Tagged With "signature strengths"
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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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Adaptive Change to REBUILD Your Organization
Keeping your organization afloat in challenging conditions... Following up on "Adaptive Change in Behavioral Health Organizations Serving Survivors of Trauma" (posted 2/20/19), here is the first of 3 webinars Villa of Hope presented through the Alliance for Strong Families & Communities. It's called "REBUILD: Adaptive Change to Rebuild the Perspective, Courage, & Leadership of Your Organization." Enjoy!
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Adaptive Change to RECOVER Your Organization
The next installment of Villa of Hope's webinar series for the Alliance for Stronger Families & Communities is "Adaptive Change to RECOVER Efficiency & Strength to Build a Culture of Change & Empowerment." It takes a humble and courageous leader to do this work!
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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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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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How Exercise Has Helped My PTSD Recovery [bustle.com]
People exercise for many reasons, and one of the major ones is for its mood-boosting benefits. But as someone who lives with co-occurring mental illnesses, I was skeptical as to whether these benefits would actually work for me. However, as I read more and more research about the therapeutic benefits of working out, I decided to give exercising on the regular a shot. Developing an exercise routine as a way to cope with my PTSD and eating disorder became a pivotal moment in my healing process...
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NPPC shares lessons learned and results from ACEs screening pilot sites
For Dr. Mercie Digangi, a pediatrician at Kaiser Southern California in Downey, CA, ACEs screening provided a crystal clear before-and-after in how she changed treatment plans for her pediatric patients, she explained to attendees of a December 2 webinar organized by the National Pediatric Practice Community on ACEs (NPPC) and cosponsored by ACEs Connection. Dr. Mercie Digangi One case that turned ACEs screening into a never-go-back moment for her was a three-year-old who was speech-delayed.
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Real Resilience is now a PODCAST
Women who support an incarcerated loved one finally has a place to share their stories on the Real Resilience P.W.L. Podcast.
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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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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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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 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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The Trauma-Sensitive Parenting Summit & Commentary
"Having a history of trauma or loss does not by itself predispose you to have a child with disorganization. It is the lack of resolution that is the essential risk factor. It is never too late to move toward making sense of your experiences and healing your past. Not only you but also your child will benefit." That's a quote from the book Parenting from the Inside Out: How A Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive, which was published fifteen freaking years ago. It's...
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Trauma-Informed Social Justice: Q&A with Dr. Bukuloa Ogunkua
Cissy's Note: I work with people who challenge systems and policies, who reform or start non-profits, and who see hope and promise where others see despair or destruction. While some folks shake their heads or shrug indifferently in the face of injustice and suffering, others organize, mobilize, and channel their time and energy towards making a change. Maybe a physician hosts an annual conference bringing trauma-informed approaches to medical practice. Perhaps a woman shares ACEs 101...
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Equity in IECMHC Webinar 3 - Culture, identity, history as sources of strength and resilience for African American children and Families [georgetown.edu]
From Center of Excellence for Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation, Georgetown University, June 11, 2020 This webinar examines issues of racialized inequities and bias on the early care and education experiences for African American children and families, explores a strength-based approach to fostering culturally responsive relationships, and identifies and explores practices and policies to strengthen cultural responsiveness in IECMHC in order to reduce disparities and...
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Healthcare providers learn skills to prevent burnout, build resilience
It’s an enormous understatement to say that healthcare workers today are suffering. Every day, you hear interviews with nurses, physicians, social workers, and others in healthcare saying they’re pushed to the breaking point and beyond. But, by using skills taught in the Community Resiliency Mode l (CRM), even people under severe stress can weather the onslaught, do their work, and get along with colleagues. CRM is an evidence-based training program that’s being used by millions of people in...
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Cultivating the Growth of Resilience
Trauma impacts lives on the individual, familial, community and societal level. Historically, we have addressed the resulting symptoms of trauma with treatments of therapy, education, and all too often imprisonment. However, putting preventative factors in place can avert the symptoms, outcome and resulting negative impacts. Prevention begins with understanding how trauma impacts lives and why it impacts our brains and bodies before we can fully understand what we can do to mitigate its...
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Compassionate Leadership Online Training
Online Compassionate Leadership Online Training focused on leading teams who work in high-stress and trauma-exposed environments starting in March. The Compassionate Leadership Online Program will give you the skills and knowledge needed to cultivate a culture of compassion within your teams and organization. It is a series of 5 2-hour long sessions and runs from March-May 2021. This program is led by experts in the field of compassionate leadership - Cambria Walsh, Consultant and Trainer on...
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New Resource: Utilizing Data to Improve Child Wellbeing Through Community Action
A newly developed document titled “Utilizing Data to Improve Child Wellbeing Through Community Action” has just been released and can be found attached to this blog post. The purpose of this document is to identify best practices in utilizing data to monitor and evaluate child adversity, health, development, and wellbeing in order to build community support and create policy, systems, and environmental change. This resource was created in partnership by All Children Thrive - California and...
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Lara Collis
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In Times of Crisis, Draw Upon the Strength of Peace (lionsroar.com)
At many temples in Asia, one encounters statues and paintings of Avalokitesvara , the bodhisattva of compassion. Avalokitesvara is sometimes portrayed as female, sometimes male, so we could say they are transgender—and also transcending gender. In some depictions, Avalokitesvara has a thousand arms, symbolizing all the skillful means they have of responding to suffering, and on each of these arms is an eye in the palm of the hand, the eye of wisdom. We need the eye of wisdom in our palms. If...
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Talking About Mental Health at Work
Despite the importance of vulnerability at work to promote a trauma-informed environment, the stigma surrounding emotional vulnerability in the office is still running rampant. Mental health has become an increasingly popular topic of conversation in mainstream media, especially among high-profile athletes like Simone Biles and entertainers like Ariana Grande. This shift towards mental health awareness hasn’t transitioned as quickly among business leaders—but it’s about time it did. Our...
