Increases Income Inequality [theatlantic.com]
For most people, a single doctor’s visit can be a financial obstacle course. Many patients throughout the year pay hundreds or thousands of dollars in premiums, most often through workplace contributions. Then, at the doctor’s office, they are faced with a deductible, and they may need to pay coinsurance or make a copayment. If they have prescriptions, they’ll likely fork over cash for those, too. And that’s just for basic primary care for one person. Repeat that process for an entire...
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The Most Anxious Generation Goes to Work (wsj.com)
New college graduates report higher levels of anxiety. How managers can help them steer past fear and improve work performance—and how young workers can work to calm their anxiety and be more effective. Michael Fenlon’s company is one of the nation’s biggest employers of newly minted college grads. He’s watching a tidal wave approach. College presidents and deans tell him repeatedly that they’ve had to make managing students’ anxiety and other mental-health issues a priority. “They’re...
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The Trauma-Informed Supervisor Training Tool
That is the question that so many of us champions of change are asking ourselves right now. Luckily, the information is and logistics of how to make this happen are becoming clearer. Thank you to @Christina Cunningham, Prevention Coordination Specialist for the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services for allowing me to share this resource with our community. (see attached PDF file) It has been a valuable tool in helping me coordinate an agency training on the...
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The trauma of racism: Study published in The Lancet identifies link between police violence and community mental health for African Americans in the U.S.
Is racism an ACE? How about police violence? Outcomes seem to suggest so: "The magnitude of the mental health impairment black Americans experienced from police killing other unarmed black Americans was almost as big as the impairment associated with DIABETES" -Dr. Rhea Boyd. Links within include access to NYT article about the study, the original study, and commentary by Dr. Rhea Boyd.
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The Trauma Resiliency Model: A “Bottom-Up” Intervention for Trauma Psychotherapy (Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association)
Grabbe L, Miller-Karas E. The Trauma Resiliency Model: A “Bottom-Up” Intervention for Trauma Psychotherapy. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. 2017; 24 (1): 76-84.
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Thoughts on Trauma Work as I Say Farewell to the Alaska Resilience Initiative
The following letter went out to the list serve of the Alaska Resilience Initiative on Monday, February 24th. I am sharing it here...because the reflections on lessons learned may be useful to those in the broader ACEs movement...
Most important, perhaps: an ethic of self-reflection and of welcoming feedback creates safety, creates a trauma-informed environment. And so, it is both a tool for growth, and a way of walking the walk on trauma-informed, culturally-responsive care.
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Training course: Building Resilience and Challenging Systemic Racism
The Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) is here to help you gain the skills necessary to change your community and the world. We will be offering a three-day training course June 10 - 12, 2019, taught by Dr. Ram Bhagat , related to challenging the status quo in the education system that allows systemic racism to flourish . Course details are: The framework for Building Resilience for Challenging Systemic Racism is grounded in Restorative Justice theory, values, and praxis. This three day...
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Transforming Trauma Podcast: The Blind Spots of Privilege and Complex Trauma in Marginalized Communities
Transforming Trauma Podcast: The Blind Spots of Privilege and Complex Trauma in Marginalized Communities Claude Cayemitte, a clinical social worker and NARM Therapist, joins the Transforming Trauma podcast to examine how complex trauma impacts individuals from marginalized communities and how unrecognized cultural trauma can lead to misattunement in the therapeutic relationship. Using the NeuroAffective Relational Model as a foundation, and his own background as a Haitian-American male...
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Trauma-Informed Care Toolkits
*Updated 10/09/2014 "Becoming trauma-informed is a process that involves striving towards a new way of understanding people and providing services and supports. This process involves a gradual integration of trauma concepts and trauma sensitive...
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Trauma-informed Healthcare Approaches: A Guide for Primary Care
Our recently published book, Trauma-informed Healthcare Approaches was written to share basic principles of trauma-informed care and ACEs science with general medical practitioners and administrators. As the recent #METOO movement has demonstrated, interpersonal trauma is widespread. A growing literature has demonstrated the impact of traumatic experiences on mental, physical health and wellbeing. Trauma survivors commonly access healthcare but their histories and needs are commonly...