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Emotional Intelligence? I Thought I Mastered That
It’s hard to read recent leadership articles and not see the benefits of Emotional Intelligence. However, can this obsession with EI harm us?
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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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How to Help Survivors of Extreme Climate Events (psychologytoday.com)
By Elaine Miller-Karas MSW, LCSW Building Resiliency to Trauma Psychology Today, September 30, 2022 Mental health can suffer after extreme climate events. KEY POINTS Mental health conditions exacerbated by natural disasters include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. After a disaster, the number of people needing assistance from the mental health systems strains or exceeds community capacity. There are simple strategies helpers can use to help survivors restore...
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The Surviving Spirit Newsletter October 2022
The latest Surviving Spirit Newsletter - Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health is out - It can be read online via this & you can also subscribe - http://ml.survivingspirit.com/dada/mail.cgi/archive/newsletter/20221012145444/ or this - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2022-10-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_October_2022.pdf “ If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.” - Lucy Larcom “ You cannot seek water from the one who drained your...
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Lightening the Load We Carry from Childhood: 10 Ways to Forgive the Unkindest Cuts
While the process of forgiving painful offenses from childhood can be very difficult, efforts to forgive bring great rewards. The process begins with acknowledging the pain, applying self-compassion, and taking even small and faltering steps to get the forgiveness ball rolling.
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We Won! (anonymous)
Author: To read the entire Anonymous article, please see the attachment below. It’s a bluebird sky day as the clouds float away leaving behind distinctive dry desert air scoured by sagebrush, tumbleweeds and settled sand. As for me, I cozily sit in a floral patterned recliner by an open window drinking in hot tea and cold air from the open window. Biscuit “puppy purrs'' wedged between the arm rest and me. Her features are concealed by white fur giving her the appearance of a couture throw...
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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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Easing your way into changing your organization to include practices and policies based on PACEs science
Last week I posted “ The trouble with trauma (-informed), the aggravation of ACEs (screening): We're trying to fit both into traditional frameworks and it isn't working .” This post goes one step farther to describe the first easy steps that all organizations can use, no matter what the sector, to wrap their minds around integrating healing practices and policies based on PACEs science. In the comments section, Rebecca Bryan asked, “What is a reliable tool to assess organizational ACEs? Does...
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The trouble with trauma (-informed), the aggravation of ACEs (screening): We're trying to fit both into traditional frameworks and it isn't working
What do you call it? The PACEs movement (PACEs = positive and adverse childhood experiences)? The NEAR movement (NEAR = neurobiology, epigenetics, ACEs and resilience)? The resilience movement? The trauma-informed movement? No matter what you call it, this movement emerged from two mind-bending, culture-changing developments that grew and evolved over the last 25 to 30 years. One is a groundbreaking epidemiological study, the CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences Study , first...
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Finding Joy After Adverse Childhood Experiences
Adverse childhood experiences understandably can numb feelings, including feelings of joy, happiness, and pleasure.
Making time to be joyful rewires the wounded brain. Once healing has progressed, the capacity for joy can usually be expanded through the repeated application of proven joy strategies.
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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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The Trauma Triangle: How Fostering Awareness of Reenactments Builds Resilience
The basic concept surrounding trauma-informed care is this: We all have trauma. Some of us are at a higher risk of experiencing trauma. We carry this trauma with us, and if we do not address it, we will not heal from it. Understanding reenactments is one way that we can continue healing from trauma. Our healing helps us make sure that we don’t traumatize or re-traumatize others due to our own inability to emotionally regulate. In the context of trauma healing, there are three main things we...
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A Letter to Kyle
To mark the anniversary of the passage of the landmark legislation of the Georgia Mental Health Parity Act, we are sharing a letter written a year ago by Roland Behm, Co-founder of the Georgia Mental Health Policy Partnership, Board Member and Former Board Chair, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Georgia Chapter. The letter is to his son, Kyle, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2010 as a junior in college and died by suicide in August 2019.
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Rising from the Ashes of Childhood Brutality
Country music artist Allen Karl (Sterner) endured unspeakable childhood cruelty and chaos, yet turned into a caring, competent adult. His story provides many useful insights that can help and inspire others who have endured multiple ACEs.
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The one question we should all be able to answer is this...
There is one question that all helping professionals should be able to answer.... What is your scope of practice? Your scope of practice are your professionabl boundaries that highlight the skills, services & responses that are within your competency as an individual professional. One of the most important components of trauma-informed care is setting professional boundaries. Professional boundaries are an expression of your capacity. Your capacity being your ability to receive, contain...
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The Imposter Syndrome and Adverse Childhood Experiences: Understand the Mask and How to Drop It
Pretending is the imposter’s exhausting attempt to conceal hidden wounds that often trace back to childhood. Most people relate to at lease some aspects of the syndrome. We discuss ways to drop the mask, counter insecurities, and live authentically.
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The Mr. Nice Guy Syndrome and Adverse Childhood Experiences
The Mr. Nice Guy Syndrome is a curious mixture of appealing strengths, insecurities, and problematic behaviors rooted in adverse childhood experiences. Mr. Nice Guy compensates for hidden childhood wounds by struggling to do everything right, but the syndrome's limited gains come at a cost. The syndrome suggests strategies for a more satisfying adulthood and better relationships.
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Adverse Childhood Experiences: Who Stumbles and Who Thrives? Learning resilience from the tales of 14 uncommon siblings raised in poverty
Michael J. Menard’s fascinating book recounts how fourteen children faced uncommon challenges. Yet most of them found the way to overcome their struggles and thrive.